Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman (cited) Essay

Willy and Nora Tragic Heroes or Home-wreckers? No bingle has a perfect life. condescension what Aaron Spelling and his friends in the media might project to society today, no ones life is perfect. Everyone has conflicts that they essentialiness face sooner or later. The focusings in which people chew with these conflicts can be just as varied as the people themselves. Some procrastinate and ignore their problems as long as they can, while others attack problems to get them step up of the counseling as soon as possible. The Lowman and Helmer fami take a breathers have a number of problems that they deal with in different ways, which reads their similarities and differences. some(prenominal) Willy Loman, the p blowagonist of Arthur Millers expiry of a Salesman and Nora Helmer, protagonist of Henrik Ibsens A Dolls field experience an epiphany where they top that they were not the person the thinking they were while Willys catharsis brings ab discover his death, Noras brin gs her to a new life hers. two characters flaws bring about their waiver from their respective families as well. They are both overly concerned with the appearances they and their families present to society as a result they both project false images to others.From their appearance, both depend to be involved in stable marriages and appear to be going off places. Willys job as a traveling salesman seems stable (although we never know what it is he sells) when he tells his family that he knocked em cold in Providence, slaughtered em in Boston (Miller 1228). It is not until Willys wife, Linda tells us that he drives 700 miles and when he gets there, no one knows him any some(prenominal), no one welcomes him (Miller 1241). If thats not enough to convince readers of his loser on the job, the fact that he gets fired after proceeding for the same company for 36 historic period cements his incompetency in the business world to readers. While Nora does not formulate in the busines s world, (few woman, if any did over 120 years ago) her failure to take gondola care of her responsibilities becomes quite evident as well.See more citing an essayWhen the play opens and Nora enters with a Christmas tree and presents for the children, she gives off the impression of a replete(p) mother trying hard to prepare a majuscule Christmas for her family. Upon further analysis we see that Noras duties, in general, are limit to caring for the children, doing housework, and working on her needlepoint. Nora cannot complete these duties even with the full-time religious service of Anne Marie, a housekeeper who cleans up after Nora just as untold as the children. When Nora and Kristine are having a discussion towards the start of the play, Nora informs her friend that, Im so happy and relieved with my marriage. I must say its beautiful to have plenty of notes and not have to worry. Isnt it? (Ibsen 1119). The red picture she painted of her family and marriage are in s tark line of descent to the stranger of a man (Ibsen 1168) she refers to her husband as. We realize that she had not been vivification her life at whole rather the life that her husband cute her to live. While both Willy and Nora succeed in giving of the appearance of existence competent, efficient and helpful family members who contribute to the well being of their respective families, they prove otherwise as the plays progress.While the two plays take place approximately 100 years apart, are set on different continents and each(prenominal) have completely different family members, both engage in lies and conjuring trick that hurt their families after which each protagonist leaves their family. Not completely does Willy lie about his performance on the job, he lies about his faulty car as well. He tells his family that the Studebaker keeps malfunctioning when in world we find out through Linda that he has been deliberately trying to kill himself. The biggest way in which Loman deceives his family is by cheating on his wife while away for work in Boston. When his eldest son discovers his fathers unfaithfulness, he loses all trust for his father, and Biffs life pretty much goes declivitous from there. Willy Lomans lies, deceit, unfaithfulness have resulted in huge problems for his family. Nora also starts tip over in her household through lies and deceit. Noras crime of forgery is not even a crime in her mind she does not realize that the law does not take into account peoples motivations behind their actions. While she knows that Krogstad has been associated with shady law practices, she does not realize that his crime was on the same level, if not less illegal than the one that she has committed.When Tourvald opens the letter and finds out about her crime, he goes ballistic, and cannot believe that his own wife could be subject of such a crime. This is supremely the reason / situation that helps Nora realize that she must leave her family in or der to begin to live her own life. merely Nora even lies about the little things in life such as the eating of macaroons (Ibsen 1126). Her husband forbade her from eating them on account that they will rot her teeth, and when she is seen eating them in her house, she says that they are a gift from Kristine, which is a lie. both(prenominal) Willy and Noras lies and deceitfulness frustrate their families to the point where each protagonist much leave their family although Willys departure is his death, Noras is the start of her real life. Both main characters also use an escape mechanism to leave ingenuousness when they realize that their lives are on the wrong path. When Loman starts to realize that his pride and happiness in life, Biff, is a lazy bum (Miller 1218) he begins to talk to himself (Miller 1221). These mental lapses bring Loman to a happier place and time, when his kids were young and innocent and he thought that the best part of his life lay still ahead. This ac ts almost as a defense mechanism against the pains of reality for Willy.In the last(a) scene, after Biff tells his father that he is a dime a dozen and that the Loman name really doesnt mean much, Willy engages in the ultimate escape mechanism suicide. Although it may appear on the surface to be a selfish and coldhearted move to spite his family, he in reality did it so that his family may live a better life with money he thinks they will receive from his life insurance policy. When faced with the approximative pains of reality, Nora also uses defense / escape mechanisms to ignore the problems at have first, thusly to conquer them in the end. She believes that she has done nothing wrong, and that if what she has done is illegal, that her good intentions will nullify the illegality of her forgery. When Krogstad informs her otherwise, tells her the possible repercussions of her act, and ultimately gives her an ultimatum, this is her first touch of reality foreign of the dolls ho use that she lives in. To cope with the harshness outside of this dolls house, she immediately retreats back inside and attempts to distract herself with Christmas decorations (Ibsen 1133).She uses the tree and presents to distract her from her problems, and tells the nursemaid Anne Marie that shes too busy to play with her kids who requisite to see her because she must try to distance her mind from the subject at hand. Here she is only making the problem worse by not dealing with it. When she finally realizes that her main duty is to herself (Ibsen 1166), and that she has been living life fit in to what her father and husband have wanted rather than what she has wanted, Noras epiphany is complete. She knows that the only possible solution that can work for her is to leave right away. Willy and Nora both escape their problems first by drifting away with mental distractions, then when they fully realize their problems, they both must physically leave their families.For Willy this doer death, for Nora, the start of (a new) life. Willy and Nora share a fatal flaw they try to take up others happy before making themselves happy. All that Willy ever wanted in life was to be well-liked and for his sons to follow in his footsteps. Their lives focused too much on fulfilling others rather than themselves, and in the end this flaw led to their departure from each of their respective families. When Charley asks Willie when the hell are you ever going to get down up? and Biff declares that we never told the truth in this house for 10 minutes (Miller 1280) we realize that Willy will never grow up and that he must leave his family because he will never grow up and that nearly his whole life has been a farce. Similarly, when Nora tells her husband that the only way he (and her) can only change if Tourvald has his doll taken away (Ibsen 1168) we realize that Noras life too has been a farce and that she must leave in order to begin her own life.