1990. Choose a novel or play that depicts a conflict between a parent (or a parental figure) and a son or daughter. Write an essay in which you analyze the sources of the conflict and explain how the conflict contributes to the meaning of the work. Avoid plot summary.
Fathers and sons don’t always get along. Their relationship can be strained for a variety of reasons. In Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, Willy and Biff don’t get along at all. Willy is constantly on Biff about his lack of a career while Biff is unhappy with Willy because he cheated on Linda. Miller uses their now strained relationship to further his analysis of the American dream.
Willy has a typical American Dream for his family. He wants them to have financial success. Willy’s view of the American Dream is that a person can be successful just by being liked. He tries to push this on his family by stressing popular sports like football and not caring about school and an education. Willy also uses this idea as a basis for his affairs. Bribing secretaries with stockings, Willy gets sex and quick access to the buyers. His success at being a salesman comes from the secretaries liking him. This new American Dream ideal highly favors money over values and enjoyment of ones work. On the other hand, Willy’s son Biff has a very different view of the American Dream. He finds satisfaction in going out west and working on the farms. Biff claims that he likes being out there and using his hands. Biff represents the old American Dream where making money wasn’t as important as your values and happiness.
Willy, the father, and Biff, the son, used to be a loving pair. However after Biff discovers his father’s affair, they become estranged. Their symbolism as the new and old American Dreams brings them to a head on collision of dislike for each other. Biff is unforgiving of his father’s affair because of its unethical ways in pursuit of more money. Willy on the other hand is upset with Biff ruining his potential by going out west. He thinks that Biff is wasting his time making no money and can’t see that it is what Biff wants to do.
Willy and Biff’s relationship with each other creates a deeper meaning in the commentary that Miller creates about the old and new American Dreams. The distance and fractured feelings between them create a vivid image behind the main plot.
Again, in this case the first sentence, instead of introducing the topic in a novel way, seems to be a general statement. Your thesis might point specifically to what Miller is attempting to say about the American dream in order to better answer the goals of the prompt.
ReplyDeleteThere was a lot of plot summary in this essay when compared with the last ones. There could have been more interpretation and analysis of what Miller intends to do with these plot points, or a more specific review of a particular situation and how it involves techniques/effects/meaning.
The meaning of what Miller is trying to say about the American dream is not fleshed out enough either. Other than that, I think you have good textual examples that could support an argument for meaning if you would expand on the argument part.