Close Reading December 16

This article I read can be found here: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/16/opinion/sunday/kristof-do-we-have-the-courage-to-stop-this.html?ref=opinion

      After the recent violence in Connecticut, many editorials have been written arguing for various methods of preventing similar crimes in the future. Among these is an article written by Nicholas Kristof titled "Do We Have the Courage to Stop This?". In the article, Kristof argues for increased regulation on firearms, saying such regulation will greatly reduce the number of violent crimes in the United States. Throughout the article, Kristof uses strong diction, quantitative details, and syntax to create a though-provoking argument.

      In the article, Kristof uses carefully chosen diction to make his point and opinion powerful in a subtle way. He uses words that have certain connotations, for example he describes the politicians, whom he clearly blames for their inaction, as "feckless" (paragraph 7). Later he criticizes politicians again, saying Obama had a given a "moving" speech. This word generally has a positive connotation, but that connotation is one of emotion rather than of literal motion, and Kristof uses that to contrast what is currently being done from the strong action he thinks should be taken. For most of the article, Kristof's diction is mechanical and logical, but with a few choice words such as these he changes the opinion of the reader. 

      The details of the article are perhaps what makes the argument the strongest. By presenting numerous facts and statistics, Kristof is able to make his argument logical and convincing. He presents statistics comparing gun control in the US to that in other countries, such as Canada and  Australia, saying how restrictions on firearms there led to a clear decrease in violent crimes. He also makes comparisons with restriction on automobiles, citing the long list of regulations on automobile safety, which makes the lack of regulation on the obviously more dangerous things, guns, seem absurd. Finally, with a slightly satirical tone, he compares regulation of guns to that of ladders. He cites the regulations that exist on ladders, which are quite extensive, and then notes that guns cause over one hundreds times more deaths than ladders annually, but are not as strictly regulated. The statistics are the basis of Kristof's argument in the sense that they make his points hard to challenge.

      Finally, with syntax that challenges the reader, Kristof drives home his point. Throughout the article, he writes almost as if he were directly addressing the reader. This begins right in the title: "Do We Have the Courage to Stop This?" The use of the first person plural pronouns brings the reader into the text, empowering him or her to take action. The rhetorical question is thought provoking, and could possibly even cause feelings of guilt or defiance. Kristof continues asking rhetorical questions and including the reader through the use of pronouns throughout the article. He concludes it with the "Some of you…", again using a pronoun that includes the reader directly. Altogether, Kristof's use of these three literary tools create a powerful and convincing argument. 

Open Prompt-Dec 9

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.

      In Arthur Miller's play Death of a Salesman the main character Willy Loman and his son Biff are constantly at conflict. Throughout the play, Willy believes in the capitalist business system and that anyone can be successful, whereas Biff denies this and tries to escape the business world. The origin of this conflict, as we find out towards the end of the play, lies in the family's past. In Death of a Salesman, Miller uses the conflicting ideals of Biff and Willy to contrast conventional views of the business world with human nature.

     The origin of the conflict between Willy and Biff originates at the end of Biff's high school years, as we find out in a mental flashback of Willy's in the second act. Biff had originally believed in his father and his father's world, thinking business was the only path to success and that Willy had succeeded and become essentially a perfect human being. In the flashback, Biff goes to meet his father in a hotel in Boston to ask him to speak to a teacher about changing a grade, again assuming his father is influential enough to have anything done. He finds Willy in a hotel room with an unknown woman. Immediately Biff becomes disillusioned with the Willy's whole world. He wonders how many other parts of what Willy has told him have been a lie besides his marriage. This disillusionment continues throughout the rest of the play, as Biff rebels against his father's views for the remainder of the play. The single scene in the hotel is the reason for the conflict, but it was built up to for years by Willy's lies or fantasies. If Willy had exposed Biff to the truth and given him a vision of a less ideal world, the events in the hotel probably would not have effected him so greatly.

     The conflict is the central theme of the play and provides context for Miller to communicate his themes. One of those themes is the failure of the capitalist business system. Miller feels that many people have views similar to Willy about the business world, and have bought into the system enough to have lost some perspective. In the play, Miller exaggerates this in Willy's case, making him in a complete fantasy world, and Biff serves to make it apparent to the audience how far Willy has gone from reality. Willy constantly makes statements about the business world that are generally accepted as true, for example, that one will start off with a low position, but move up after years of working somewhere. Willy has come to believe it so completely that he almost doesn't recognize that has not happened in his own case. Biff continually points out the flaws in Willy's thinking, giving entirely negative feedback and saying Willy has failed and that he himself does not have chance to succeed. Biff's disillusionment and the contrast with Willy's delusion's puts the dire situation of the Loman family in perspective.

Death of a Salesman Summary and Analysis-Dec 3

Death of a Salesman 

Author

Death of a Salesman was written by Arthur Miller in 1949. Miller is a famous playwright who won the Pulitzer prize for Drama and also authored several other well-know plays including The Crucible. Arthur Miller was also politically involved throughout his career as a writer.

Setting 

The play takes place in New York City. Most of the action occurs in the Loman's home and at several other scenes around the city including an office building, a restaurant, and Charley's Business. One scene occurs in a hotel in Boston. The time period of the play is unspecified, but it can be implied that it is meant to take place around the time the play was written, 1949.

Plot

The play begins with Willy coming home from a business trip, supposedly to Boston. Soon, it is revealed, that Willy never made it to Boston, because he couldn't stay focused on driving. Linda comforts him, saying he is just too tired after years of work to be on the road all the time anymore. The scene then switches to the two sons Biff and Happy, who are visiting their parents. The two boys talk as they sit in their old room, talking about their current lives and the changes since their high school years. As they fall asleep, a scene from Willy's memory of their days in high school takes over. A scene is replayed from before Biff's big high school football game showing the dynamic of the family in those years. A conversation between Willy and Linda is interrupted by the Woman's laughter in Willy's head, foreshadowing the later realization. The flashback ends and Happy talks to Willy just before going to bed. The neighbor, Charley enters and he and Willy engage in a game of cards. The game is interrupted by another flashback in Willy's mind, in which he converses with his brother Ben. It is revealed that Ben was a successful businessman and Willy missed the opportunity to go into business with him, and it has troubled him ever since he started doing poorly in his job. Meanwhile, Biff becomes aware of Willy's mental state and discusses it with Linda expressing concern. Linda is defensive of Willy and attacks Biff for being unable to find a suitable job and allowing Willy to rest easy. Willy enters the conversation, accusing Biff of not being true to Willy's dream of him being a salesman. Happy puts forward the idea of he and Biff going into business together, calming Willy. They discuss the idea and decide to meet with Bill Oliver, a big businessman about it in the morning. 

The second act begins in a positive scene as Willy wakes up well rested and obviously comforted by the idea of his sons going into business. This is the high point of the play as Willy leaves for work, he seems mentally at ease. Willy goes to his boss Howard to ask to be given a job off the road. Howard says there are no jobs for Willy in town, and Willy is reduced to almost begging, embarrassing himself. He loses his confidence from that morning and has another flashback of Ben while in Howard's office. Howard suggests he takes some time off, telling him to come back to work when he is mentally ready. Willy goes out on the street, recalling a scene about Biff not doing well in math class. He goes to Charley's business and meets Charley and Bernard, learning that Bernard has become a successful lawyer. Charley offers Willy a job, but he is too proud to accept it. Willy then goes to meet Biff and Happy in a restaurant for dinner. Before he arrives, Happy is distracted by a girl, and when Willy arrives, he asks how the business meeting went, not listening to Biff when Biff says he was unable to meet with Bill Oliver. Biff tries to communicate his sense of self-failure, but Willy does not heed him. Willy goes into the bathroom and recalls the scene where Biff discovers him in a hotel room with a woman, while Biff and Happy leave with the girls. 

Willy comes home after having bought some seeds and begins trying to plant them in the back yard, while talking to an imaginary Ben. He discusses a plan to get his family twenty thousand dollars from life insurance by committing suicide. Biff and Happy come home. Linda gives many harsh words about them abandoning Willy in the restaurant. Biff demands to see him, intending to tell him once and for all that he is not a businessman and is leaving to go back to the West. Linda refuses to let him see Willy but he finds Willy. At first the two yell at each other, Willy saying Biff was failing at business to "spite" him. Finally Biff breaks down crying and the two of them hug. Biff and Happy and Linda go upstairs to bed. Willy is unfazed by the entire episode and continue with his plan, killing himself in the car. The last scene is of the funeral. All the characters express sorrow at Willy's death. Happy and Charley support Willy's dream, Biff says he had a false dream. Linda seems to be in shock, saying she was finally done with the mortgage on the house after so many years of struggling. The play ends after the funeral. 

Characters:

Willy Loman: The main character of the play who has many characteristics of a tragic hero. Willy is just over sixty years old and has been working in the same company for over thirty years as a traveling salesman, without ever much success. Despite his failure to make it big in the business world, Willy continues to pursue the "American Dream" of becoming a great salesman even though it has begun taking its toll on him. By the time of the play, Willy is old an exhausted from many years of hard work trying to support his family. He suffers from constant mental scenes reminds himself of earlier days when things seemed better: when his boys were young and full of potential and his job was looking up. He also frequently recalls conversations with his older brother Ben. By the end of the play, Willy is consumed by these delusions and is no longer able to distinguish the truth from memories he has likely altered. Throughout the play it becomes apparent that Willy's job, family, and marriage all have serious flaws. His main delusion is his unfounded pride and confidence in his older son, Biff. It also becomes clear that Willy's true talent lies in construction, thought he continues to pursue business until his suicide at the end of the play.

Linda Loman: Willy's wife. Linda is a static character throughout the play, remaining steadfast in the face of Willy's mental breakdown. She always encourages Willy, comforting and soothing him. Linda constantly encourages Willy to continue his business dream, even though, as she acknowledges herself, he is not "well-liked" which is consistently quoted as a requirement to make it in business. Linda encourages her boys Biff and Happy to start a career in business, but it seems her only concern is taking weight off of Willy's shoulders. 

Biff Loman: Willy's oldest son, 34 years old during the action of the play. During high school, Biff was a football star, winning a championship game. After high school, Biff planned to attend the University of Virginia, but failed math class during his senior year. After he discovers Willy having an affair with another woman, Biff loses faith in his father's visions and does not attend the University, instead seeking out his fortune in the West. When he returns, Biff makes attempts at his family's persistence to try to make something in the business world, although Biff knows in his heart all along that he is not cut out for work in business. Throughout the play, Biff steals material objects from other characters.

Happy Loman: Willy and Linda's younger son, mostly ignored by his parents in the light of his older brother's accomplishments. Happy acts just as his name suggests, always trying to be agreeable and help out the other characters. Happy is not disillusioned about business as Biff is, and continues to pursue a successful business career. Happy holds a job as an assistant sales clerk, and constantly seduces women, including the those in relationships with his coworkers. 

Charley: The Loman's neighbor. A successful businessman who is not unkind but never particularly friendly to the Lomans. He clearly does not believe in Willy's fanciful business dreams. He lends money to the Loman's times to help them pay their mortgage.

Bernard: Charley's son. Constantly bullied by all three Loman men while in high school, but still holds a fierce loyalty to Biff. In the action of the play, Bernard has become a successful lawyer, arguing a case before the supreme court. His success serves to spite Willy's dreams, since Willy always denied he would be successful.

Other Characters: Ben, Stanley, Howard, unnamed Woman.

Tone and Style: Miller's tone and point of view are difficult to identify exactly because the work is a play. The tone of the work can be identified as harsh and pessimistic through the atmosphere the play creates. The entire play's events, except for a brief scene at the beginning of Act II are catastrophic and heartbreaking at worst, and delaying the inevitable at best. The complete lack of joy except for empty sad, ironic humor in some places, communicates Miller's distaste with the whole affair of the play. In some places, it seems his tone is almost satirical, since he creates essentially an "anti-American Dream," by having every aspect of the American Dream escape the family without fail. 

Miller's style throughout the play is masterful. His character come to life and move the plot along through their personalities and goals. Miller's hand driving the plot is completely invisible. It is usually difficult to tell how he feels about specific events and character, since his narrative style offers no bias. 

Point of View

Miller's clear point of view is that the business world and the "American Dream" can both be quite harmful, and he means to illustrate this through the play. It seems that Miller's point of view is most associated with the character Biff. Biff is the only one of the Loman family who is willing to speak out against the business dreams of his father and brother. Biff tries to point out the obvious destruction caused by the capitalist business system, which Miller tries to say through the entire work. If any character's lines are Miller speaking through one of the characters, they are definitely Biff's.

Imagery

The imagery is vivid and realistic by nature of the work being a play. In most of the scene (in the movie version) the Loman home was portrayed as dark and uninviting. The constant disrepair of the house, and the apartment buildings towering backstage shutting out view of the outside world cause this. The set of the play creates the atmosphere and sets the mood. 

The imagery changes when Willy travels back in time in his head. In the past, the backyard is shown as open and free, with tries, sunlight, and grass. This contrast from past to present emphasizes Willy's dreams of the past as a better place, whether or not it is true. Ben is constantly portrayed with a golden light around him, making him seem almost divine, and contributing to his image as a flawless figure in Willy's eyes. The past is also often accompanied by flute music, meant to recall Willy's father. The music serves as auditory imagery, making the past scenes soothing and peaceful.

Symbolism

There are many symbols throughout the play. I will discuss only a few of the main ones.

Seeds/Nature/Growth: Throughout the play, to both Willy and Biff, nature represents freedom, though only Biff realizes it. Biff constantly talks about how he feels shut off by the city and the business world, saying how he wishes he was in the wide open spaces of the west, under the sky, working with his hands, etc. In the West, Biff would not be closed off by the city, and so he views the west as a sort of paradise. Willy, on the other hand, seems to subconsciously realize that nature is freedom. He mentions several times that the new apartment building, which took the place of the Lomans' backyard, is shutting them in. By contrast, the wide open space they had before let them be free. In the end of the play, Willy constantly struggles to buy seeds to plant a garden. He uses his garden as an escape from the events of the play.

Trophy/Football: To Willy, the days of Biff's high school football career represent the safety and success of the past. The trophy symbolizes the culmination and downfall of the Loman's happy lifestyle. During high school, everything was looking up for the family: Willy was doing well in his job, Biff and Happy were successful, promising success in business that would be able to support their parents in old age. These dreams all came crashing down. In Willy's memory, as is clear from all the flashbacks, football was the cause of all this success and the thing he associates with it. Football and the Trophy from the Evan's Field game come to metaphorically be the success of the past.  

Quotes 

"You can't eat the orange and throw the peel away- a man is not a piece of fruit."- Willy

This line summarizes Arthur Miller's view of the nature of the business world, and puts Willy's downfall in perspective. 

"After all the highways, and the trains, and the appointments, and the years, you end up worth more dead than alive."-Willy

Summarizes the great irony of the play and of the capitalist business world. 

Theme

In one sentence: One theme of Death of a Salesman is the falsehood of the American economic dream.

Explanation: The setting is New York in the late 1940s contributes to this theme ironically because it seems that it would be the place where the American Dream was most achievable. The post world war II period is generally though of as being the most prosperous in American history with the American Dream most attainable. New York offers a setting that is American through and through, further adding to the irony. The work's title contributes to this irony by juxtaposing the obviously negative word "death" with the generally positive or neutral word salesman. The play's atmosphere is usually chaotic and unsettling, subtly communicating some impending doom, which is made inevitable by the title and the continuous downward spiral of events. The atmosphere gives the play a distasteful air which is blamed on Willy's false dreams. 

Response to Course Materials-December 2

     I'm glad that we have finally started Hamlet. I am enjoying it a lot more than the other two plays we have done. The play is much more engaging than Death of a Salesman for two main reasons. First, I haven't ever read the play or seen a performance of it as I had with Death of a Salesman, and second because it's set in an unfamiliar time period, which makes the people and events more exotic. With the Loman family, a lot of the details seem boring because they are typical things of a working class family in American. In Hamlet however, the family dynamics and interactions are completely foreign. The play is also much more intellectually engaging than either of the the other two plays because of it's difficult language. The other two plays are written in easily readable english, and to have any thought provoking discussion takes some effort in searching for symbolism and such. With Hamlet, just reading it and trying to figure out what the characters are saying is intellectually stimulating, since their language is so different from our own, and they sometimes speak almost in riddles. On top of that, there is definitely still the aspect of thought-provoking symbolism that the other two plays had.
     On a different note, it seems that at least half of the year will be focusing on plays. I would've found this a little odd at first, since typically one does not think of plays as being as literary as novels. But after discussing the play, I realize there is just as much opportunity for symbolism and meaning, perhaps more. The only downside of the plays for me is that it's extremely difficult to identify the authors voice. In most novels, the authors style is clear through the parts where a narrator speaks or the scene is described. In plays, however, there is only dialogue, which makes it hard to distinguish the author's style from that of the characters, actors, and stage director.