Death of a Salesman
5 themes that make it an American classic
Theme 1: Financial/Employment Success (or lack thereof)
“There’s more people! That’s what’s ruining this country! Population is getting out of control. The competition is maddening!” (Miller 7).
Making a Connection
-College loans and rising cost of colleges: students are graduating from college with more debt and fewer job opportunities than ever before
more people and not enough jobs
more people with higher degrees
the more people the more competition
Sources From the News
Using the video in relation to the quote
This video of CNBC talking about high economical issues and social costs of student loan debt relates to when Willy freaks out about how the country is modernizing and improving. In the quote above, Willy was getting angry at people who were chasing the American Dream, saying that competition is maddening. This relates to the video because competition has increased throughout the years for people who are looking for jobs. When people nowadays apply for jobs, they compete with many other people who want the same job. Because more people are graduating with degrees, there are less job opportunities for people.
Theme 2: The play is an exposure of delusions of the American middle class
Article connection
Using the quote in relation to the article
Theme 3: Working poor can’t subsist on minimum wage
Political connection
using the quote in relation to the article
Theme 4: Status and the search for happiness
“‘Because the man who makes an appearance in the business word, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead. Be liked and you will never want. You take me, for instance. I never have to wait in line to see a buyer’” (21).
Media connection
Thanks to the explosion in social media, being ‘well liked’ has almost become a profession in itself.People keep track of Facebook friends and Twitter followers. In this video, Essena O’Neill talks about why she is quitting social media. She was making a lot of money for each Instagram post; however, she couldn’t cope with the pressure. She was absolutely “well-liked” because of her appearance, and she was idolized by many teenage girls because of it. At the end, she realizes that she was so caught up in being well-liked that she missed out on life. This, therefore, explains why she quit using social media.
using the video to explain the quote
Work cited
2."America's Middle Class Falls Behind." Time. Time, n.d. Web. 19 Jan. 2016. <http://time.com/72496/middle-class-income-inequality/>.
3."Raise the Wage." The White House. The White House, n.d. Web. 19 Jan. 2016. <https://www.whitehouse.gov/raise-the-wage>.
4."Essena O'Neill - Why I REALLY Am Quitting Social Media - (Original Video)."YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 19 Jan. 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xe1Qyks8QEM>.