There are many literary devices authors use in order to give the reader their own understanding of a story. Each different device can alter a person’s comprehension of a story. “Death of a Salesman” uses multiple literary devices that affect the narrative discourse and consequently changes how the story is depicted to the reader. The realism of the characters in Arthur Miller's short story, "Death of a Salesman," comes into question due to the techniques - including numerous amounts of gaps and lack of closure - Miller uses to portray this.
In this short story Willy is portrayed as a man who is ashamed of himself for being a failure, but cannot admit to himself that he was never the man he thought he was. The lack of closure in this short story adds to the realism of Willy’s character. When reading, it is not clear exactly why Willy speaks to characters that are not really there. This unanswered question leaves the reader guessing as to why Willy is the way he is throughout the entire story. After reading the story thoroughly, I assumed that Willy was driven mad after coming to the realization that his son no longer looked up to him and his son’s lack of a real career was due to his own mistakes as a father. The lack of closure here leaves the reader guessing as to why Willy has the mindset that he does and therefore makes Willy more realistic. Anything could have happened to him, whether it be the car accident he was in, his mind deteriorating or the more likely view that he blames himself for the outcome of Biff’s life and cannot live with the guilt. Most of Willy’s conversations between himself and imaginary characters connect back to the major event in Biff’s life that Willy believed was the turning point. An example of this is when Willy tells Biff that “Bernard can get the best marks in school, y’understand, but when he gets out in the business world, y’understand, you are going to be five times ahead of him”(Miller 21). In Willy’s warped mind, he truly believes that being “well-liked” is more important than being smart and merely “liked.” He thinks that he is successful because people like him enough to think he knows what he’s talking about. This important moment in the play was when Willy subconsciously led Biff to believe that smarts were not all that important as long as he was well liked like himself. Another important point for Willy was when Biff caught him cheating on his wife with another woman. Willy held that with him from that moment on and believed that everything Biff did from that point on in his life was to spite his father. Holding on to these thoughts, one can see why Willy is the way he is. He’s held on to these ideas that Biff has turned out this way because of him. Holding on to this belief has driven Willy crazy which makes his character more realistic, because anyone might come to that end if they believed that their child has come to a dead end in their life because of them.
Biff, is not much different from his father, except that he can admit to himself that he is and never was someone who was going to amount to anything. This characteristic in a person is common though many people find it hard to admit. There are many gaps in the story where Biff is concerned. What happened to him between finding out about his father’s affair and going to the ranch to work? One might infer that he’s found odd jobs here and there because he has never been able to stick with anything because he does not see himself as the type of person who will ever amount to much in life. This gap allows one to interpret Biff as a common, everyday American who has not gone to college and therefore cannot find a stable career. This allows the reader to relate with the character and bring him to life. The lack of closure on behalf of Biff also adds to his characterization. Why did Biff leave the countryside when he sounded like he truly enjoyed being there? Biff states that “This farm I work on…they’ve got about fifteen new colts. There’s nothing more inspiring or —beautiful than the sight of a mare and a new colt” (Miller 13). One might wonder if he was so in awe of this sight then why did he leave to come back home to begin with. Biff has never been able to stick with anything in his life, even if he really cares for something that touches him. For that reason he has never been able to stick with a career choice and never became successful. This lack of closure as to why Biff left the farm leads a person to this conclusion which, consequently, makes Biff more realistic because he does not all of a sudden find a career he wants for the rest of a life. He is unsure and that characteristic makes him realistic.
The polar opposite of both Biff and Willy is Linda whom portrayed as a loyal, thoughtful and selfless wife. The lack of closure here makes it hard to determine whether or not Linda’s character is realistic. Does Linda know whether or not her husband has cheated on her? There are two ways in which this can be interpreted. If Linda somehow knows that her husband has cheated on her – maybe through the stocking crisis - and yet she is still so loyal to him, is that realistic? If Linda is completely oblivious to her husband cheating on her, is that realistic? Since this story was written in the 1940’s, divorce was not common in those time so perhaps during that time period it was realistic for Linda to have stayed with her husband after knowing the truth. What is not realistic is that she still remained so loyal to him and cared for his dignity after knowing he was not true to her. Linda says “Every day I go down and take away that little rubber pipe. But, when he comes home, I put it back where it was. How can I insult him that way?” (Miller 42). Had Linda known that her husband was being unfaithful, she would not have cared whether or not he was insulted. She herself was insulted the moment Willy broke his vows to her. Due to this evidence Linda is not a realistic character. Had Linda not known about her husband’s affair would have made her extremely naïve, and that there was no evidence in the play to show that she was at least suspicious of her husband’s actions makes her character all the more unrealistic. Any other person in Linda’s situation would have noticed their stocking gone missing, and then would have suspected foul play when their spouse became angry at the sight of them. Perhaps Linda’s character was naïve after all. A woman of her age should know when something shady is going on. These characteristic make Linda difficult to relate to. Even if there was more closure on Linda’s knowledge of her husband’s affair, her character would not be realistic.
Author Miller’s use of gaps in his play as well as lack of closure led to the distinctive characterization of the family in his play as well as determined whether or not the characters were realistic. Had Miller filled in the gaps, a reader would no longer be able to visualize what the characters did in that time frame and may no longer be able to relate which will, in turn, affect how the reader portrays the character. The character may no longer be realistic due to the inability of the reader to relate. The lack of closure in the story helps the reader to interpret what happened and aides in the characterization. Due to lack of closure, Willy is interpreted as a man who may have suffered a deterioration of the brain due to age or driven mad by his guilt. Biff is construed to be a person who cannot stick to any career, even if it is something he is passionate about. Linda is understood to be a naïve woman which no one can relate with due to her inability to see Willy for who he truly is, or her ability to maintain loyalty to a man she knows in not loyal.
Bibliography:
Miller, Author. Death of a Salesman. Pasadena, CA: Salem, 2010. Print.
No comments:
Post a Comment