Monday, December 1, 2014
Symbolic Props
Choose one prop from the play and explain how it symbolizes at least two of the following: cultural values, a source of conflict, and how characters see themselves and others. Be sure to note how the symbolic weight of the prop might extend across much of the first act. This will be worth 15 points.
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A symbolic prop in this play I have picked is the flute. The flute is very significant to the play and Willy because first of all, it is the only background music during this play. It foreshadows its significance by being present right in the beginning of the play. Then we find out that Willy’s father used to make and sell flutes all over the country. He talked about this with his brother Ben in a flashback, and then he talked about when their father abandoned them, and Willy’s longing to have met and loved him before he left. I feel as if this flute represents the importance of family, more specifically the bond between a father and his son. Willy is very close and idolizes his son Biff, and hopes for him to be as “successful” as he was. I also feel that the flute reminds Willy of his failures. It reminds him that his father left him, and that he wasn’t somewhat worthy of him. Maybe this is why Willy has these flashbacks in act 1, because he is reminded of what successes and failures happened throughout his life. He looks at Biff in the present and I feel as if he has failed him, as well. Just like his father. This internal conflict with himself has his mind going wild, as we see throughout his many flashbacks and thoughts. He wants him and his family to be successful, but yet is failing at his job and supporting them mentally, emotionally, and financially.
ReplyDeleteA lot there. A bit of a dreamy, fanciful air to the sound of the thing, rough, though, when you consider the tragic outcomes it seems to associate itself with. You've done very well to stay true to the story itself! Anyway we can generalize this flute to allow its meaning to be a statement on some aspect of success as defined by American culture?
DeleteThe prop that I chose from the play is Linda’s and The Woman’s Stockings. I believe that they symbolize a source of conflict and how characters see themselves and others. Willy’s outburst at Linda about her stockings is a result of his pressing guilt he feels from what happened with the Woman; she used to buy stockings from him. The stockings ultimately become a symbol of betrayal, guilt, and adultery. New stockings are significant for Willy because it means he is successful in his career and therefore is able to make a living/ provide for his family. These stockings allow Willy to feel better about himself because the more he sells, the more is guilt is put at ease. They also help to suppress the memory of his betrayal of Linda and disappointment to Biff. This symbol extends across Act 1; they are present in flash backs, conversations, and because it is the product Willy sells.
ReplyDelete"These stockings allow Willy to feel better about himself because the more he sells, the more is guilt is put at ease." Wow. Almost paradoxical. The stockings bring up the affair at the same time they signify, to Willy, the fruits of success, and thus diminish his guilt. What, then, is the driving force of the Willy Loman conscience?? Scary.
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ReplyDeleteA reoccurring prop in this play is the flute and its music. A flute has a natural connotation of being innocent and pure, but it represents more in this act. It is often used as a transition to signify when Willy’s dreams are being triggered. This is a key way the author helps clear up the plot. Also by describing the flute in the opening lines of the play and having it come up over and over again, there is some consistency to Willy’s experiences, which could represent his demons that seem to repeatedly haunt him. One of these issues is Willy’s relationship (or lack thereof) with his father. Because Willy never really had his dad around, he latches on to his one memory- the flute his father played. Because the flute comes up so often and because it often leads to his episodes, it implies that many of Willy’s issues are derived from his feelings associated with the absence of his father. Being that it is always a solo flute playing, that could suggest that Willy feels like he is alone in fighting his issues or that they are solely his. This could explain his disregard for Linda’s help and concern.
ReplyDeleteOr that they are solely his.......,I'm thinking you have asked yourself, why does he turn Linda away no matter her attempt to help. One could just say that guys don't stop to ask for directions. But you are reaching back for something deeper here. "Solely" is almost a pun. I'm going to throw in a Lion King reference. So much of that story is about Simba living up to his father's role, his success, without knowing how because he died when the kid was but a cub. Who is Willy trying to impress more, here? His wife or the memory of his father? Soleful pursuit indeed.
DeleteI choose stockings as my symbolic prop, because it represents the culture of the time as well as Willy’s family, his guilt and in some ways, his sanity, or rather insanity. Just as stockings are no longer the norm for us, the views of what a family should be and what each members’ roles in said family should be, are obsolete. New ideas, new family dynamics replace the 1940’s family just like pants replaced the necessity of stockings. Since his affair and how he would give the Other Woman stocking, stockings are also a reminder of Willy’s adultery and his guilt. Additionally, it represents the family, especially how torn and rent it is, with Linda trying to mend it. But like any torn stocking or tights with runs, while one may have sewn up the tear, it is still visible; the weave of the stockings are irreparably changed and altered, just like the family dynamics after Biff’s failures and Willy’s infidelity and insanity. As demonstrated by Biff and Happy’s insistence at helping around after hearing about the extent of Willy’s mental issues, and Linda’s intensified sugarcoating and mothering of Willy, the weave of the family, of the stockings, is also rent by Willy’s insanity, but the tears in the stockings also symbolize Willy’s insanity, the stockings becoming his sanity and mind. His mind no longer runs smoothly, snagging on little bits and pieces of memories and no longer working/looking the way it should.
ReplyDeleteAriel: You win the award for the first student to make a connection between our 40s research project, the shifting dynamics of the culture, and the implications this setting had on the most intimate details of the Loman life. There you go: how did the shape and feel of the middle-class family change in this era, and what new stresses did these changes place on the family? The stockings seem quite the harbinger of a host of issues that surfaced.
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ReplyDeleteA prop that really stands out to me in the play I guess isn't really a prop, but it's the house. The house symbolizes both cultural values and a source of conflict in the play. When Willy is done with his travels to wherever he goes, he comes to the house and fights with his family. When this happens, Linda has to stick up for her kids and for Willy. Then Linda is in the middle of all of it, which makes the house the source of a ll conflict. Willy even said something about how the foundation of the house and how it was all run down and old looking. He doesn't like the fact that the "new culture" of the neighborhood has brought all the streets and buildings there. He doesn't like the fact that the neighborhood is "conforming" to what the culture and society wants them to do. The house was brought up a couple of times, but really only by Willy, in Act 1.
ReplyDeleteYou know, many have talked about Linda being a "housewife" but it is only Willy who seems to be the only one to observe the house's deterioration. He's obsessed with it. Perhaps, indeed, the house is an integral part of who Willy thinks he is. I'd think any realtor or architect would agree with the idea that we do shape our self-concepts in part by the shape and conditions of our homes.
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ReplyDeleteOne of the symbols present throughout the first act of Death of a Salesman is his use of Willy’s apparent mental illness, which could be Alzheimer’s or dementia. His deteriorating state represents the early, yet deteriorating morale of Americans. Willy’s words and actions wreak havoc on his family and he unknowingly tears the family apart. This could be a symbol of larger cultural values, in this case negative ones. When Willy’s past is juxtaposed with his present during the flashback sequence, it is evident that he was in a better situation. He got along with his kids, was faithful to Linda, and with that Chevy car, their family embodied the ideal American family. However as Willy started to age, and his failures such as the extramarital affair he had, the lack of success in his business, and his kids, became more evident as his mental health worsened. This ideal family situation was at a great height in the 1920s, when the stock market soared and there were no worries of foreclosure. This idealism was wiped away with the Great Depression, but after World War II got people back on their feet again, the idea of an ideal American family and society rebounded. However, it has made a gradual decline since. In our own lives, we are nostalgic of the past, longing for the “good old days” when the economy wasn’t so bad and hope for a better future seems easier to reach than it does now. Willy’s declining mental state portrayed what America as a nation was going through. Willy’s illness serves as a large conflict in the story. Early on in Act I, Willy complains to Linda about the disappointment Biff is saying that he doesn’t make enough money for a man his age. Linda tries to reason with him, but to no avail. Willy also talks to himself in a fairly audible voice, so noticeable that his sons call it embarrassing. Finally, the question of his health is brought out into the open when Linda tells Biff that Willy is dying. To watch the family member slowly decline brings lots of pain for Linda, especially knowing that he is taking crucial family ties down with him; he and Biff cannot come to terms. In America, our own selfishness and pursuing of our own agendas molded us into a stereotype of rude, selfish, and hypocritical people. The conflict of a dying American moral is greatly seen through the symbol of Willy. Willy symbolizes many of the problems that Americans face today, such as a dying morale and value among our character, and the longing to bring the past back to the present.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of a declining morale is fascinating. Watch how Willy is treated by his employer in the second act. Is this a possible cultural consequence of a post-Depression mindset?
DeleteOne of the most prevalent props in the first Act is the cheese, we never end up seeing it, but the repetition of it as a topic of conversation emphasizes its importance. This is an obvious symbol. Food is meant to sustain us and give us energy to keep active and alive. This cheese is a different type, that the one they usually get, which symbolizes possibly the change in Willy’s life such as an increase in the severity of his mental illness. The fact that Willy finds the cheese distasteful shows he rejects the idea of not being able to function the same as in his youth. Furthermore, Willy refuses his wife’s help to make a sandwich; this explains his will to be independent or possibly that he feels alone in his suffering. It is also possible that this symbol has two meanings. The cheese could also represent change (because it is a new flavor),of which Willy resists. This change is happening to those around him while he is still stuck in his dead end job. Biff moving to Texas soon and Happy has a steady job now which helps him afford an apartment of his own. It is not just the people around him that are changing and growing, even the neighborhood around his house has become more residential with apartments encasing it. This has taken away his ability to branch out and live freely.
ReplyDeleteGot quite a bit out of some cheese. :). Context tells you that the man is afraid of change, and you've found shifts both in the social landscape and in generational sprawl. How much was indeed changing in the 40s? Or is there something to be said about how change itself is harder to bear with the coming of age, or when one's ego is so bruised when facing the idea that our talents have become obsolete? Lot of topical ideas here.
DeleteAn important prop of the play is the flute. It is the background music of the play, and adds to the dreamlike state of Willy’s mind. The sound it adds to the play is light, whimsical, and probably serves as an enchantment to not only the audience but Willy as well. Also, because it is a connection to his father, it connects even more to his daydreams. The main aspect of his daydreams is family, and I believe his father contributed to his mental state. He connects to the flute because it symbolizes his father, and he wishes he had had a connection with him. His father wasn’t there however, so the only memory he has of him are the flutes his father made and played. I feel that Willy is so hard on Biff because he didn't have a father to be hard on him when he was growing up. This is also why he stays with his family although he is miserable.
ReplyDeleteI really like your read on how the flute is connected to the "tough love" Willy seems to have for Biff. He didn't get much from Dad, so he's latching onto his son. Very optimistic look at what others have defined as harsh and insensitive treatment.
DeleteThe prop I chose is the football that young Biff steals. The football contribute to the idea of the path taken to achieving the American dream. When Biff was young he was told by Willy he doesn’t need to follow the rules to follow the American Dream. Since Willy assumes Biff deserves the dream, he assumed that the coach wanted Biff to take the football, but when he found out he was wrong, he was okay with Biff stealing it anyways even though he says to return it. Willy probably feels like when he tried to achieve the American Dream by following the ideal system we think America has (everyone has fair playing ground to work hard and get results), he was unable to succeed despite all of the work he put into his career. He probably thinks the rules of the system therefore don’t work, and that’s why Biff should be able to break them. Willy tells Biff that he deserved to steal the football above everyone else, because he so desperately wants Biff to have a better chance than anyone else to achieve the dream since Willy didn’t himself by being fair. When young Biff wants to make Willy proud, he tells him that he’ll break through to take a touchdown without passing to anyone else. Willy is proud of him for this, thinking it shows the wild characteristics that Biff needs to achieve the dream, even though it is selfish because it gets rid of the much needed roles of others to achieve the dream. Again, Willy probably thought that other people were holding him back from achieving his own dream, so he is proud thinking that Biff doesn’t need other people and can score without them. Later in the act when Willy thinks about how the family is in reality torn apart in a way by Willy taking selfish actions himself, triggered by Linda mending the stockings, all of the faults of Biff begin to come forward again, the faults that Willy initially thought were great because he thought they would guarantee Biff his dreams -- failing math, driving a car without a license, being too rough with girls, and the football, which Willy now decides Biff needs to take back. He most likely thinks he needs to take it back now because he’s starting to realize at that point in his life the path that Biff was heading -- a lack of success because even though Biff had ambitious characteristics, he lacked the discipline and humility to also needed to achieve his dreams. Willy’s life was negatively affected by taking a selfish action himself by cheating, so he starts to realize he doesn’t want Biff to do selfish actions too.The other characters, Happy/Linda, were aware that there are certain rules that people are still bound to in America, and that’s why they encourage Biff immediately to return the football. They know there’s still punishment by breaking the rules because even if Willy would like to think the rules don’t apply to Biff, because he idolizes Biff, in reality they do. Even if the system doesn't always produce fair results, there's still consequences for ignoring what rules exist.
ReplyDelete"When young Biff wants to make Willy proud, he tells him that he’ll break through to take a touchdown without passing to anyone else. Willy is proud of him for this, thinking it shows the wild characteristics that Biff needs to achieve the dream, even though it is selfish because it gets rid of the much needed roles of others to achieve the dream." An interesting word choice--wild--to describe a trait Willy deems vital to success. You connect wildness to selfishness, uber-individuality, and, ultimately, cheating and stealing. You have to wonder where Willy would get the idea that we can and should go it alone, regardless of the consequences to those around us.
DeleteThe prop I decided to use is the car. The car is supposed to represent the "all American life", especially since it is a Chevrolet car, which is an American made car. Along with that, the car is supposed to make a person feel freedom, which Willy doesn't have. Willy is having a lot of trouble driving, showing his loss of control, and loss of his own American dream. In the beginning of the first act he comes home tired from driving, showing he is tired with his life. He doesn't know what to do anymore, so he is beginning to ask himself why he even lives. Along with that, he cannot take control of the car, and is losing focus and swerving off the road, which is directly shown through his own life by his actions, and his thoughts. Willy gets in the car accidents on purpose, showing that he is "driving himself to his own death" figuratively and literally. He cannot control himself or his life, so he is trying to take his life, but he hasn't been able to succeed. Cars are supposed to be powerful, and show movement to one place to a next, and Willy doesn't have that. He has been stuck in the same horrible situation since he can remember. He can’t get out of the endless circle of his job, and he doesn't know what to do anymore. This is shown when he couldn't get to his job, and had to turn around and go back home, earning no money. Him being was confused with the car he was driving shows his confusion with what he wants to do with his life, and what he is actually working for. He has been working so hard for so long, he has lost the real meaning with what he is supposed to be doing, and now he is trying to find a way out. And the car is supposed to symbolize him “moving on”, but he just doesn't know how to do that, and nothing he has been doing has been working.
ReplyDeleteIt's a good start, especially when you consider the qualities of the car that you've listed here (freedom, movement). How have the particulars of his job circumstances offered themselves toward reading this tool for freedom and movement as useless for him? You might want to also explore how he obsesses over other qualities of the car--the appearance--and how this reflects his own value system. If you choose this as your research item, try tracking down an old advertisement for Chevy vehicles and note how they marketed the product to appeal toward certain values of the time. It would be a wonderful way too see into our main character as a product of his culture.
DeleteIt's a good start, especially when you consider the qualities of the car that you've listed here (freedom, movement). How have the particulars of his job circumstances offered themselves toward reading this tool for freedom and movement as useless for him? You might want to also explore how he obsesses over other qualities of the car--the appearance--and how this reflects his own value system. If you choose this as your research item, try tracking down an old advertisement for Chevy vehicles and note how they marketed the product to appeal toward certain values of the time. It would be a wonderful way too see into our main character as a product of his culture.
ReplyDeleteI think the most symbolic prop in the play are the stockings because they represent multiple different things and times in Willy's life. First of all, the stockings represent Willy's guilt and his past. The stockings remind him of his affair, which is why part of the reason he gets so angry when Linda is mending her stockings. The stockings also represent the state of Willy's family. Willy is very unhappy with where his boys are at in their lives, and he yells and says things he most likely doesn't actually mean. The fact that Linda is trying to fix the stockings represent her role as the one who must mend the family back together after it is broken up. She is the threshold of the family. Finally, the stockings represent Willy's life versus what he wants it to be. The Woman loved her stockings, indicating that they must have been in good shape. This represents Willy's longing for success and perfection in his life, because his affair was only an escape from his underachieving life. But when Linda mends the beat up stockings, this represents that what Willy has now is almost a broken dream, or at least an uglier version of what his life was supposed to be.
ReplyDelete"Or at least an uglier version of what his life was supposed to be." Quite a telling statement. What was his life supposed to be, Alex?
DeleteThe stockings to me are the most important and significant prop in the play. I say this because they have such a deeper meaning than what they actually are. To us and Linda, they are just a pair of stockings that she is trying to fix. But to Willy, they bring back so many memories and emotions. Mainly, they remind him of his affair with the woman. And like Linda is oblivious to how the stockings make Willy feel, she is also oblivious of the affair that occurred. Linda is just trying to fix them, but because of Willy's overwhelming sense of anger, he refuses to let her finish. In a way, this is kind of like their family. Linda is just trying to fix the family's problems but because of Willy's nature, she can't . The stockings are a crucial part of the play not only because they let us understand Willy's past more, but also, they help us understand the family.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to see how you develop a sense of what Willy's "nature" is. That is, his ideas about what success looks like, how one attains that success, etc. His "nature" is also how he relates with his friend, his boss, even his own brother.
DeleteThe symbolic prop I’ve chosen to explain is Biff’s football trophy. The trophy is located above Willy’s bed which I believe says a lot about the father-son relationship of the two. The fact that it’s in Willy’s room and not Biff’s room tells us that Willy takes more pride in the object than Biff. He sees himself as living through his son. This is a source of conflict, for Biff’s past successes, such as in football, made him proud of himself, but Willy’s present disappointment in Biff makes him disappointed in himself as well. He frequently becomes angry with Biff throughout the first act, wanting him to get his life together. I feel as though Willy wants this of Biff so that he can feel like his own life is more together (since he’s living through him).
ReplyDeleteKeep extending. Elaborate on the different ways Willy is "living through him"--it's such a critical part of Biff's own dilemma in the second act.
DeleteThe most important prop to me are the stockings. Linda is oblivious to the true meaning that his stockings hold. When Linda tries to mend his stockings Willy goes into a rage. I believe this could be because, to Willy, she is changing the meaning of them. He wants the stockings left as they are, they are the way they are because of the memories he had in them, including the affair that Linda is oblivious to. As well as this, the fact of Linda mending the stockings represents her trying to mend the family. Without the help of her husband she cannot fix the stockings (or family) alone.
ReplyDeleteWow! I totally agree on your conclusion that Linda can’t fix the family without Willy. I believe that that’s so true because “it takes two” to make it work and if the man of the house isn’t doing much, then not much is happening. I also like how you said that Linda is “changing the meaning of them” because of the meaning he already made it to be or perceived it to be! I feel really bad for Linda, but Willy is truly blessed to have a wife like her.
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ReplyDeleteThe prop I choose is the football. It has come to mean many things in this play. It's first meaning was Biff's future and pride, as a player. Ironically it is also Biff's shame. He first obtained the football by stealing it from his school, a foreshadowing of the other trouble he would get into. Willy didn't seem to care, he was ecstatic that his son "took initiative". The football was one way that Willy ultimately neglected his son. He allowed Biff to do whatever he pleased ruining his academic future, and later on broke his trust, killing his confidence. The football can also be seen as a symbol of the fragile relationship between Willy and Biff. When Biff was young he looked up to his father and the football represented the happiness of bonding and playing catch with Willy. Then once their relationship went bitter these memories were forgotten and it just became a reminder of the failure Biff became.
ReplyDeleteI chose the stockings as my prop. In the play, the conflict that arises from such simple pieces of clothing is highly prevalent. There are two parts of the play where the idea of the stockings differ. There is the part of the play when Willy is with “the woman”, he gives her brand new stockings. Then there is the scene with Linda sitting at the kitchen table trying to mend her old, tattered stockings as Willy watches before snatching them from her hands. I feel like in the first scenario, when giving the stockings to the woman, he was being that of a gentlemen, providing this woman with something that she wanted. Funny thing is, he was not acting as a gentlemen at all as he cheated on Linda. The conflict is shown when Willy does violently snatch the stockings out of Linda’s hands. I feel like he is so out of his mind that he is TRYING to forget about the past and the mistakes that he had made while cheating, but the sight of the stockings is just a remembrance of his past mistakes that seem to haunt him daily. The stockings make Willy look down on himself as well as makes him see Linda poorly. This is where I’m having problems too deciding if he truly loves Linda or not. Sure, maybe a pair of stockings doesn’t define our love to another person, but you would think something so simple would mean so much to Linda as it did to the other woman. Why would he provide something to this woman interfering in his marriage and not provide his own wife with something so simple? This prop is seen throughout much of the first act, and that’s why I believe it does have a higher purpose to the story. Something so simple as an article of clothing can reveal a lot about Willy as an individual and much about his marriage with Linda.
ReplyDeleteI agree about how important the stockings are throughout the play. I like how you pointed out how Linda's are '"old and tattered" stockings, rather than new ones. This might have a deeper meaning- Linda is stuck trying to smooth over the problems her family is experiencing, "fixing" Willy. I think the woman provides a distraction for Willy, which is why he "provides" her with new socks. He no longer has to worry about reality when he is with her- Linda holding stockings must remind him of his misdemeanor, triggering guilt.
DeleteThe football trophy. This is a worthless object in their lives now, something that has barely any dollar value, and yet Willy still looks at it like his most prized possession. He has been so quickly to pawn off everything else that has been meaningful to him, like his brothers diamond broach, but he still looks at this cheap metal statue like it is golden. The trophy isn't even Willy's accomplishment! However, it represents the time in his life where there was still hope. At this point in their lives, Biff was planning on going to the University of Virginia with a huge football career ahead of him. Biff still had a chance of a bright future for himself, and with his father. Then, all of the tables turned, and everything tumbled down hill. Yet the only thing that remained intact in their lives, in their household, was that shining trophy. Now each time he looks at it, it stares back with a reminder that every day makes it further in the past, and the hope for that future continues to diminish. So is it a symbol of good memories, of pleasant nostalgia? Or is it a constant wake up call that things will never be the same?
ReplyDeleteI selected the car. A car in the 40's was a luxury, not everyone had one but it provided greater possiblities for the owner in terms of work. This car however is the transportation that leads to Willy's affair. Could be seen as the gates to hell for the family. Also cars built in the 40's were sturdy and tough on the outside and took little to know damage on the outside in an accident, but whoever is on the inside takes a whole lot of damage. That's the perfect way to describe the family. On the outside it looks fine, but on the inside everyone is damaged and is struggling to stay alive.
ReplyDeleteThe house is a prevalent symbol throughout the play. It is a representation of Willy's desire to reach his own personal American Dream. He bought the house at a time where he had his life ahead of him, clinging to the hope that he'd be able to raise his family in a stable environment, as a successful man. As he grows older and he no longer has his children around, his job does not offer him any more opportunities, and the beautiful house he craved became trapped in a maze of newer, more modern apartment buildings. The house is no longer the shiny and new; rather the dilapidated home became nothing more than debt. His visions for the future and his ideas of success are becoming less and less probable- as they fade, so does the house's charm. Willy views his house as tangible evidence of his hard work- his self worth is tied into his ability to maintain it and his family. The house is not just the place where the Loman's live- it is the fruit of Willy's labor, and a symbol of Willy's previous hope.
ReplyDeleteWilly’s possession of Biff’s trophy is symbolic of his materialism. The owner of the trophy is usually the beholder of it, but it’s not like that in this case. Willy holds onto it and takes pride in it instead of Biff. This tells us that it has more meaning to Willy than to Biff and that there is clearly a difference in what makes them happy. Willy holding onto the trophy represents him holding onto the American dream. He strives for success, which can be found through the trophy even though it brings no worth in itself and even though it doesn’t belong to him. While Biff can find happiness through other things, Willy finds it through secular things and wealth. This causes a problem between the two and makes it all the more harder for them to really connect as father and son.
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