Death of a Salesman Literary Analysis Essay Example

Death of a Salesman Literary Analysis Paper Trent Beebe Beebe 1 Mr. Arena 4th hour AP Lang Comp 12/17/09 Death of a Salesman Essay The story, Death of a Salesman, is a story that has many literary devices that help to make it the deep and riveting story that has become an American classic. The use of symbols in the story adds to the overall effect and theme and also creates a different mood that the reader must infer from it. The symbols not only represent something in the story as literally a symbol, but of much importance because of the numerous times they appear in the work. There are countless symbols in the story that help to give the reader a different feeling for it but there are a select few that really represent the most important themes and ideas from the book. The use of seeds in the story as a metaphor for Willy Loman’s life gives the reader a short and simple thought of Willy’s thought on life. Willy believed that if he worked hard and set a good example for his kids that he would in turn be successful and they would eventually be successful. His thought was the same as that for the seeds; you plant them, put some effort into trying to grow them, and they will grow to be big and strong. We will write a custom essay sample on Death of a Salesman Literary Analysis specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Death of a Salesman Literary Analysis specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Death of a Salesman Literary Analysis specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer His boys would be like the plants in a way that they would grow to be big and strong and successful and provide for the family but that never ended up happening and Willy was disappointed about this. Willy was mainly disappointed because he felt like a failure as a father to Biff. Biff had everything going for him, All-American football player, ladies man, anything he wanted he could get. Willy thought the highest of Biff and eventually Biff never really made anything of himself and was basically a bum. All of what had happened to Biff reflected back onto Willy and Willy felt that it was his fault and felt he failed as a father. Another use of symbols is almost a minor one because of its little insignificance to the play, but its broad idea can be easily understood when fully examined. For all of Willy’s life, his son Biff, was the ultimate athlete. He was college bound to play football and had everything going for him. He was missing just one thing; His academics. He flunked math and was not able to graduate, meaning he could not play college football unless he passed. Biff’s friend and â€Å"study buddy†, Bernard, assured Biff that if he didn’t study he would flunk math and not graduate. Biff ignored this idea and instead went to practice to become a better football player. This event comes full circle when Biff eventually becomes a bum all due to the fact that he never passed math and Bernard is a big successful lawyer. A decade after this whole ordeal went down, Willy goes to visit his neighbor Charley, at his office. Willy is surprised to see Bernard there and has a quick chat with him about how he became so successful. Through this process, Willy noticed that Bernard had a tennis racket, and asked Bernard what he needed it for to go on this trip. Bernard eventually told him that it was to play tennis at one of his friend’s house in Washington D. C. Willy is surprised by this and feels happy for Bernard. The whole point to that part of the story was to use the tennis racket as a symbol showing the significance that hard work has on people. The old saying goes, â€Å"you work hard, you play hard†, and Bernard worked hard and is now getting to play hard and Biff never worked hard and now his life is dull, boring, and he has become a bum mooching off of his parents. A third symbol used in the story as a literary device was the thought of getting rich and making it to the top, and that meant going to Africa with Willy’s brother Ben to find diamonds, the main source of becoming rich. Years back, Willy’s brother Ben, asked Willy if he would want to travel to Alaska during the gold rush to try and hit it big. Willy refused because he wanted to make it big by way of the American Dream. Willy did not know it then, but he was making a huge mistake. Ben went the wrong way to Alaska and ended up in Africa, only to become very rich by hitting it big with diamonds that he found in a mine there. The diamonds he find make him rich and he one day comes back to Willy to tell him off his intangible wealth. Willy is quite surprised and ponders at the decision he made. The diamond and the thought of being rich were Willy’s ambitions in life and what he strived for to achieve for his family. Towards the end of the story, Willy thinks about his way to find the diamonds and realizes the only way he could get it would to be by killing himself and having his life insurancego to his family so they could finally have what Willy worked for all those years. Willy did follow through in his plan and he felt that killing himself was meaningful toward the betterment toward the family and he found his diamond that he had been searching for his whole life. The story, Death of a Salesman, used these and other symbols to add the theme of the book and allowed for the story to be a literature dream. The symbols not only represented broad topics of it, but also the significance of minor details that add to the story and make it that much better for the reader. Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. New York: Penguin Books, 1998.

Andrew Jackson Essays - Second Party System, Taney Court

Andrew Jackson Essays - Second Party System, Taney Court Andrew Jackson Guardians of Freedom? The first and truest ideals of democracy were embodied in the political ideas of Andrew Jackson and the Jacksonian democrats. Calling themselves the guardians of the United States Constitution, the Jacksonian politicians engendered wide spread liberty under a government which represented all men, rather than only the upper class. While some policies under the democrats had evident flaws, they were, for the most part, eager social reformers who strived to put the power of government into the hands of the common citizens. The convictions and ideals of the Jacksonian Democrats can be best illustrated through a passage written by George Henry Evans. Evans was an editor with strong democratic principles who created The Working Mens Declaration of Independence (Doc. A). Within the declaration, Evans stresses the importance of establishing democracy. He uses words and phrases from Jeffersons Declaration of Independence to clarify his points and stress his convictions. Stating the absolute necessity of the organization of the party, Evans explains that it will be possible to prevent the upper class from subverting the indefeasible and fundamental privilege of liberty. And finally, Evans states that it is the common citizens right to use every constitutional means necessary to reform the abuses and provide new guards for future security. In doing so, he documented the characteristic attitude of the majority of the country in the 1820s and 1830s. Evans was only one of the many Jacksonian democrats to contribute to the success of the party and to the reforms that they made. Chief Justice Roger B. Taneys opinion in the Supreme Court Case of Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge was a capitalist decision which was a typical response for a Jacksonian democrat (Doc. H). This decision stated that while the Charter of 1785 allowed the Charles River Bridge to be constructed, it did not prohibit any other bridges from being constructed. Therefore, Taney decided that the capitalistic competition would be healthy for the economy of the regions along the Charles River. In doing this, Taney was eliminating the monopolies of the elite and creating equal economic opportunities for all citizens. As a result, Taney contributed to one of the major achievements of the Jacksonian Democrats - to create economic equality. The President of the United States of America and leader of the Democratic party, Andrew Jackson, was perhaps the most outspoken democrat of the time. He used his position as leader of the country to give more power to the common man. Even before his election as president, he succeeded in having the property qualification eliminated, therefore, increasing the voting population tremendously. Jackson became the first president truly elected by the common man, rather than only high society. For the first time in the history of the nation, the middle class received the opportunity to participate in the government that ruled them. Jackson did not stop with the reformation of the election process. Instead, he attacked the Bank of the United States and vetoed the re-charter for the institution. President Jackson explained that the banks stock was held by only foreigners and a few hundred rich American citizens. As a result, the bank maintained an exclusive privilege of banking... - a monopoly (Doc. B). The Democrats believed the bank to be a tool of rich oppression and a dangerous institution because the men in power were of the highest class and utterly irresponsible to the people. So, President Jackson vetoed the re-charter and it was closed. The money was dispersed into several state banks and the monopoly was disintegrated. Indeed, the Democrats succeeded in creating a new government for the rule of a society of middle class citizens. And, the middle class began to prosper under the struggle for economic equality. Visiting the United States in 1834, Harriet Martineau reported the prosperity of the country (Doc. D). She discovered the absence of poverty, gross ignorance, and insolence of manner as well as towns with newspapers and libraries. She also reported on political debated with common citizens as judges. It is quite clear that the expansion of suffrage, support for individual rights, and advances of democratic society were responsible for the prosperity of the time. However, it would be both irrational and naive to assume that the ideals of Jacksonian democrats were without flaw. And it would be preposterous to conceive a period in American history without its low points. This holds true for the period of 1820 - 1830 as well. A number of middle class citizens misinterpreted democratic reforms as an opportunity to disregard

HND Business Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

HND Business Law - Essay Example ement is entered into, regardless of the manner in which it is executed, all parties agree to abide by the terms and conditions spelled out in said agreement. Only if all parties agree to be released from a particular clause in the contract, or an agreement is reached to null and void the entire contract, it remains in force. If violated, one party will likely have a claim against the other in a court of law. This brief section covers all three of these different types of contracts. When considering verbal agreements and contracts, it is important to remember that they are legally binding as a written contract in many situations. The key today, however, is proving the terms and conditions in question when a disagreement arises in a modern business situation. Under UK law, it has been largely determined that there are two main areas that constitute an actual binding agreement between two or more parties. The first involves whether or not an agreement was actually clearly reached as to the services that were to be performed, or goods provided. The second involves remuneration. If a figure was reached and agreed upon, it would be considered binding. Interestingly enough a verbal agreement today can be reached via either an in-person or on telephone voice exchange, or via email. Verbal contracts are more difficult to prove in a court of law. If one party states that the other party did not meet the conditions or warranties stipulated in the agreement, then problems can arise. If these are written out in a formal and written agreement, the issue is often quickly resolved. If, however, the agreement was verbal in nature, it can quickly become a ‘he said, she said’ affair that makes it difficult to prove one way or other in court. As such, it is recommended that the terms and conditions be clearly spelled out in a contract. Written agreements, quite simply, are similar to verbal agreements, except that they have a verifiable signature on them from all