Death of a Salesman Final Paper Prompt

Darren Shawn

Professor Lynch

English 102

June 1,2020

Death of a Salesman Outline

Thesis: In order to understand all things considered, one must question the reliability of the

main characters and their thoughts, the stigma in harsh realities of the American dream, the

negative connotation of stockings and its motif, the conflict between the standard of modernity

and inability to innovate, as well as conflicts between Willy and Biff that drive the climax.

Through deception and ethnic corruption, one is unable to distinguish the difference between

delusions and reality, ultimately leading to one’s demise.

Topic Sentence: The narrative of the play is unreliable because of negative psychological

characteristics the protagonist Willy experiences which often reflects on the disillusionment of

the success in his career.

1. Willy “communicating” with his brother Ben

2. Willy is unable to distinguish the difference between his illusions and reality.

3. Willy can't grasp the fact that his brother is no longer there.

4. Willy constantly imagines himself as a successful salesman

5. Willy believes that being well liked will bring him the success he requires in fulfilling

his American dream

6. Willy’s delusional self thinks that he is well known to the rich.

7. “I'm the New England man. I'm vital in New England.” He thinks that he was “vital”

to his company, yet gets fired because of his poor results to the company

8. Willy chooses to run from his problems by committing suicide

9. Willy goes the extraordinary length to trade his life for insurance money. He was so

negatively impacted psychologically that he was not making the right decisions.

Topic Sentence: Becoming wealthy is the fundamental idea of the American dream, where

Willy’s aspiration of being a successful salesman fell short when the harsh reality of a grand

objective; ultimately led to his demise.

1. Having Willy’s stuck up beliefs in the American dream made him too reliant on his

beliefs that he would talk up about himself. However, achieving the American dream

requires determination and hard work, instead of dreaming the delusions he lives in;

driven by his ego.

2. Willy believes in the materialistic version of the American dream; where he thinks of

his wealth through the luxuries he provided to his family.

3. Willy had an immense amount of debt because of his purchases of materialistic

luxuries such as: refrigerator and vacuum cleaner.

4. Committed suicide because he resorted to death in order to pay the debt in insurance

money.

5. Willy constantly acted like he was at that point of wealth and success, but was

deceiving everybody including his family, that ego leading to his ultimate demise.

Lies to wife about how much money he is making.

6. As a part of the American dream, what is considered success to Willy is his

popularity and being well liked.

7. Willy puts so much faith into his American dream that it seems as if his whole family

has to live under his belief in his version of the American dream.

8. Willy fantasizes in the bright futures of his sons but does not take into account that

their sons could have their own American dream

9. Though Happy was living under the unrealistic American dream influenced by his

father, Biff was uninterested in the lifestyle he was raised under, so is better satisfied

being a family man and doing what he loves.

Topic Sentence: The motif of stockings is an essential symbol of Willy’s family betrayal as well

as his failed attempt in being a successful businessman, consequently unable to achieve his

American dream.

1. Stockings are used to show Willy's deception against his wife.

2. Stockings are considered “hard to get” therefore a luxury and valuable at the time.

3. Stockings suggest a sense of ethic corruption where it is not right to have an affair

when already married.

4. The stockings are used to show Willy's measurement of wealth.

5. Willy had so much control over his wife that she did not dare go against him.

6. This betrayal is contradictory to his beliefs of being a family man under the American

dream.

7. Initially, Biff looked up to Willy, but was betrayed of his trust.

8. Willy ruined that image by cheating which in turn caused a healthy relationship to

deteriorate causing Willy's unhappiness to grow further.

9. Biff calls Willy a "phony little fake" out of anger and their once happy relationship

deteriorates.

Topic Sentence: The author’s view on modernity conflicts with Willy’s reliant standards of

more traditional methods of practice, causing his ruination by slowly walking out on his version

of the American dream.

1. As a part of the American dream, the technology boom occurred in this era.

2. Willy was an “old-man” and was unable to keep up with the modernization of

technology, and was using traditional, old methods for sales.

3. In a world where there are much better ways for sales, Willy is stuck with his method

and is being left behind. He is unable to advance and is stuck in the ways of the old

4. Tape recorder symbolizes advancement in technology. First mentioned in the scene

where Howard brings it up in the office.

5. Willy’s American dream is gradually seeping away because of the new generation

and their technology.

6. Willy realizes his inability to adapt to the new technology which resulted in poor

performance at the company, ultimately leading to his dismissal.

7. Willy refuses the job offer Howard gave him because he had to travel to another city

with a car.

8. Car symbolizes Willy’s struggle to achieve the American dream.

9. Cars depict a level of social status in the United States. Also another mention that the

play opens with a scene where Willy is driving the car, and ends its climax when

Willy commits suicide in his car.

Topic Sentence: the internal and external conflicts between Biff and Willy throughout the

play is surrounded by the illusions and reality their American dream burdens.

1. He is very delusional over the greatness of his son Biff.

2. "He's got spirit, personality." Willy ignores that his son didn't study, steals, and fools

around. He believes he is well liked and destined to be great.

3. External conflict of the affair that deteriorated a once healthy father-son relationship.

4. That affair mentally burdened Biff and resulted in missing the Math exam to get him

the football scholarship.

5. Biff was crushed and dug a deeper hole into his life; imprisoned for stealing.

6. Internal conflict arises when Willy dismisses the idea of Biff’s dream of becoming a

football player.

7. Willy and Biff had different beliefs, different American dreams. Willy forced Biff to

follow his track and become a “successful” salesman.

8. Willy says that “Biff Loman is lost. In the greatest country in the world a young man

with such – personal attractiveness gets lost,” rather, setting a high expectation which

restricts Biff’s ease in pursuing his dream of becoming a football player.

9. Leading up to Willy’s death, Biff was unable to resolve the internal conflict of not

being able to please his father.

Conclusion:

Ultimately, the play “Death of a Salesman,” depicts the adverse results that are carried by the

unreasonable American dream through the experience of the character Willy Loman as an

illustration to the readers. Willy pretends to be a person he is not, by lying and deceiving his

family in order to present his level of wealth and success. What makes his narrative less reliable

is his constant need to prove to himself that he is well known where in fact, he was unable to

distinguish the difference between his delusions and reality. The destruction of a once happy

relationship between Willy and his son Biff consisted of two factors. On the one hand, Willy and

Biff had different dreams, and what truly deteriorated their relationship was the affair Willy had.

Gradually, the American dream was slipping through Willy’s fingers, when he was unable to

modernize as he clung onto his past. Though Willy’s wife was always supportive; the stockings

he gave to the mistress were a symbol that reminded Willy and Biff of the betrayal of the family.

Taking everything into consideration, Willy aspired to be someone he was dreaming to be, but in

the process lost his sense of self and made him into the “phony little fake” his son described

him to be.