Death of a Salesman

Arthur Miller

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Study Questions & Essay Topics

Study Questions

1. How does Willy’s home function as a metaphor for his ambitions?


2. What role does the fear of abandonment play in Willy’s life?


3. Willy and Biff have different explanations for Biff’s failure to succeed in the business world. How are their explanations different?


Suggested Essay Topics

1. Willy recalls his sons’ teenage years as an idyllic past. What evidence can we find to show that the past is not as idyllic as Willy imagines it to be?

2. What evidence can we find to show that Willy may have chosen a profession that is at odds with his natural inclinations?

3. Why does Willy reject Charley’s job offer?

4. How does Willy’s interview with Howard reveal that Willy transfers his professional anxieties onto his relationship with his family and conflates the professional and personal realms of his life?

5. What evidence can we find to show that Willy misses the distinction between being loved and being well liked? What are the consequences of Willy’s failure to distinguish between the two?

6. How is Willy’s retreat into the past a form of escape from his unpleasant present reality? How does it function as a way for Willy to cope with the failure to realize his ambitions?

7. How does Willy’s desperate quest for the American Dream resemble a religious crusade?

BS

by Kennethtidge, September 15, 2012

This analysis is so much simpleminded BS. A less than cursory, sloppy interpretation.

40 out of 228 people found this helpful

3

Simple Minded

by WhiteRaven007, October 09, 2012

I went on here to review for a test, and it was a complete waste of time. The interpretation of the play is no narrow minded my 10 year old brother could have figured it out.

14 out of 74 people found this helpful

1

Death of a Salesman

by rjkbasck, March 01, 2013

I saw the play; Sparknotes is an excellent recap of the play.

11 out of 16 people found this helpful

0

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