Characters
Willy- the main protagonist, and main tragedy. An aging man with a stubborn streak and a dream to become a success by being "well liked." Refuses to accept reality and fades into his own memories. Puts his dreams on Biff's shoulders before killing himself. Awestruck by the American Dream.
Biff- the second main protagonist. A realist, sees the world as it is and understands the futility of Willy's dream. Always willing to accept cruel truths and work past them. Represents the west, happiness and opportunity. Popular jock.
Happy- Biff's brother. A lot like Willy. Doesn't accept the truth, carries on Willy's dream. Very sexual.
Linda- Willy's wife. Never sexualized. Always supportive of Willy and his dreams, even though they end up hurting him. Also blind to the real world.
Howard- Willy's boss. Very new-world, merciless and self-centered. Doesn't care about sentiment.
Charley- Willy's neighbor and only friend. Not very close, doesn't get along well with Willy. Willy's foil- succeeded by accepting the world as it is.
Bernard- Charley's son and Biff's foil. Found success because his father didn't press him. Unpopular geek kid.
Ben- Willy's brother. Usually seen in non-memory hallucinations. The epitome of success, if through questionable means.
Plot
-Willy comes home after nearly crashing the car. Rants for a while as Linda tries to calm him, then goes downstairs to get food.
-Boys hear him. Share optimistic plans.
-Collectively, the family makes a plan to get Biff and Happy into business.
-Argument. Linda reveals Willy's plan to kill himself.
-Optimistic morning. Willy leaves and is fired.
-Goes to dinner with his boys. Biff reveals that the plan failed. Willy goes into his memory.
-Remembers his affair.
-All go home. Biff tells Willy he's leaving for good. Willy agrees.
-Willy gets in a car and kills himself to give the insurance to Biff.
-Funeral.
(More details in your annotations and in Sparknotes- make use of resources)
Voice/Style
Point of view- A play. Limited omniscient. Typically following Willy, even through his memories.
Tone- very grim and agitated, like nothing is right. Never comfortable. Happy scenes are overly optimistic and carry a note of dread. Sad scenes are hopeless and brutal.
Imagery- Not much, being a play. Setting was set well and conveys the message of the play early on. Willy's movements bring out a lot of emotion and characterization.
Symbolism- Full of it. See annotations inside book cover for full list and notes.
Quotes
"Nothing’s planted. I don’t have a thing in the ground."-Willy
-Basically Willy's life in one line. He's toiled and toiled and toiled, but nothing has been done. He'll leave nothing behind to grow, and nothing he's done has come to fruition.
"The only thing you got in this world is what you can sell. And the funny thing is that you’re a salesman, and you don’t know that." -Charley
-Willy isn't made for his job. He wants to be sentimental, but his job is demanding and very material. He only cares about memories but the world only cares about the things he can sell.
Theme
-The capitalistic world will eat you alive if you buy into it, and only by breaking away can you be happy.
-Biff goes to the west to find opportunity, away from the more capitalistic east.
-The tragedy takes place in cities and the business world.
-The apartments, car, devices, etc. are all from a capitalistic world and all fail Willy.
-Whenever they're in a business-like situation, tragedy occurs.
Nice post! However, instead of telling yourself to look at your annotations for symbolism and the plot description I would write it out. This will make it easier for you to study and it will help cement it in your brain as you write it out.
ReplyDeleteGood post.
ReplyDeleteI think you should analyze/explain things more. For example for your theme you only list a few examples of the capitalistic world failing. I would talk about the ending here as well: Happy takes Willy's place as the unhappy (pun?) capitalistic man.
In summary, more explanation/analyzation would help this, but overall very good. Short and concise - good to study from.
Ha, I like how you say: "More details in your annotations and in Sparknotes- make use of resources". Sparknotes is my new best friend.
ReplyDeleteI still don't think we can judge another person's Summary and Analysis. I would think this assignment is for the respective student's own benefit. Whether s/he only needs a brief overview or a detailed summary, that is up to the AP Lit student.
Personally, I would have added a lot more explanation. But if you like your format, that is fine by me. :)
Good job, Maddy
You have good descriptions of characters here. I especially like your plot section because its structure is kind of fragmented, just like the play :). You might want to explain/support your theme a little more. Also, did you find the setting symbolic?
ReplyDeleteThis is a good post, like others have said, I would have added a tiny bit more detail. But, if you do remember this all, then that's fine, because these are just for refreshers. I would take the time though to write out all of your thoughts about the play, because Death of A Salesman seems to be one of those plays that can always be written about. On exam day, it might be one of my two well thought out plays to write about because there is a lot in in it and I really do understand it all, but good job!
ReplyDelete