Death Of A Salesman (Charly Passage Analysis)

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English Homework

Death Of A Salesman

How does Miller make this scene (pages 31-34) such a dramatic and revealing moment in the play?

In the scene involving pages 31- 34, Charley and Willy are playing cards, during which Willy has a flashback of his first meeting with his brother, Ben. Many characters are introduced during the course of the scene: Ben, Charley, Bernard as well as Biff, Happy and Linda. It is the second flashback that Willy has during the book and the new character of Ben, Willy’s brother is introduced into the story. In order to understand how Miller makes the scene so dramatic and revealing I will be looking at the pace of the scene, the use of foreshadowing, Willy’s desperation, and the relationships between the characters.

The appearance of Ben in the scene triggers many interjections. When Biff and Ben are mock fighting, short exclamations are heard,’ Oh, no Sir!’ and ‘Okay.’ These quick outbursts are surprising to the audience, as they come from various characters at various times. As these cries build up, spontaneous events begin to happen. ‘Suddenly [Ben} comes in, trips Biff…. the point of his umbrella poised over his eye.’ As the scene so quickly switches from fun to a tense atmosphere, this makes the scene dramatic. The event is out-of-the-blue that it highlights in the instability between the characters behaviours, and the pace at which the scene is moving is very swift. When Ben says he has to go, Willy bursts out saying, ’We’re gonna rebuild this entire front stoop right now.’ The fact that he has to show off to Ben, and go out on a complete whim to impress him, emphasises how hectic the scene is and to the extent that Willy will go to just to have Ben’s approval.

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The fast moving nature of the scene makes it so dramatic as the audience cannot anticipate what may happen next. The unpredictability and unsettling pace of the scene are also revealing as they show the mentality of the characters especially Willy.

There are many important prophecies during the course of the scene. Charley sees what Willy cannot. In the previous scene, Charley tells Willy that, ’if a deposit bottle is broken, you don’t get your nickel back.’ He warns Willy that Biff, is troubled and tired of being reminded of being successful, and that Willy needs to accept Biff ...

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The essay has a solid structure, introducing the main points in the introduction. Paragraphs aren't used superbly here, as some points are separated into two paragraphs. I would note that each point should always link back to the question. Even if it's a simple sentence saying "So through Miller's use of Willy's loss of control on stage, this scene then becomes more dramatic". I feel with some of the paragraphs that it loses focus on the question somewhat. When looking at particular extracts, I would've liked to have seen the conclusion make a judgement about the significance of the scene, as this ensures you show knowledge of the whole play. Unfortunately, the conclusion here is weak and adds nothing extra. Spelling, punctuation and grammar are fine. I'm not sure I like the use of the first person in the introduction stating "I will be looking at". It's simply unnecessary and comes across as unsophisticated at GCSE level.

The analysis here is sound. I particularly liked the focus on the pace of the scene, as structure is one of the sections they liked candidates to analyse. Being able to analyse things other than language and imagery shows an able candidate. I do feel the need to address that in this play, Willy Loman has mobile concurrencies of past and present - not flashbacks. Although examiners won't penalise if you use the term flash back, they aren't what's occurring. If this essay had included these, it would've fitted well with the comment around "the unpredictability and unsettling pace of the scene". I sometimes feel as if there needs to be more awareness that Willy, Ben, etc are Miller's constructions. In particular the paragraph starting "To Willy, Ben is the American dream" the essay talks about the characters as if they are real and make their own decisions. It is vital that you talk of Willy and Ben as being made to do things Miller - after all, he is writing the play and constructing them for a reason. This will focus your argument towards why he chooses to make the scene dramatic, thus moving the discussion further and placing an essay into the top band. Language could've been analysed more closely here, with the choice of words used by Miller displaying Willy's lack of control and misguided path.

This essay responds well to the task, but there is plenty of room for improvement. I liked how there was a clear focus on the techniques that Miller uses rather than simply looking at the plot. By stating in the introduction that you're looking at the place, foreshadowing, etc, this tells the examiner that you are going to analyse rather than narrate. From experience with this exam, examiners are looking for close analysis of the extract and looking at such techniques will gain credit. I would note that there needs to be more focus on the audience response. The question refers to the dramatic nature of the scene, and there needs to be exploration of how the audience are forced to respond.