Death Of Salesman By Miller Essays (1753 words) -

Death Of Salesman By Miller Thesis: In Arthur Miller's, Death of a Salesman, the character of Ben is used as a catalyst to fuel the development of the main character, Willy. The character of Ben in Arthur Miller's, Death Of A Salesman, functions as a catalyst to fuel the development of his main character, Willy. Miller uses Ben as an idealistic figure for Willy. Ben is the figure that Willy strives to be like throughout the story. By exploring Ben's character, we develop a better understanding of Willy's character. We learn Willy's personality and character by looking at Ben's actions and beliefs. Ben's personal morals become Willy's rules of life. Throughout the story, Willy strives to be like his brother. Ben's character allows us understand the importance of living one's life by their own rules. His character helps us to understand that we must play with the hand we are dealt. Life is too short to be playing someone else's hand. The contrast between Ben and Willy's characters allows the reader to recognize the importance of letting go of the past and not dwelling on mistakes made or regrets. Willy is so eat up with his brother's success and the idea of living his brother's life, that he loses control over his own life and reality. Ben appears but three times throughout the story, first in a flashback, second in a quasi-flashback where Willy has inserted him into a scenario that actually happened, and finally in a complete hallucination. Through a comparison and understanding of each of these occurrences, we are able to gain vast knowledge of who Willy Loman actually is. These flashbacks and hallucinations show how Ben's character is used as a device to Taylor 2 allow us to understand what is actually going on inside Willy Loman's head. The first time Ben appears is in a flashback within Willy's mind. This flashback is used as an interruption of Willy's feelings of inadequacy about his present situation. Willy has returned home from a selling trip, unable to concentrate and unable to keep his mind in the present. Ben appears as a scapegoat for Willy from his situation, a way for him to forget about his present condition and feelings. This flashback with Ben provides us with a large amount of information about himself, and thus about Willy. We learn first that Ben is a lot wealthier then Willy, and that while they are brothers, they did not grow up together. We also learn through the flashback that Willy idolizes Ben, though they have never been close. "Ben! I've been waiting for you so long! What's the answer? How did you do it?(Miller 1938)." Obviously, Ben has achieved what Willy wishes for. We find out that Ben has made a fortune by "walking into Africa." He has prospered by essentially using other people for what they can give him. "When I was seventeen I walked into the jungle, and when I was twenty-one I walked out. And by god he was rich(1939)." We learn a lot about the character of Willy because he completely believes that this is an excellent way to make money. He obviously does not believe that a person has to put in a lot of hard work to achieve success, and that in fact Ben's way is the way to go. The flashback also illustrates a fight between Ben and Biff. Ben says, "Never fight fair with a stranger(1939)." This shows us his morals and values, that you cannot trust people, and that you should always take Taylor 3 advantage of people you don't know. This also demonstrates the essence of Ben's character. He believes that you should take advantage of which you can and use it for your own good in any way possible. Since Willy believes that Ben is a good example of a success, he essentially believes in what he says and believes that his boys should follow this. We have prior evidence that Willy believes you should take advantage of people when he tells Biff not to worry about his math, that Bernard will let him cheat off of him. This flashback provides more then just basic character traits. It reinforces our view of Willy as someone who tends to stretch the truth. At first we are told that Ben pleaded with Willy to go to Alaska with him. Yet we soon see that this is not at all the case, in fact rather the opposite. The second quasi-flashback has Ben placed into a scene in Willy's mind,