I enjoyed reading Soul and Society. Well I was interested in reading more about Death of a Salesman. There were some things mentioned in the text that I didn't even think about. The refrigerator incident. Willy's refrigerator was a piece of junk, but Charley had a refrigerator for 20 years and it still worked like brand new. The refrigerators could symbolize their children. Biff was a bum, but when Willy talk to Bernard was doing very well. He was on his way to argue a case in front of The Supreme Court. That's saying a lot. It seems like Willy made a lot of bad decisions.
I really didn't pay attention to the part of the play when Biff stole the pen. I didn't relate it to his past stealing. He was always stealing to get Willy's approval. After all of the years, Biff was a grown man still trying to get his father's approval. The pen was more than just a pen. On page 137 in the second paragraph we learn that the fountain pen was a symbol for status. It wasn't just a tool anymore. It was apart of the professional look "as with a watch or briefcase".
On page 139 in the second paragraph I like the part about "A man who can't handle tools is not a man". A man who uses tools to preform a job will turn out find, but the machines he buys can fail him. I liked this because in our society I believe we rely on machines to much. We don't rely on ourselves as much as we should.
I finished reading the play earlier this weekend, I just didn't have time to blog. Anyway, overall I liked it. I didn't think I was going to like it, but to my surprise I did.
In Friday's class, the subject of the "American Dream" came up. Willy had the American Dream, keeping in mind the play was written in 1949. Being successful was the American Dream of that time. Don't get me wrong being successful in today's society is still important, but I don't think there is a such thing as the "American Dream". I think it's all about survival. Being able to survive life is enough success because it is a "Dog Eat Dog World".
Another point that was brought up in class was if Linda knew about "The Woman". I think she did. Her character was a little to smart not to know what was going on. If that felled there that thing called women's intuition. In the 40's and 50's women main focus was to be keeping the family together. Meaning taking care of her kids and husband. A woman's place was in the kitchen. Divorce would't have been an option because it was consider a scandal and she still loved him.
Most people might think Biff was a bastard, but I think he is a hero. Not too many people can stand up to their parents and tell them about themselves. If I was Biff I probably would have did the same thing. Biff didn't want to live in lies anymore and I respect that. I respect the fact that he realize who he truly was.
Was Willy at flaw for his condition? I would have to say he had help. He created it and everyone feed into it. No one would call him his actions or anything. Everyone want to protect his pride and ego. I guess they that it was in his best interest, but sometimes enough is enough. No one went to get him help or anything. These flashbacks or whatever you want to call them haunted him because he didn't want to face the present reality. He wanted to believe everything was gravy and all sunshine. In this case Willy was a great salesman. He got everyone to buy into his so called "Crazyness".
"The only thing you got in this world is what you can sell" (97). I would have to say this statement is true. Everyone sells themselves. I'm not saying we sell ourselves like hookers do, but we do sell ourselves. Everytime you go on a job interview aren't you selling yourself to get the job? When you are in the workforce you sell yourself everyday so that you can get promoted to the next level. So we all have sold ourselves in one way or another.
Well I'm not to sure what to say about Death of a Salesman so far. I guess the only word I could use to describe it is confusing. I'm confuse. I get the part that about the boys being bums, espeically Biff. Willy had a close relationship with him, but it's not like that anymore. Willy isn't bring home as much money anymore.
Is Willy really crazy? In some parts of the play I think flashbacks are occurring because when Willy was talking to The Woman. It seem like it happen in his past. Is that true? I believe Ben is dead. So how are they talking to him? Can Willy speak to the dead?
I thought is was pretty entertaining when the argument between Biff and Willy was over because Linda made the boys say good night to Willy. Even there might be a hint of crazyness in Willy, his family is trying to boost his ego. To be continued...
I am enjoying reading The Color of Water by James McBride. I really enjoyed reading section four titled "Black Power". I'm really into my past history because I believe that you have no future without a past. I loved reading about the African American struggle during the 50's, 60's, and 70's. In this section many well known American American leaders are mentioned like Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr, Jackie Robinson, etc. Also, The Black Panthers were mention. I wasn't suprised when his mother said she liked Malcolm X because all of her children were African American. Also he was a great speaker with a vision. It seemed she could identify more with the African American community even though she wasn't all that welcome.
I found myself admiring this woman. She had to deal with a lot from African Americans and Cacausians. She couldn't go anywhere without discrimination. Then just ignoring all of the comments, that takes a strong person to deal with that. I couldn't see myself taking all of that. You could take something like that but for so long. She took all of their comments and didn't let it effect her. I liked how she was teaching her children to stay together. She wanted them to be educated and have a sense of God in there life.
The mother and son relationship was also displayed. Her son loved her so much. She was compassionate, but yet stern. I loved the part when her son was on the bus and found out that the man on corner standing next to his mother was a Black Panther. He was so concerned. When he punched the son of the Black Panther, I was kinda shocked. He didn't have to hit him, but his emotions took over him. He was just thinking of his mother.