Post by taylorm07 on Mar 19, 2008 22:24:04 GMT -5
T.M.
Pd. 7
Word Count: 750
In his play, Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller acquaints the audience Willy Loman, a beaten, mentally unstable salesman. Willy, who has worked his whole life in the profession, has ultimately failed in the eyes of society. He is one of the many poor souls whose duty in life is to merely fuel the ideal of the American Dream and the capitalist system. While the dream is attained by few, those who do succeed give hope to the many who pursue it. This dream is largely influenced by capitalism, a merciless system that consumes people’s lives. Death of a Salesman is still relevant today, because the ruthlessness of capitalism still presides in society today.
Willy is particularly affected by the brutal system of capitalism. The desire to reach the almost unattainable, or the American Dream, has become ingrained in his mind. Willy is being driven by the capitalist system to be the “best”. He dreams of being like Dave Singleman, who resides at the top of the salesman hierarchy. Willy idolizes the man who “died the death of a salesman, in green velvet slippers” (Miller 61). Those velvet slippers represent success in Willy’s mind, and he is desperate to mimic Singleman’s lifestyle. What Willy does not realize is that the velvet slippers embody the capitalist system. Only few have ascended to the top of the capitalist pyramid, and these are the few who are able to afford the luxuries of owning velvet slippers. While these people paint attractive pictures of achievement, the journeys of all the Singlemans in society involved the manipulation of the Lomans. These low men are essentially used as stepping stones for the more aggressive in society, facilitating the rise of the “single man”, or the men who work for themselves and. Willy, in his conversation with Howard, finally realizes that he has been used and is recognized as dispensable. However disillusioned Willy may be, he recognizes what Howard has done to him by claiming that, “You can’t eat the orange and throw away the peel – a man is not a piece of fruit!” (61). Nonetheless, in saying so, Willy discerns the fact that many honest workers are employed as “fruit” to those ruthless businessmen who wish to gain advantage and advance their status in the world.
Willy represents the honest workers in modern times. There have been countless instances of the exploitation of the “common people” in the workplace. A prime example of this mistreatment occurred in 2001, when the shady dealings of the Enron Corporation were exposed to the public light and many people lost millions of dollars. The executives of the company effectively lied to the greater public, claiming that profits were soaring, implying that the company had a bright future. In reality, the company was pouring money into false companies, hiding losses and fabricating sales. This guarantee of profits lulled the stockholders into a false sense of security and encouraged them to invest in Enron stock. This caused an inflation of stock prices, making even more money for the CEOS, including Jeff Skilling and Andy Fastow, who continued with their deceit, claiming even more revenue for Enron. Their employees unloaded their earnings into their 401K accounts and, when the company went down, they went down with it. Some were lucky to have any money left in their accounts after they had been severely depleted to make up for the losses that the company sustained. These employees, modern or not, are represented by Willy Loman. These are the everyday people who were crushed by the large feet of ambition. The CEOs of the company managed to escape with an upwards of fifty million dollars each, if not more, while their workers had their retirement funds drained to compensate. The executives tendered enormous triumph over beating the capitalist system, and would have been considered enormous successes by the Willys in society had they not been caught. The business world is rife with corruption, and it has become apparent that if achievement is desired, one cannot play by the rules. The lesson learned by many is that if no boundaries are crossed, then one will get burned by the business. Capitalism does not promote honesty or trust among men; they are not part of its pitiless nature. Instead, it solicits deception and a conniving nature. Those who want to succeed according to the standards of society will either be transformed by the system or they will be destroyed by it.
Pd. 7
Word Count: 750
In his play, Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller acquaints the audience Willy Loman, a beaten, mentally unstable salesman. Willy, who has worked his whole life in the profession, has ultimately failed in the eyes of society. He is one of the many poor souls whose duty in life is to merely fuel the ideal of the American Dream and the capitalist system. While the dream is attained by few, those who do succeed give hope to the many who pursue it. This dream is largely influenced by capitalism, a merciless system that consumes people’s lives. Death of a Salesman is still relevant today, because the ruthlessness of capitalism still presides in society today.
Willy is particularly affected by the brutal system of capitalism. The desire to reach the almost unattainable, or the American Dream, has become ingrained in his mind. Willy is being driven by the capitalist system to be the “best”. He dreams of being like Dave Singleman, who resides at the top of the salesman hierarchy. Willy idolizes the man who “died the death of a salesman, in green velvet slippers” (Miller 61). Those velvet slippers represent success in Willy’s mind, and he is desperate to mimic Singleman’s lifestyle. What Willy does not realize is that the velvet slippers embody the capitalist system. Only few have ascended to the top of the capitalist pyramid, and these are the few who are able to afford the luxuries of owning velvet slippers. While these people paint attractive pictures of achievement, the journeys of all the Singlemans in society involved the manipulation of the Lomans. These low men are essentially used as stepping stones for the more aggressive in society, facilitating the rise of the “single man”, or the men who work for themselves and. Willy, in his conversation with Howard, finally realizes that he has been used and is recognized as dispensable. However disillusioned Willy may be, he recognizes what Howard has done to him by claiming that, “You can’t eat the orange and throw away the peel – a man is not a piece of fruit!” (61). Nonetheless, in saying so, Willy discerns the fact that many honest workers are employed as “fruit” to those ruthless businessmen who wish to gain advantage and advance their status in the world.
Willy represents the honest workers in modern times. There have been countless instances of the exploitation of the “common people” in the workplace. A prime example of this mistreatment occurred in 2001, when the shady dealings of the Enron Corporation were exposed to the public light and many people lost millions of dollars. The executives of the company effectively lied to the greater public, claiming that profits were soaring, implying that the company had a bright future. In reality, the company was pouring money into false companies, hiding losses and fabricating sales. This guarantee of profits lulled the stockholders into a false sense of security and encouraged them to invest in Enron stock. This caused an inflation of stock prices, making even more money for the CEOS, including Jeff Skilling and Andy Fastow, who continued with their deceit, claiming even more revenue for Enron. Their employees unloaded their earnings into their 401K accounts and, when the company went down, they went down with it. Some were lucky to have any money left in their accounts after they had been severely depleted to make up for the losses that the company sustained. These employees, modern or not, are represented by Willy Loman. These are the everyday people who were crushed by the large feet of ambition. The CEOs of the company managed to escape with an upwards of fifty million dollars each, if not more, while their workers had their retirement funds drained to compensate. The executives tendered enormous triumph over beating the capitalist system, and would have been considered enormous successes by the Willys in society had they not been caught. The business world is rife with corruption, and it has become apparent that if achievement is desired, one cannot play by the rules. The lesson learned by many is that if no boundaries are crossed, then one will get burned by the business. Capitalism does not promote honesty or trust among men; they are not part of its pitiless nature. Instead, it solicits deception and a conniving nature. Those who want to succeed according to the standards of society will either be transformed by the system or they will be destroyed by it.