Fame In Death Of A Salesman

Words: 1240
Pages: 5

Disastrous Consequences of Fame in Arthur Miller’s play “Death of a Salesman” Death of a Salesman is a tragic play made in 1949 by Arthur Miller. Like all of us Willy, ( the main character) wants to be famous and well-known. He is settled in New York with his wife and son Happy, while his other son,Biff, visits them. Willy is frustrated that Biff hasn’t done anything with his life. He isn’t reputable, he isn’t rich, so these aspects force Willy to keep trying to be successful, something he struggles with throughout the play. Throughout the novel, the author incorporates flashbacks and visions of people that are prominent, like his brother Ben or his neighbor Charley. This struggle for success leads up to the unexpected ending: fame can be …show more content…
Miller starts the climax right off the bat when Biff and Willy argue in front of Linda and Happy in the kitchen.
“ [Biff whips out the hose and puts it on the table]
Willy- What is
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“ Biff- Will you let me go, for Christ’s sake? Will you take that phony dream and burn it before something happens.[struggling to contain himself, he pulls away and moves upstairs.] I’ll go in the morning. Put him-put him to bed.[ Exhausted, Biff moves upstairs into his room.] Willy-[after a long pause, astonished, elevated.]: Isn’t that-isn’t that remarkable? Biff-he likes me!” (Act II, page 106). Willy finally accepts Biff. Linda tells him to go to bed and Willy said he would be right there. After all that, it looks like Willy just might be ok. All of a sudden, a vision of Ben comes out of nowhere and talks to Willy, Willy says Biff is amazing and how more amazing he would be with $20,000. Ben quickly replies, “the boat, we’ll be late” and disappears. Willy starts going insane, seeing faces, hearing voices and sounds. He’s trying to keep quiet, but Linda asks for him.Willy runs outside, goes in the car, and crashes the vehicle, killing himself so Biff and the rest of the family can have his life insurance money. Willy wants to be successful and when he realizes he can't, he figures at least Biff can so Willy takes his own