The themes of Death of a Salesman
include:
A) Willy's quest for the ideal of the American
Dream and the idea that those who work the hardest get rewarded the hardest. His
idealized notion of the All American "perfect" life with the son in a football team, him
a businessman with a wife, even a mistress- and the fantasy of it
all.
b) reality vs. fiction- All that Willy had as real was
actually his own make-belief notion of grandeur. Back in his time, a salesman was
probably the least educated professional of his time, yet, Willy saw himself as a major
businessman the way self made millionaires would see themselves today. The
dysfuctionality of his family, his lack of parenting skills, his torn marriage, his
insipid career, all this goes in the backburner in his
mind.
c) fighting against society- A salesman has no choice
but to codepend on circumstances: The market, the clients, the trends, the business,
etc- Willy tried his entire life to build something he could fall back on with no
success. He was as incapable of building a present as he was a
future.
d) fighting against oneself- Willy had denied his
talents, froze his son's own talents (though Biff was no different than Willy) and all
because he still wanted to live this image that he was not up to par. In the end, he
died committing suicide, perhaps after finally accepting how little he had accomplished
versus how much he had dreamt.
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