Death of a salesman betrayal quotes. CJAS 2022-12-12

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In Arthur Miller's play "Death of a Salesman," the theme of betrayal is a significant aspect of the story. Throughout the play, the main character, Willy Loman, experiences betrayal from various sources, including his family, his employer, and even himself. The following are some quotes from the play that highlight the theme of betrayal in "Death of a Salesman."

"I'm fat. I'm very—I'm very—foolish, to look at, and I'm ugly." - Willy Loman

This quote, spoken by Willy, highlights his feelings of inadequacy and betrayal by the societal standards of success. Willy is a salesman and has always believed that the key to success is being well-liked, but he has struggled to achieve this. As a result, he feels betrayed by society's expectations and his own inability to meet them.

"I'm not a leader of men, Ben, and you know it. Will you let me in on the ground floor?" - Willy Loman

In this quote, Willy is speaking to his brother Ben, who is a successful businessman. Willy's request for help reveals his feelings of betrayal by his own lack of success and his belief that he has been passed over for opportunities. Willy's sense of betrayal is further compounded by the fact that Ben, his own brother, has achieved the success that Willy has always coveted.

"I'm not gonna get in no argument with you, Ben. I'm not gonna get in no argument with you." - Willy Loman

This quote, spoken by Willy during a conversation with Ben, highlights the betrayal that Willy feels within his own family. Willy's inability to stand up for himself and assert his own thoughts and feelings is a sign of his feelings of betrayal by his own family and their lack of support for him.

"I'm not a dime a dozen, and don't you forget it." - Willy Loman

This quote, spoken by Willy during a conversation with his boss, highlights the betrayal that Willy feels by his employer. Willy has always believed that his job as a salesman was a secure and important position, but he is now being let go due to his lack of success. Willy's employer's decision to let him go is a betrayal of his belief in the value of his job and his own worth as an employee.

In conclusion, the theme of betrayal is a significant aspect of "Death of a Salesman." Willy Loman experiences betrayal from various sources, including society, his family, and his employer. These betrayals contribute to Willy's feelings of inadequacy and his eventual downfall.

Themes in Death of a Salesman: American dream & Betrayal

death of a salesman betrayal quotes

LINDA: Are they any worse than his sons? Shipping clerk, salesman, business of one kind or another. To get on that subway on the hot mornings in summer. WILLY: Well, I was just a baby, of course, only three or four years old. Finally, a point that is strangely more apparent now than it was likely to have been when Salesman first appeared in 1949: the drama is set in the late 1940s and reaches back some fifteen years to the early 1930s, yet there is scarcely a mention of the Great Depression—or of World War II? With one gadget he made more in a week than a man like you could make in a lifetime. Despite working as a salesman for many years he always struggled to make ends meet. Nobody dast blame this man.

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The Death of a Salesman should be studied in school instead of Romeo and Juliet. : books

death of a salesman betrayal quotes

His hopes are dashed when Howard not only denies his request to stop traveling, but fires him completely. And then you get yourself a couple spots on your hat and your finished. But is that really the life he has? We can see that both Willy and Biff are blinded by false beliefs and refuse to see the harsh truth. The reader is often left to wonder why such a successful football star never grew into a great man? To his credit, Miller was one of the first writers to comprehend a seismic change in the American economy of the late 1940s that saw corporations expand into large, confusing bureaucracies. Most of them were older people late 20s to early 50s who planned to be teachers. The man is gonna know! Willy becomes conflict between his desire to conform and succeed in his society, and his despair over the fact that success seems unreachable which causes him to examine the very essence of the American Willy Deception 872 Words 4 Pages His family are not ready to recognize the miserable realness on their specific souls, Biff perceives self dissatisfaction and over the long haul makes sense of how to confront it. She feels betrayed when both sons basically turn their backs on Willy and destroy all his hopes.

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Abandonment and Betrayal Theme in Death of a Salesman

death of a salesman betrayal quotes

We never told the truth for ten minutes in this house! And always to have to get ahead of the next fella. Compared to his father and brother, however, Willy was much more of a family man, absent for long periods of time though he may have been. Thoughts, discussion questions, epiphanies and interesting links about authors and their work. Therefore, as a father, he has every right to expect his son to obey his will. His name was never in the paper. Why am I trying to become what I don't want to be? His name was never in the paper.

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Betrayal in "Death of a Salesman" Essay Example

death of a salesman betrayal quotes

All the conversations are about book. The man who never worked a day but for your benefit? Cause what could be more satisfying than to be able to go, at the age of eighty-four, into twenty or thirty different cities, and pick up the phone, and be remembered and loved and helped by so many different people? WILLY: What a memory, Ben! All posts must be directly book related, informative, and discussion focused. Willy refuses to believe this, cannot believe this. Kids seems to be more interested in the story overall, there are massive amounts of great interactive teaching tools online to assist me, and I can use the Leo DiCaprio movie as a support to illustrate what they are reading, keep them engaged, and talk about themes. So attention must be paid. Moreover, the trace of abandonment follows If we go deeper into the analysis, it becomes clear that Linda and the rest of the family also abandon Willy in the sense that they refuse to help him.

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Death of a Salesman Quotes and Analysis

death of a salesman betrayal quotes

Death of a Salesman, act 1 You fake! Yet, throughout the play, she delivers speeches that define Willy beyond his shortcomings as a salesman and give him stature. Although Willy is the first one to use this line, Ben repeats it many times throughout the play, making it clear that Ben is only a figment of Willy's imagination. Ironically, Miller himself understood this distinction. No man should die without feeling he mattered. And always to have to get ahead of the next fella.

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The 20 Best Death of a Salesman Quotes

death of a salesman betrayal quotes

Miller had gift enough to get the idea for Death of a Salesman, but then—in the face of his divided dramatic impulse—he settled for the dynamics of the idea itself to write his play. I got told I was wrong when I said the green light in Gatsby meant go like a car, apparently it was meant to be green like envy. The conflict between the city and the wilderness is also latent in this exchange. But he's a human being, and a terrible thing is happening to him. I realized that the author is batshit crazy and while a decent author, his ideas should probably be ignored. For example, in the first scene he states that Biff is lazy but then he goes on a line or two later to state that he is a hard working lad and that he is not lazy. None of them identified with Holden in the least, and eventually one of them came out and said she was afraid of having students like Holden when she was a teacher.

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CJAS

death of a salesman betrayal quotes

Act I This is a principal refrain for Ben. Even though Arthur Miller wrote it in the middle of the twentieth century, the play is still relevant. His infidelity can not be so easily explained, but it, too, may stem from his early abandonment. The play has proven to be riddled with many human emotions. Linda emphasizes that what Willy has—he is still doing relatively fine at his job—is just enough for him. Willy also fools himself into thinking he is well liked and successful. He was even finished with the dentist.

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Betrayal in Death of a Salesman

death of a salesman betrayal quotes

And I looked at the pen and I thought, what the hell am I grabbing this for? He does not have the courage to head out into nature and try his fortune, and, anyway, that world of a wild frontier waiting to be explored no longer exists. But Willy is both too timid and too late. Biff feels completely betrayed in the way that the one person he has always looked up to is so good for nothing that he would stoop to cheating on his own wife. Several American playwrights, including Elmer Rice, Robert Sherwood, and Maxwell Anderson, had similarly large followings in the United States and abroad during their lives. . He had almost closed out the mortgage on his house, which to judge by the community development all around it was a piece of real estate in an increasingly valuable and desirable section of town.


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Famous Quotes from Arthur Miller's 'Death of a Salesman'

death of a salesman betrayal quotes

The link between love and betrayal is present throughout the play: part of Biff's revelation at the play's end is that Willy has betrayed him by encouraging him to settle for nothing less than greatness, thus making the compromises of the real world impossibly difficult. Willie Loman never made a lot of money. He exists as an insulted extrusion of commercial society battling for some sliver of authenticity before he slips into the great dark. The teacher had us read it out loud as a class, which made it somewhat more engaging, but otherwise very difficult to understand or relate to I enjoyed your metaphor of the pregnant pole vaulter. Being a father and being a salesman were the two things he lived for.

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Death of a Salesman Quotes, Themes, Symbols Flashcards

death of a salesman betrayal quotes

Attention, attention must finally be paid to such a person. The pathetic is achieved when the protagonist is, by virtue of his witless- ness, his insensitivity, or the very air he gives off, incapable of grappling with a much superior force. In the play Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller proves he is America 's social critic when he criticizes Willy 's relationship concerning his family, his lack of success in achieving his goals and his dreams along with his inner turmoil and personal collapse which result in suicide. Willy was also betrayed by Howard, his boss. BEN: Why boys, when I was seventeen I walked into the jungle, and when I was twenty-one I walked out. In this quote, we see that Willy's belief in personal connections has been transferred to his sons as well, as they dismiss their friend Bernard for only garden-variety likability.

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