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Reaction Paper to the Death of a Salesman

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Reaction Paper to "The Death of a Salesman"
ENG/125
October 19, 2015

Reaction Paper to "The Death of a Salesman"
In Arthur Miller’s Play Death of a Salesman, the play recollects the last 24 hours of the Loman’s family life and the events leading up to the death of Willy Loman. The title of the play is symbolic to the unraveling of the picture perfect family imagine that Willy created to everyone around him. The title is also symbolic to Willy losing his career as a salesman. Arthur Miller was very clever with his themes by using flashbacks throughout the play. He used four major themes according to SparkNotes Editors. (2002). Appearance vs. reality, the individual vs. society, the individual vs. himself, and the perception of the American Dream.
Willy has been a salesman all his life. He has brought his sales experience into his personal life. He was selling the idea that his marriage and family life are perfect. His sons Biff and Happy are not what Willy had imagined or made them out to be. He wanted them to be successful business men just like him; however they are not. Willy has sold his lies for so long about his happy family that he can’t even remember what the truth is or doesn’t choose to remember. Willy is a man of many mistakes and doesn’t take accountability for the mistakes that he has made and often twists the truth to make himself the victim. I think Willy is a very relatable character. He by all means is not perfect and only wants the American Dream for his family. We can connect with his hopes for his family. By the end of the play, we, the readers end up feeling sorry for him because of the choices that he made in hopes of bettering his son.
Although once a respected businessman, that changed over time. Willy only resorts back to the past and refuses to accept that he is no longer a respected in the sales field. He believes that

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