Death of a Salesman -- Blog #3
Critic Roland Barthes has said, “Literature is the question minus the answer.”
In other words, literature raises questions for its readers which may or may not be answered.
Consider, for example, Song of Solomon. I might say the text raises the following question:
Can you truly know yourself, if you do not know your past?
Or, maybe it asks this: What does it mean to be wealthy?
Think about the questions within Their Eyes Were Watching God:
What is true strength? Do words have the power to destroy?
Now, it’s your turn. What questions does Death of a Salesman raise?
Think about the article we read before beginning the text, the one that discusses
Miller’s intentions when writing Death of a Salesman.
Consider the big ideas we had previously brainstormed:
approval, failure, success, change, money, the American Dream.
TASK: Post one question that exists within Death of a Salesman.
Aim not to repeat another classmate’s question. However, it is okay, if you use the same big idea.
For example, there are numerous statements that you can make about “success."
I think that Death of a Salesman has a very big idea of Identity in the text, specifically Willy's struggle with his identity and seeing his self-worth. Therefore I think it raises the question:
ReplyDeleteWhich plays a more important role in determining one’s self-concept: how others perceive them, or how they see themselves?
Throughout Death of a Salesman, the idea success is a big idea that represents several characters differently. Especially at the end between Willy always wanting to strive for career success, and Biff succeeding in finding his identity. However Willy and Biff were never genuinely happy. Which raises the question:
ReplyDeleteShould your overall success bring you true happiness?
One of the biggest ideas that continually pops up throughout Death Of A Salesman is the need for success and how it affects those who want it most. Due to this, one has to ask, How does someone cope with diminishing returns from their one dominant focus in life? How does a man keep sane after being shot down again and again?
ReplyDeleteOne of the main ideas in Death of a Salesman is change. Willy throughout the text refutes change and seems to become irritated at the thought of it. Can one truly thrive without accepting change, while living in forever changing times? Does refuting change cause the individual to become more of an outcast?
ReplyDeleteOne of the main ideas in Death of a Salesman is success. Because of this, we ask this question: Is success worth ruining your life over to earn good money, or should happiness be the driving force in one's life? Willy is the main person that I, personally, think of when asking this question.
ReplyDeleteIn the text it is evident that Willy sacrifices his happiness to continue to work a job that stresses him to his downfall. Despite the overwhelming unhappiness he pushes his sons to find a job that brings them "success" even though he is failing to find success himself. This raises the question: by abandoning one's dreams to obtain financial security does that ensure a happier life or a mere dreadful existence?
ReplyDeleteThe Death of a Salesman emphasizes the immense pressure to be successful based on society's definition of "success": obtaining a job fit for a man to reel in a thick paycheck every week. Willy overwhelmingly encourages Biff to grow up, find his way, and be successful, because only then he will be content. Is the type of success society has glorified truly the essence of contentment one has been seeking? Or must people refuse to conform to such societal rules in order to truly be happy?
ReplyDeleteThroughout Death of a Salesman, many characters struggle with fighting for their dreams even if it may not bring the most amount of money or settling for something else in order to be successful and gain wealth. On one hand, Willy believes that it is more important to be wealthy even if it means working a job that does not necessarily make someone happy. On the other hand, Biff cares less about how much money he makes as long as he is able to do something he loves. This raises the question: "Under what circumstances is it okay to choose wealth over someone's dream or vice versa."
ReplyDeleteThroughout Death of a Salesman, there is an overwhelming focus on the truth, and whether it's better to always speak it or if at times lies are also needed. When Biff is at dinner with Happy and Willy he just wants to speak truthfully to his father about his shortcomings. However Happy warns him that this could break their father and he simply can't tell him and should instead lie. Was it right for Biff to have been truthful? Or is it sometimes OK to lie in order to have people be blissfully unaware?
ReplyDeleteThroughout the text the big idea of success is very prevalent, especially when looking at Willy's character. Some might say Willy is successful because he is surrounded by people who care deeply for him, however, Willy feels as though he is not a success due to his financial status. These contradictions of Willy's success pose the question; What defines success?
ReplyDeleteIn Death of a Salesman Willy is constantly afraid of failure. He constantly strives to not be only be seen as successful but hides his failures as well. How does the response to failure change someones actions in life?
ReplyDeleteThroughout the entirety of the text, happiness and success were mutually exclusive. Looking at Happy we see someone with everything who feels so lonely, so discontent. Biff on the other hand enjoys his life when he is out on the farm, but he makes little working there. The question that Death of a Salesman brings up is whether it is possible to attain both happiness and success as well as how to go about doing so.
ReplyDeleteIn the screenplay, Death of a Salesman, Willy is overly obsessed with happiness through success in his and his son's lives. Due to his strong beliefs, Willy developed his fear of failure. His lack of success and the anxieties he increased because of it poses the question; did he really want to die, or was it his fear finally getting to him due to his memory loss?
ReplyDeleteThroughout Death of a Salesman, willing is constantly straining himself to provide for his family. He stresses himself to the point of feeling depressed and a failure. Yet, he still keeps his eyes on the horizon, always hoping that he will achieve the American Dream of being successful as a result of his relentless work. However, his ultimate downfall begs the question: Is it even possible to achieve the American Dream, or should a person just take what they are given and nothing more?
ReplyDeleteThrough out Death of a Salesman, Willy's apparitions for Biff has been apparent. As a child, he ego was constantly boated by his father's liking towards him. On the contrary, Happy was always neglected and he was never center of attention. Because of this, a question is raised. How does a father's response towards his children's successes and failures effect their success as adults?
ReplyDeleteIn the Excerpts adapted from Arts Edge, Miller discusses the detrimental effects of external barriers that hinder an “attempt to achieve ‘self-realization’” (2). He continued on stating that this barrier “‘posits a wrong or evil in his environment”’ (2) ultimately suppressing a mans potential. Connecting this idea to Death of a Salesman, it could be argued that Willy’s environment prevented his journey to self-realization. Willy had potential to succeed, however a force prevented him from doing so, raising the question: can man blame external barriers for their failure? or is it man’s own fault for not overcoming these barriers?
ReplyDeleteThroughout the text Willy connects the idea of being charismatic to the attainment of success. Willy’s belief in personal connections are transferred to his sons and can be seen when Biff refers to Bernard by saying “he’s liked, but not well-liked” (42). Which raises the question: Does this ideology hold true? Is there a relationship between charisma and success?
ReplyDeleteThroughout the play the relationship between one's identity and one's success is heavily emphasized, but Miller never gives a definitive understanding of how they are related and correlate. This brings up the question: to what degree is one's identity reliant and based off of one's success, and vice versa? Another question this raises is are you really successful if you aren't happy?
ReplyDeleteThe first question that comes to mind would be: Is it worth ignoring reality to maintain happiness born from delusion? This question was made from Happy and Linda's desprate battle to keep Willy happy by constantly lying to him. Biff as seen in the climax struggles in trying to reach his father through reality until Willy leaves for the last time.
ReplyDeleteA question the text made me think about a lot is why does Willy try to force the idea of success on Biff and Happy when they don't want to be successful in terms of what Willy wants?
ReplyDelete