Essay | Death of a Salesman

Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller, is the story of a traveling salesman whose life is dwindling away. He lives in a world of illusions, refusing to accept reality. He eventually loses his job, the only thing that kept him going. Finally, he commits suicide so that his son, Biff may receive insurance money and possibly live a better life than he.

This play is confusing at first because Willy, the main character, drifts between his fantasy world filled with illusions and the real world. At times, the two worlds even coincide. However, as the play continues, we learn the reason for his wanderings. At the present time, Willy is very unhappy. Neither of his sons, Happy or Biff, is as successful as he would like. Biff says, "I'm not married. I'm not in...
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