Death of a Salesman Reader Response Critique
In
the play Death of a Salesman, the main character Willy Loman contradicts
himself over and over again. In regards to the reader this can be rather
confusing and disconcerting. He is a salesman who thinks construction work an
unfit career for him yet he told his neighbor Charley “A man who can’t handle
tools is not a man.” (29). Willy’s opinionated stance on occupation translates
to the reader as ungrounded stubbornness. Stubbornness and pride are two of the
most relatable traits as we all possess them. Similarly as he defends the way
he has raised his sons to Ben saying “That’s just the way I’m bringing them up,
Ben – rugged, well liked, all –around” (32). As a father his intensions do seem
pure though he goes about them in the wrong way. It is through his role as a
father that draws the pity from those who read the play. The character of Ben
is meant to draw different sides of Willy and the boys. The advice that he
gives to the boys proposes a playful relationship between them and invites the
readers to participate in the love of two young boys and their uncles (33).
Your comments are especially good on the way a reader might judge Willy--for stubborness and then with pity, as we connect to his desire to be a good father. Good focus on emotional responses to character. A fuller analysis would go further into the comments on Ben that you begin--how would a reader react to the rivalry between Willy and his brother Ben, and is that echoed in the boys? Do we actually like these characters, as Willy intends his sons to be liked? (350 words, 3 quotes?) Thanks!
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