About the “Death of A Salesman Book”
Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman is a play. The story is about an unsuccessful father and his unsuccessful sons. The book was written in 1948 but came to the surface a year later. The novel attracted massive attention and has won Miller a Pulitzer Award.
The play was written as a two-act play, a tragedy. It depicts the themes of the American Dream, truth, infidelity, and how a capitalist mindset impacts people’s minds. Some critics consider it the greatest play of the 20th century.
Since the first time it was published, it has been revived four times, thus earning it three Tony Awards for best play. The writer tries to explain how a man can’t accept the change happening in him and society! The play is a montage of emotions, dreams, memories, arguments, and much more.
Book Summary
Here is a short summary of death of a salesman; hopefully, it will help the students compose the essay. In the play’s opening, Willy enters after a long day of unsuccessful sales. He suffers from mental confusion and cannot stay in the present. His two adult sons are also unsettled and unsure of their careers. Linda (wife of Willey) explains to her sons how to reestablish a relationship with Willy.
Biff was working on a business proposal and was very hopeful about that proposal. Unfortunately, Biff fails. Also, on the same day, Willy was fired from work. It is why, on that day, at the dinner, they were feeling unsuccessful.
Both Happy and Biff ended up in an argument leaving their father at the table, contemplating Biff’s discovery of his infidelity. Willy’s confusion keeps increasing, and he starts a conversation with Ben and discusses his life insurance.
In the final confrontation, Biff decides to leave the family for good, and Willy commits suicide. At the funeral, Biff realizes Willy had wrong dreams, and Happy remains unchanged. Linda mourns, asking why Willy did it. She had paid off the house, they were free of debt.
Willy was chasing his dream to become rich, and eventually, his dream became his obsession and a reason for his mental illness. The writer shows that their thoughts of Willy were filled with low self-esteem and critically explains the love of this 60-year older man for the money, which leads him to death at the end of the story.
The students should read the Arthur miller death of a salesman summary to understand the story, which will help them later to write an essay!
Death of A Salesman Quotes
The play leaves a lasting impact on minds with its surging gloom every moment Willy Loman gets flashbacks. Some notable quotes from the Death Of A Salesman shmoop are here:
- Biff: “Why am I trying to become what I don’t want to be? What am I doing in an office, making a contemptuous, begging fool of myself when all I want is out there, waiting for me the minute I say I know who I am!”
- Willy: “Pop! I’m a dime a dozen, and so are you.”
- Willy: “I’m going to show you and everybody else that Willy Loman did not die in vain. He had a good dream. It’s the only dream you can have – to come out number-one, man. He fought it out here, and this is where I will win it for him.”
- Happy: “I don’t know what I’m workin’ for. Sometimes I sit in my apartment—all alone. And I think of the rent I’m paying. And it’s crazy. But then, it’s what I always wanted. My apartment, a car, plenty of women, and still, goddamnit, I’m lonely.”
- Ben: “Never fight fair with a stranger, boy. You’ll never get out of the jungle that way.”
Essay Structure on Death of A Salesman:
After carefully reading the summary and characters of the play, I am sure it will become easier for you to elaborate on your findings and write them in the form of an essay. The key to writing an essay lies in the heart of its format.
Conventionally an essay has three main parts, namely:
● Introduction:
Before you start writing, read the death of salesman summary. At the start of your essay, introduce the topic on which they will be composing an essay. It is said that a smart introduction is never bare of the thesis statement of the essay on which it is written.
It is obligatory to add a thesis statement to avoid feeling away from the essay to link the introduction to the body,. Just like a hook in a piece of music attaches the listener to the song, a good and engaging introduction concentrates the learners’ attention to continue reading.
Something must stir the students to investigate and jot down their findings. A good way would be by providing a context and adding actual events in reference. In the introductory part of the essay, you must put the basic information like who wrote the Death Of A Salesman and when the book was published!
● Body:
Your essay’s body is the main part where you express your ideas, observations, and findings. Here you will justify your standpoint with supporting details. Conventionally a minimum of three paragraphs are written where each para has a topic statement and supporting details.
Always ensure that the paragraphs are interlinked and create a clear picture of the topic in the reader’s mind. Here, you have to provide a piece of detailed information about the story to your audience and briefly explain the major happenings!
● Conclusion:
The conclusion is the wrap-up of your essay. It could be written in several ways, either by restating the thesis statement or summarizing the main points of your essay. Make sure it is neither too wordy nor devoid of main ideas because your target is to keep the reader hooked to the essay till the end.
Tips To Consider While Writing an Essay About Death of A Salesman
Read The Book Thoroughly:
The first and foremost thing you will do is read the text line by line and page by page. The more you read, the better you can justify your stance in your essay. You must know who Willy Loman is, his dilemma, and the other major characters and their conflicts. The death of a salesman plot along with rising action, climax, falling action and resolution, and everything about this book can help you write the essay.
Find A Compelling Topic
While reading the text, you will find several aspects to conduct your research on, this way, you get more creative, and multiple ideas hit your mind. It is up to you which topic you wish to cover in your essay.
If your topic is strong and unique, it will compel the readers to want to study it as Shakespeare is read worldwide, and people write essays and articles on his work. Therefore, you will have to find a unique and compelling topic. It will make your essay stand out.
When deciding on a topic, you need to see whether it fulfills the demand of the arguments you will make in the essay. Lastly, consider seeing your Death Of A Salesman essay topics from every aspect without caring about the length of the topic.
Examples of good essay topics on Death Of A Salesman
Create The Outline:
An outline will be an excellent blueprint for your essay. The students will find it the most effective tool for creating the essay. Later on, the outline will also help in brainstorming. In brainstorming, all you need to do is think and write your ideas on the paper and write as many ideas as possible.
Once you are done with brainstorming, your next step will be clustering, in which you will decide which points are powerful and convincing to rationalize the arguments of your essay.
Write The Thesis Statement:
Writing a thesis statement often comes in the domains of argumentative or expository essays. In these types of essays, we don’t rely on the abstract but write a thesis statement to direct the readers to what they are looking for. One of the useful techniques is reading papers and observing how the authors frame their thesis statements and then follow them to create my own.
A thesis statement is to the point with minor details. Yet again, it is noteworthy that enough background and context should be provided to enable the readers to understand the outline of the essay. If your essay has subtopics, they should be covered in one statement.
As an example, we take the character of Linda Loman. She struggles to allow Willy Loman to stay in the illusion of his success. Let’s make a thesis statement about whether her stance is justified.
Despite her diligent attempts to stay in the marital tie and play her role as Willy Loman’s partner motivates him to commit suicide in the final act of the play.
Include A Lesson or Moral:
From the Death Of A Salesman play summary, we learn that unrealistic dreams impact one and how we respond to them is our choice. We also learn that one’s constant denial influences those around him.
Another aspect could be man’s ability to differentiate between what is a reality and what is a manifestation of dreams. Also, it is the most important part of the essay. The moral of the story also depends on the analysis of the readers. The students can use these morals in their essays and in real life to be the best human beings!
Conclusion: Proofread Your Work:
Don’t fear to express your ideas in your essay. But before finishing off, it is very important to give it a meticulous read, look for typos, grammatical errors, and the use of proper vocabulary. Lastly, before submitting the final draft, it is mandatory to read it multiple times. You should add relevant transitional devices to ensure coherence and cohesion in the essay; otherwise, it will not leave a lasting impact.
If just like other students, you face difficulties in essay writing, you can hire our services and assist you in writing the death of a salesman research papers. Our well-experienced experts can write the essay or death of a salesman paper in a short time. Also, you can consult professional writers if you face any issues in writing homework or problems due to exams!
FAQ
● What Is The Main Point Of Death Of A Salesman?
Death of s salesman revolves around identity crisis and man’s failure to agree to change in society and how it brings a change in his personality, which is depicted through a collage of ruminations, flashbacks, debates, and clashes between the characters.
● What Is The Tragic Flaw In Death Of A Salesman?
In the death of a salesman, we find that the protagonist is highly delusional and much of his flashbacks reflect the death of a salesman time period when he considered himself great. This notion is mainly based on his superficial idea of success; for instance, he considers himself well-known among his business associates.
● What Is The Moral Of The Play Death Of A Salesman?
The play centers around one’s continued refusal to leave an impact on those around him or somehow involved in his life. Another moral is that some dreams cannot be chased, and it is our choice how we respond to them. Lastly, we should be ready to cope with change to become successful
● What Happens At The End Of Death Of A Salesman?
Towards the end of the play, Willy Loman realizes that he will not achieve success, which inspires him to commit suicide. The notion behind attempting suicide is to leave a chance for his son to live a life Willy had never lived for himself.
