Script Analysis

By Sam Beaver Alright, here’s my final piece.. 

• I’ve been thinking about the final metaphor of the play, and went through a pretty strange process.  i at first began thinking about what keeps Willy from achieving his goals, because it seems as though this is the central conflict of the story.  His goal, we decided in our discussion, is to make it big in the bsiness world AND support and care for his family.  As we narrowed down his goals  to these two general statements, we realized that even these fit into a larger, more fully encompassing description if what Willy wants.  That is to say, he wants the American Dream.  The jungle, for willy, is the how of that dream.  He perceives the jungle story as a  coming of age story, where Ben stepped in a poor boy and stepped out a rich man.  Alejandro stated that Willy never really grasped the full idea of the jungle, only taking the object of wealth as the important factor in the jungle.  What Willy fails to see about this American Dream is the PROCESS.  He is too caught up in the “make it big easy” idea, for this is why he went into being a salesman in the first place.  Why work with your hands when you can make it big as a salesman!  But he realizes that he actually can’t make it big as a salesman because of his idea of the American Dream as something “magical,” an illusion that will sweep him up as long as he smiles and gets to know people.  As we see, these illusions manifest themselves as characters of Willy’s past, reaffirming his own strange beliefs.  When he begins to discover his inability to be a big shot salesman, he begins to create his own illusion for his children and family.
• His relationship with The Woman, therefore, is the presentation of his inability to do honest work and make a living from it.  It is also the presentation of his strong desire to make money in the business world.  Because he needs to set up this illusion for his family, he fails them.  So when Biff finds Willy and the woman together, it reveals how Willy’s need for money has isolated him from his family.  Of his two goals, as he tries to reach one of them, the other slips out of his grasp.
• And the same works in the reverse.  He had opportunities to get rich before, such as going out of the country with Ben.  If you remember, he does not do this because he had to stay home with his wife and children instead of walking “into the Jungle.”  From this point on, every venture that he goes on is subconsciously trying to make up for the fact that he missed his chance to go get rich with Ben.  So in the same way that his need for money isolates his family, his need for his family isolates him from money.
• This is what I like to describe through the Tantalus metaphor.  Each attempt Tantalus makes to reach the food and water that are right next to him, they scurry out of his reach.  His thirst for these things is what stops him from getting them.  It is the same with Willy’s American Dream.  He strives for money, and loses his family.  He strives to love his family, and misses opportunities to make money. 
• Lastly, I think I’d just like to add in that bit that i threw out in the discussion about the beatles song.  I really can’t think of a better metaphor for the play than “Money can’t buy me love” and combined with the other posts from ALejandro and Eric i think we have the true ideas and metaphors of the play.

as brought up in the meeting.haha

I think this sums it all up for tonight/\

;):)