“Death of a Salesmen” purveys a theme of tragedy throughout the play. Written by the playwright author, Arthur Miller, “Death of a Salesmen” is a play about a 63-year-old salesman named Willy Loman, who is showing early signs of Alzheimer’s, which is leading him towards the lack of progress within the sales industry and damaging his relationship with his sons. Willy wants to live the American Dream but has never been able to do so, due to this, he becomes very hard on his oldest son Biff to become successful in life. The play falls in the genre of tragedy because it shows a man who has the potential for great things in his life, but with decisions not well thought of due to his state of mind, he loses so much that in some cases he won’t be able to get back. His relationship with his sons will never be the same as they used to, from the way Willy is acting towards them now and all the pressure he is bringing upon them. He is a hard-working person that is capable of success but becomes obsessive over, seeking out materialistic possessions which are all examples of how this play provides a tragic theme.
The project for this play was to create a blackout poem, where one finds words in a piece of literature and creates a poem by colouring out the other words. My poem relates to Willy because it shows the characteristics that he brings upon others. He shows a side of aggression when in conversation with Linda and Biff while talking about careers. He has a pure and loving side to him when he is in a healthy state of mind, but hides lots from his family. In the illustration, Willy is planting seeds beside a dead flower to symbolize how the growth of a person sometimes isn’t as successful as one would like it to be. In conclusion, this play demonstrates that trying to have everything, can make you end up with having nothing and develop bad relationships with others.