The Importance of the Requiem in Death of a Salesman Essay

The Importance of the Requiem in Death of a Salesman In the play, Death of a Salesman, the final chapter is titled Requiem instead of Epilogue. The definition of Requiem in The concise Oxford dictionary is a special Mass for repose of souls of the dead. The Requiem serves as a tribute to Willy Loman. Sympathy is evoked and reasons for his behavior are given. Charley gives the central speech- Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman has got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory. Any blame or anger at Willy is counteracted. It echoes Linda earlier in the play But hes a human being, and a terrible thing is happening to him. So attention must be paid. It is made absolutely certain that Willy is sympathized with†¦show more content†¦The Requiem is an assertion of a vaguely happy ending, with hope in the form of Biff. With the Requiem we know that Willys suicide just convinced Biff further of the danger of the American dream. Another point that is underlined in the Requiem is the unsuitability of his dreams. Though in the play it is mentioned that Willy enjoyed using his hands, it is not fully recognized how much until the Requiem. Willy never seemed to be happy or inspired enough to be a truly successful salesman, but he was a happy man with a batch of cement. Happiness is essential to succeed as a salesman- Riding on a smile and a shoeshine. We wonder if Willy had chosen another path and not had the wrong dreams. All, all wrong whether the story would be a happier one. All the characters except, significantly, Happy recognize this. The Requiem emphasizes how Willy didnt really succeed on any level- socially, professionally or personally. The aspect of success is a central theme in the play. The notion of the American Dreams commercial success versus personal success and happiness crops up many times. Willy was not true to himself, and so was not successful. He was always in competition - Im always in a race with the junkyard! the man who creates personal interest is the man who gets ahead. All the characters recognize Willys love for DIY in the Requiem, its undisputed his dreams were the wrong ones. Apart from his enthusiasm for Biff, it is one of the few thingsShow MoreRelated Importance of Ben Loman in Arthur Millers Death of a Salesman690 Words   |  3 PagesThe Importance of Ben Loman in in Arthur Millers Death of a Salesman      Ã‚   Ben Loman is an important character in Death of a Salesman but he is quite unusual.   The audience encounters Uncle Ben during Willy Lomans hallucinations of the past and as a result, it is tempting to disregard his character as just another creation of Willys delusional mind.   However, Ben is much more than that.   His character is representative of Willys unrealistic dreams as well as the realty of his life.   Read MoreA Survey of Tragedy984 Words   |  4 Pagesa dramatic, not in a narrative form: with incidents arousing pity and fear; wherewith to accomplish its catharsis of such emotions.† I believe Aristotle’s meaning of â€Å"Imitate† is to play out, as in acting, and with â€Å"Magnitude† is to imply great importance or consequence. 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