What are You Trying to Sell?

What is a salesman? To me, it is simply someone who must educate you on a product and then convince you that you MUST have it. Therefore, in a sense we are all salesmen. We are all trying to sell ourselves in some way. Whether we are selling our personalities or interest to fit in or possibly selling ourselves to friends that they can't live without us. Maybe even to our significant other that they need us for help to get through each day with passion and love.

But with that being said, in "Death of a Salesman" a whole new meaning is approached. Willy is a salesman, and his neighbor Charley tells him, “the only thing you got in this world is what you can sell” (1256). Willy doesn't recognize this. All he thrives off of is his past and gets angry because he has nothing to sell. Men were defined by their job in the 1940's. They didn't have much of a relationship with family or children. It was simply money. I believe that Charley is trying to help Willy find himself in the life he is really in. Willy seems to be so wrapped up in his emotions and past relationships along with mistakes that he has nothing left to sell.

Today, this statement changes to something different. The world is centered on wants more so than needs. People want anything anyone has to sell. We take things for granted even in struggling economic times and push the barrier a little further and further concerning relationships and friendships. We sell unnecessary items in order to be better than someone else or to have more stuff to show. Much like Willy, many struggle with shame and guilt from their past but instead of confronting them, individuals will attempt to cover these mistakes and sell the person they choose to present to everyone they meet.

I guess, to me, everything, every day is simply just a sale nobody wants to miss.

Pretty, Pretty Personalities

To me, personality is the most important aspect of a story. A personality is the particular combination of emotional, attitudinal and behavioral response pattern of individual.  It can be effected by the personalities of other characters and influence the decisions they make. With that being said, I would like to analyze the characters in Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller.

Willy, the father, seems as though he is insecure and contradicts much of what he says. He also would rather reminisce and attempt to relive the past then enjoy the present. However, Willy does give insight and encourage at moments through Act. I would cast Opera for his position. Ever since Opera went off the air, she has been in and out of the television land. Many times you can catch her smiling and laughing without even having a show. But much like Willy, she snaps back into the present and begins to complain about how much she dislikes one thing or another like Willy does at the beginning of the play about the farm. Not to mention, Opera has the attitude and voice to complete the package for the part.

Now Biff. Biff was a high school super star and loved by almost every woman! This definitely relates to Channing Tatum. They were both extremely popular anywhere and everywhere they go. Not to mention, catching ladies eyes on every corner and capturing their hearts. Much like Willy caught the heart of his wife Linda.

Linda is a sweetheart. She keeps the family from going insane and holds Willy’s hand when he is in the present or the past. She is extremely loyal and hopes for Willy success and promise.  Casting a movie, I would place Cameron Diaz. A very sweet and sophisticated lady that matches this with her beauty brings the sweetness to film much like Linda does in the drama. They are both good for a laugh every now and then too!

Placing a personality to a person is easy when the person is known in real life. In stories or plays, this duty is given to the author. As represented above, I easily found personality traits in every character. Now, placing them to a movie star is hardly this easy as I am dumfounded when it comes to knowing the names of ANY movie stars…but I took my assumptions and tiny facts and made a blog!

Enjoy!

A Dream or Reality?

As I begin to rack my brain for information concerning the American Dream, I begin to wonder, do I even have a dream? Does anybody have dreams or aspirations anymore? Sure, many of us dream of winning the lottery, driving the fancy vehicles and not having to worry about making ends meet within the family or money at all. We dream about not having to work but still being given every single thing our hearts desire. But are these real dreams or are these escapes from reality?

When America was discovered many dreamed of arriving here. Even though hit was barely established, it held promise and light to the dark lives many were living. People wanted freedom to express themselves and discover who they truly were. They wanted happiness and love. In America, they were promised opportunities that allowed them to run their own farm or practice any religion which was a dream to many. Now, of course, these promises took a long time to become the reality with many struggles and hardships along the way but they were accomplished. But it was still thought of as the American Dream. However, what does this dream mean now?

To many that immigrate to America, they come in search of the dream. The dream that includes freedom to work, to express themselves, to be who they want to be is what immigrates come to America searching for. They are free to have their own children that become natural born citizens making a better life for them. There is nothing about that that does not sound like a dream. But to those of us that are born in America, I don’t know what the American dream is. We are spoiled from the minute we are born to the very second we die. We are nearly handed any materialistic things we could ever want. All we dream about are things to ease our life or stress levels of everyday life. What does this mean?

 I don’t even have a dream anymore……do you?