...The greatest and also the worst To myself, “Death of a salesman” is a story mainly about hope and dream. The dream in the play is a personal dream, but it has a close relationship with American dream, because it is a part of American dream, it reflects American dream in some certain ways from an ordinary person—a salesman and his family. Hope is the most important factor in the dream through out the whole play. Hope, in most cases, is the greatest thing in the world which brings people happiness, courage and power. On the other, hope can sometimes be the worst thing which destroy a person’s life, just like our main character—Willy, in the play “Death of a salesman”. The temporary hope that Biff gives to Willy and also Willy puts all his expectations into—big business, successful businessman for Biff, these all finally destroy Willy’s life and make his whole life become a tragedy. The profession of the main character—Willy, a salesman is by no means a coincidence for Arthur Miller. Salesman is the most representative job for trading in hope, they always transfer hope from today to tomorrow, they struggle in a possibility, in that uncertain hope that tomorrow will be better, tomorrow I will sell more, then I can make a fortune, I can make a big deal. But there is always a gap between reality and dream. Actually in the play, Willy knows that he can never be a successful salesman, can never make a big deal, can never start a business at his age anymore, but he just refused to...
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...The Greatest Salesman in the World By Og Mandino Only principles endure and these I now possess, for the laws that will lead me to greatness are contained in the words of these scrolls. Principle #1 – Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough. Keep it always in mind and you will overcome seemingly impossible obstacles that are certain to confront you as they do everyone with ambition. Never feel shame for trying and failing for he who has never failed is he who has never tried. Principle #2 – I will form good habits and become their slave. If I must be a slave to habit let me be a slave to good habits. My bad habits must be destroyed and new furrows prepared for good seed. Each principle in these scrolls will drive a bad habit from my life and replace it with one which brings me closer to success. For it is another of nature’s laws that only a habit can subdue another habit. As I repeat the words daily contained in these scrolls they will soon become a part of my active mind. Eventually I will find myself reacting to all situations which confront me as I was commanded in the scrolls to react. Thus a new and good habit is born. Principle #3 – I will greet this day with love in my heart. Love is the greatest secret of success in all ventures. I will laud my enemies and they will become my friends; I will encourage my friends and they will become my brothers. Always will I dig for reasons to applaud; never will I scratch for excuses...
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...REVIEW OF THE GREATEST SALESMAN IN THE WORLD NUMBER OF WORDS: 5125 “Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance the next time.” ― O G Mandino Born in the USA on the 12th of December, 1923, Mandino was named after his paternal grandfather. Having been the editor of his high school paper, he planned to attend the University of Missouri for journalism. But as destiny would be he couldn’t attend the college as his mother died of a massive heart attack when she was in the kitchen preparing his lunch. It was after this incident that he decided not to go for college and instead joint a paper factory. Mandino was a military officer and a bombardier in the United States Army Air Corps. Mandino’s greatest inspiration was his fellow pilot and movie star, James Stewart. He used to keep a personalized photo of Stewart near him and then wrote his books. After his military services, Mandino found himself as an insurance salesman. But this job did not last him long due to his drinking habit and these habits also made his wife and child away from him. There was a time when Mandino almost tried to kill himself but his various volumes of self help and motivation books helped him leave his alcoholism and become a successful writer and speaker. His famous books were A Better Way to Live; The Choice; The Christ Commission; The Greatest Salesman in the World; The Greatest Salesman in the World, part 2: The End of the...
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...The Greatest Salesman in the World By Og Mandino Only principles endure and these I now possess, for the laws that will lead me to greatness are contained in the words of these scrolls. Principle #1 – Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough. Keep it always in mind and you will overcome seemingly impossible obstacles that are certain to confront you as they do everyone with ambition. Never feel shame for trying and failing for he who has never failed is he who has never tried. Principle #2 – I will form good habits and become their slave. If I must be a slave to habit let me be a slave to good habits. My bad habits must be destroyed and new furrows prepared for good seed. Each principle in these scrolls will drive a bad habit from my life and replace it with one which brings me closer to success. For it is another of nature’s laws that only a habit can subdue another habit. As I repeat the words daily contained in these scrolls they will soon become a part of my active mind. Eventually I will find myself reacting to all situations which confront me as I was commanded in the scrolls to react. Thus a new and good habit is born. Principle #3 – I will greet this day with love in my heart. Love is the greatest secret of success in all ventures. I will laud my enemies and they will become my friends; I will encourage my friends and they will become my brothers. Always will I dig for reasons to applaud; never will I scratch for excuses...
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...In this book and play “The Death of a Salesman”, The main character Willy Loman, is having problems getting and holding onto a job. His whole life has always been a failure and still is proceeding as one. As this story proceeds, Willy is having some inside thoughts about life, and how things are going when it is not really happening at all, it is just all in his head. In the story “The Death of a Salesman”, I do think that the characters are very believable. They all have a personality like no one would think of. They all have very unique characteristics like: stealing, lying, going crazy, and always being miserable. I can relate to all of the characters. There are times when I think that I am in real life, but then snap out of it and come back to reality. Like Willy Loman, I also have tendencies to fail on a daily bases, and to not do my best because of what might have happened earlier in the day. Also, unlike Willy Loman, I do not go crazy, or think up some outrageous thoughts that I always believe to be real. I do fail on a daily basis on things, but as well as Willy, I do not end up failing at jobs or little interviews for small jobs. I do stay sane and get what I need done, unlike Willy Loman, he ends up not realizing things, or he forgets a lot, or he just cannot get down how to do things right. The story “The Death of a Salesman”, is a story that has many feelings and emotion, and I do think that we all could relate this story and play to all of our lives, because...
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...Jennifer Mills Professor Usha Wahwani English 102 1, April 2013 A Detailed Look at Death of a Salesman Death of a Salesman has been accepted worldwide as one of the greatest American dramas to premier in theatre. The story behind the play is based on Miller’s interactions with his Uncle, a salesman whose efforts to obtain the “American Dream” and pass his success on to his two sons becomes his main focus. Miller’s life during the preparation of Death of a Salesman provides the spark and inspiration needed to pen a literary classic. Almost five decades later, Death of a Salesman’s themes is still relevant in today’s society. Arthur Asher Miller was born October 17, 1915 in Harlem, New York City. Miller was the son of Isadora and Augustus Miller, Polish Jewish immigrants who settled in Harlem in the early 1900’s. Arthur’s father owned a successful women’s clothing manufacturing company that employed hundreds of people. Although he was a figure of wealth and prominence in the community the Wall Street Crash of 1929 left the successful family in a financial struggle. They relocated to a section in Brooklyn known as Gravesend. There Miller delivered bread to help the family maintain. In 1932 he graduated Abraham Lincoln High School. After high school miller enrolled at the University of Michigan. He worked several small jobs to pay for his college tuition. He first majored in journalism, taking up freelance writing for the Michigan Daily. While he served as a reporter and night...
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...play Death of a Salesman greatly portrays a specific ideology in regards to values, dreams, goals, and success in our consumer-driven society. It helps showcase the American dream that society tends to strive for even in the early 1900’s (the play is set in the 1940’s). That dream of being a successful business person or vendor. As well as the theory that image and physical attributes are most important to gaining fruition. Willy Loman plays a man in his sixties who has strived for this American dream for over 30 years but realistically has failed miserably on his goal in life – a wealthy salesman like his idol Dave Singleman (a fellow who could make a fortune selling without even leaving his hotel room). He spends his entire life in fallacy starving for that success. Plenty of individuals in society search for this similar success in life and career. They may spend there whole lives trying to fall into the category of an “American Success” . This may lead them to never knowing what true happiness really feels like. When searching for something that was never intended to be leads to inevitable unhappiness. One can’t find something that was never really there. Near the end of the play Biff states “He had all the wrong dreams. All, all wrong; he never knew who he was”. This is a very true statement. Willy along with many other people in this world follow the wrong dreams just because they see fit as being successful. Willy quoted: “realized the selling was the greatest career a man...
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...John Warren Mrs. Thomas English III - 6 20 October 2012 Miller’s Unfortunate Influences Many negative actions during the history of America such as the Salem witch-hunts and World War II brought upon a common psychology of desperation and deep meanings of struggle to many of Arthur Miller’s poems. “The Crucible” deals with extraordinary tragedy in lives of normal people due to the witch-hunts. “All My Sons” probes with the idea of dissatisfaction and unrest within the greater American population, influenced from the desperation and paternal responsibility put on people. Lastly, “Death of a Salesman” a work based on the American dream and national values, was influenced greatly by his hatred relationship with his uncle. The historical and personal events that occurred during Arthur Miller’s early life greatly influenced his writings of “The Crucible”, “Death of a Salesman”, and “All My Sons”. “The Crucible” was historically influenced by those trying to cleanse American culture of anyone who persisted in seeing the Soviet Union as a source of good in the world. This disgusted Miller so much that he based “The Crucible” on the anti-communist hysteria that pervaded the 1950s America, and the witch-hunts of the late 17th century He hated the idea of tragedy in ordinary lives and had much concern for the physical wellbeing of the working class. The outburst of these ideas caused him to be called before the House Committee...
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...play Death of a Salesman greatly portrays a specific ideology in regards to values, dreams, goals, and success in our consumer-driven society. It helps showcase the American dream that society tends to strive for even in the early 1900’s (the play is set in the 1940’s). That dream of being a successful business person or vendor. As well as the theory that image and physical attributes are most important to gaining fruition. Willy Loman plays a man in his sixties who has strived for this American dream for over 30 years but realistically has failed miserably on his goal in life – a wealthy salesman like his idol Dave Singleman (a fellow who could make a fortune selling without even leaving his hotel room). He spends his entire life in fallacy starving for that success. Plenty of individuals in society search for this similar success in life and career. They may spend there whole lives trying to fall into the category of an “American Success” . This may lead them to never knowing what true happiness really feels like. When searching for something that was never intended to be leads to inevitable unhappiness. One can’t find something that was never really there. Near the end of the play Biff states “He had all the wrong dreams. All, all wrong; he never knew who he was”. This is a very true statement. Willy along with many other people in this world follow the wrong dreams just because they see fit as being successful. Willy quoted: “realized the selling was the greatest career a man...
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...World-Class Bull “When does a so-called smart sales strategy cross the line to become deceitful?” (Humphreys, 2009) Which business risk represents the greatest threat to shareholder value: Natural disasters? Product defects? Piracy? Patent infringement? Lack of ethical boundaries? (Rudin, A. 2010) The World-Class Bull case study explores the ethical boundaries and challenges that a company will face when it is discovered that one of their top salesman, Chris Knox, takes on the challenge to land a big account. Using the CEO’s personal love of livestock the salesman develops a person relationship and eventually closes the sale. Ethical issues arise when the tactics used by the salesman are revealed in an email sent by the VP of sales, Jeremy Silva, celebrating the success of landing the account. This paper explores and describes how to identify risk factors for ethics problems, and how once identified determining steps to mitigate that risk. Employee actions should be conducted with honesty, full disclosure and the upholding of confidentiality. While the actions of Chris Knox in the World-Class Bull Case may be deemed to have crossed the line the mitigation of his actions should have been handled differently. The responsibility of this “could have crossed the line” behavior lies with management, specifically the sales manager and secondarily the organizations lack of proper ethics training. Building relationships and friendships with potential and current customers...
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...desire. We as human beings are all born with a passion and we have to keep trying to achieve it. Of course, some may lack this wisdom because of their inability to understand success is not all about money and good looks. An example of this theme of success is presented in the novel Death of a Salesman. Miller clarifies this philosophical way of life through contrast and comparison between two characters. In the novel Death of a Salesman Arthur Miller demonstrates the idea of success through the Willy and Charley through the theme of foil as fathers, friends, and businessman. In the Arthur Miller’s novel, Death of a Salesman, the interaction between Willy Loman and his sons, Happy and Biff, allows Miller to demonstrate the foil comparison of the father-son relationships with the Charley’s relationship with his son. Willy and Charley’s relationships with their sons contradict each other and therefore affected their son’s future successes in different ways. ‘Willy Loman is a man whose fall from the top of the capitalistic totem pole results in multiple pitfalls’. He is a low class man who speaks only by his words and not actions. Willy Loman loves his son, Biff, more than anything in the world. As Biff grows up, Willy...
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...Morphing Into Personality “The image of myself which I try to create in my own mind in order that I may love myself is very different from the image which I try to create in the minds of others in order that they might love me.” Stated by W. H. Auden, this quote aptly illustrates Willy Loman’s external image conflict as well as society’s changed perspective regarding character and personality. Willy Loman, the main character in Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman,” was determined to become a successful salesman because society regarded the charismatic occupation highly. Willy, striving on the idea that “being liked” made an individual successful, ultimately failed in embracing his true identity, becoming a carpenter, by devoting...
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...Power of Success The unflinching conflict of obtaining success is eloquently portrayed throughout Arthur Millers “Death of a Salesman”. In this modern tragedy, Miller successfully depicts the human condition in midst of denying failure. The play unfolds around a washed- up salesman named Willy Loman, whose obsession with reaching concrete evidence of success, creates unfortunate repercussions on his family, and himself. Willys conviction that a man must not only be like, but he must be well liked (Miller, 1250), along with his uninterrupted focus on prominence, reflects on his two sons, Biff and Happy, as he infuses them with values of social status as well as future success. Willy’s sense of self value depends on the response of others. Such gestures of recognition provide signals that society is a comfortable home for him, one where he hopes to make his sons as happily at ease as he (Jacobson, 249). This is doubtlessly a mirage of security for Willy, as he desperately suppresses his inner motions of regret, and refuses to embrace his conscious identity. Ultimately, Willy Lomans self- delusion of success disabled him to obtain his true identity, and influence a displacement of identity in his sons. Most people in today’s society develop a constant necessity to better their lives, as well the quality of life for their family. For many, this necessity stems from their core beliefs of what a comfortable life should contain in our society, along with secure elements for their...
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...Building Castles in the Air: An Attempt at Living in Them Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman is a fast paced drama. In this play, he manages to bring out the elements of the American Dream. Miller illustrates the materialism shrouding the American dream. The effects of the American Dream may not be as profound in the present as they were in the time after the World War II. Today, the United States of America has the option of criticism and an in-depth self-analysis that saves people from the post-war tensions and immense contradictions. At the time of the setting of the play, there was a lot of denial, and this saw the rise of the ilk of artists and writers who fought for self-realization and created an awareness of the importance of “self.” Miller’s play, The Death of a Salesman, set in the post-war period, 1949, exemplifies the necessity to see the American as a myth because it does not have the capacity to encompass the innate human weakness such as doubt and insecurities and also economic changes. He illustrates this through his character Willy Loman who held the American dream as his unshakable tenet and his faith in it resulted in his tragic death....
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...You may have what it takes to be successful, but if you lose yourself in someone else’s priorities or societal expectations, you will be judged not by your potential but rather by your history – Dr. Lois P Frankel. Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman took place in New York City during 1948. A lot happened in the 1940’s, World War II ended in 1945, so the 1940’s were consumed by the war. The pop culture was very anti-German and anti-Japanese. It was unimaginable just how much the war impacted all aspects of people’s lives. You could not just walk into the grocery store and buy all the butter you wanted like you can do now. Many items were rationed. Post war though became very luxurious. People’s spirts were lifted, movies were cranked out, fashion...
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