2001. One definition
of madness is "mental delusion or the eccentric behavior arising from
it." But Emily Dickinson wrote
Much madness is divinest
Sense-
To a discerning Eye-
Novelists
and playwrights have often seen madness with a "discerning Eye."
Select a novel or play in which a character's apparent madness or irrational
behavior plays an important role. Then write a well-organized essay in which
you explain what this delusion or eccentric behavior consists of and how it
might be judged reasonable. Explain the significance of the "madness"
to the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.
WHAT IS WRONG WITH WHILLY LOMAN? He talks to himself,
undoubtedly has anger management, and couldn’t see the truth if it slapped him
in the face. But why? What was Miller doing when he created this mindless,
irrational character? The answer is simple; Willy’s madness is simply not
madness. It is reasonable and is one of the most important aspects of the Death
of A Salesman.
In fact, Willy’s
problems are the result from the society he is surrounded by. His craziness was
born to represent what happens to the everyday hero when they are placed in a
world such as ours. Willy started out a “normal” man. He coped with life’s
nasty toile by transforming into this somewhat psychotic being. To one side of
the audience, it is completely reasonable and understood.
Willy’s
flashbacks, constant rambling, and hallucinations stand as enormous parts of
the play. Miller uses his sporadic flashbacks to show the reader the truth of
the past. His rambling gives us a clue to what is really wrong with Willy
Loman. His hallucinations of his brother represent an important element of
Willy’s childhood. Without these important layers, the play just wouldn’t make
sense.
Miller
used Willy’s madness to expose the dysfunction in the Loman household. It is
obvious to the reader that there is something wrong in their broken down house.
Without Willy’s craziness, this truth would never come out as to what was
wrong. His problems make their family what it is and connect all the missing
pieces to the Loman family puzzle.
Willy
seems like a madman at first glance, but after digging deep into the pages of Death
of A Salesman one sees that he could
be judged reasonable. Miller used his sickness to build the play. Without Willy
Loman and his erratic, irrational behavior the play would have no significance.
Your introduction is very captivating! I think you did a great job explaining what made you feel that Willy Loman was mad with your examples of him rambling, his flashbacks, and his hallucinations. However, I think you could explain the significance of his madness a little more. Maybe you could explain what you mean by "the truth of his past" and what you feel is really wrong with Willy Loman. I agree with you on those points, but I feel that you could just give a little bit more support on those statements. A little bit more detail on the dysfunction on the Loman household would be nice as well.
ReplyDeleteGreat work,
Joyce
Like Joyce said, I really liked the attention grabber! I think one thing you may want to work on is being a little less redundant because you make it clear pretty quickly that Willy is insane for certain reasons, but you spend most of the essay talking about that. I agree with Joyce that you can spend more time talking about why it is significant (that is what the prompt is asking). Finally make sure to say in your thesis WHY it is significant instead of saying it is just significant. Good work overall!
ReplyDeleteIt was great to not have to slog through another essay! Instead of pushing through, I was pulled into it. Nice work!
ReplyDeleteAside from what Santos and Joyce said, I would like to point out that your introduction and conclusion contradict your body when they say Willy wasn't crazy. In other words, I think when you said, "Willy’s madness is simply not madness," you meant "Willy’s madness is not simply madness." There is more to his madness than it appears, but he is definitely mad.
Noah Symanzik