Death of a Salesman- What is a life of quiet desperation and how is such a life linked to suicide?
Death of a Salesman-
What is a life of quiet desperation and how
is such a life linked to suicide?
9 Answers
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Homework assignment?
It is a continuation of the discussion of Death of a Salesman for the month of March, 2019 for the present Group.
I believe that it is building your life on false hope and false aims in order to avoid the harsh reality of what is too late to do. Willy was doing his best, living up to a fake American dream, trying to earn money to support his family, trying to please his boss to earn a promotion, and all whilst keeping his pride. When all of these goals are shattered and gone, he is exposed to the actual reality he’s been trying to avoid. And at last, he loses his pride when he was insulted by Howard and has that big fight with Biff. For him, every illusion that was worth living for is gone, thus, the only true hope, the true illusion, is suicide. It’s his only shot left at entertaining a happy life in his mind, at least if not for him, for his family.
Willy used suicide to end his emotional pain, which was primairly caused by despair.
It is sad because in the end the mortgage was paid off as was the last payment on his life insurance.Both endings good for his wife and his son.
I think at least two important aspects of any suicide are the loss of hope and the inability to cope with this loss.
This books sounds like one I need to read!
Qamar Bayazid
Thank you for your informative summary
. As you may or may not know we, in the US have been undergoing a rash of suicides over the past couple of weeks.
Because of this, I feel the sad story of Willy Loman is germaine to contemporary conditions relative to mental health issues.
@Kathy
You’re most welcome. And I didn’t know, where exactly in the US? And what are the reasons?
My sincerest condolences to all the people who lost someone.
Arthur Miller might be correlating quiet desperation with a living death. It might be the simple truth that the search for wealth will not bring happiness. As a knight slays the dragon for the treasure or Willy searches for the big sale, it eventually leads to a search for the self.
suicide cannot be the answer to problems! consider also the contemplated suicide in the novel Pachinko by Min Chin Lee. It is not the solution to the problems!