death of a salesman :: essays research papers

I am reading The Book , â€Å"Death of a salesman â€Å", by Arthur Miller. The major theme that runs throughout the book is the importance of being happy with who you are. This idea is seen through how others and Willy view himself. The other way we can see the theme of social acceptance is how Willy pushes it on his son Biff. Lastly the theme is exemplified by how Willy only pays attention to Biff because people like him.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Willy thinks that if a person is well-liked, then the entire world opens up to them. Willy seems to think that people don’t like him, but as soon as he says something to Linda his wife she reassures him that he is well-liked. One time when he goes to borrow money from Uncle Charley he tells him that if a man is impressive and respected that nothing else matters. Uncle Charley says that it is what you have that is what counts not who likes you or not. Willy is always saying that he is vital to New England and that he makes so much money when he goes there. This is all totally not true. You can tell because he won’t take a job there or even bring his sons which he has been promising for years. Willy is lying to himself and is seeking for reassurance in the wrong places.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Willy has been pressing Biff to Believe that you have to be well liked above all ever since Biff has been a little kid. In the story Willy depends on Biff because he has so much personal attractiveness. Willy has instilled this concept from an early age and we can see this because of a few things. First, when Biff stole a football from school to practice with and told his father, he did nothing because he thought that it showed initiative and the coach would like him for it. Another way we can see that Biff struggles with acceptance is one time when he went to an interview with Oliver. He is standing in the office and he steals Oliver’s pen and just runs out and goes home. He stole the pen because he didn’t want to wait to see Oliver. He was embarrassed for waiting so long and stole the pen and got out of there. I think it is sad that Willy has done this to his son.