Remember those television shows that displayed the perfect American families?
Like, The Brady Bunch, Leave it to Beaver, or Seventh Heaven. All these shows displayed
the perfect American families: happy, secure, no problems or conflicts, and all these
dreams that came true. These types of shows were composed of illusions. These shows
were far from reality. These illusions are a lot like the ones Willy Loman from Death of a Salesman, by Arthur
Miller,experiences. Throughout the whole play Willy seems to have a hard time distinguishing these
two. The author does a good job at describing the journey of Willy and his problem
dealing with these two concepts.
The play starts out when Willy returns home from a failed sales trip. Finding out
his son Biff is home he criticizes him for not living up to his full potential. After feeling
really depressed he immerses himself in a flashback. These flashbacks happen quite
frequently throughout the play and are very confusing. On the contrary, the author's
placement of these flashbacks help represent the theme. His flashbacks are examples of
his illusions. Willy looks back on better times when his life becomes unsatisfactory to
him. He surrounds himself in these illusions so he does not have to face reality.
His flashbacks are only one of his types of illusions. Another illusion of Willy's
deals with his definition of a good salesman. He thinks that if there is a 'man who makes
an appearance in the business world, [a] man who creates personal interest, is [a] man
who gets ahead' (33).Willy feels that success in the business world is based on looks and
response from others around them. Hard work has no merit at all. This is an illusion as
well. This illusion replaced the little reality that Willy had left in his mind. It was this
illusion that explained the affair he had. He felt that if he was well liked and attractive
someone would want to have an affair with him. After this point Willy's mind only falls
deeper and deeper into his illusions.
By the end of the play Willy's sense of reality was so far gone he ended up
committing suicide. He could not handle what was really going on in his life. His inability
to distinguish reality from illusion is what led to his downfall. This was the point that
Arthur Miller expressed exquisitely.
This play is excellent at showing the affects of a life surrounded by illusion. It was
clearly stated that a life immersed in illusion leads a person to their ultimate downfall.
This play gives a dramatic look at this concept. It was probably very easy for Arthur
Miller to write this play because he said that he relates and understands, '[Willy
Loman's] longing for immortality, Willy's writing his name in a cake of ice on a hot day,
but he wishes he were writing in stone'(Miller). He understands the reason for Willy's
illusions. It is this understanding that helps the play be the masterpiece it is. These
illusions that Willy experiences are similar to the ones that television watchers can have
everyday. The television families that they thought were real were a lot like Willy's
flashbacks. Miller's play taps into that concept through a dramatic and tragic drama. A
drama that is good for anyone and everyone to read.

'Death of a Salesman' is a play written by Authur Miller. The plot of the play moves from the present to the past and back again from the life of Willy Lowman,who had been a salesman all his life.HE has two sons Happy and Biff and wife Linda.His brother Ben went to Africa when he was very young and found diamonds after which he became very rich.Willy himself had been trying to make it big all his life as a salesman and had high hopes for his two sons but had always been dissappointed. This is a story of hopes and happiness with success but all hopes fail and the Salesman gets kicked by life.His attempt to make it big never comes true. The book is very interesting to read and tells a lot about the characters. A pretty cool book!

This was a fantastic play. Even though the play was sad and depressing I was able to overlook that fact because Arthur Miller was able to present this story in such a powerful and well-written manner. Other playwrights could not have pulled off what Miller was able to do so brilliantly in 'Death of a Salesman'. Miller is able to make people identify with Willy Loman and maybe even Willy's son, Biff. This play shows perfectly how a nice, honest, hard-working family man can work hard his entire life, have very little to show for it, and then be discarded like an orange peel. When Willy shouted to his boss, "A man is not a piece of fruit", I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Definitely read the play. Whether you like it or not you'll definitely be moved by the time you're finished reading.

"Liza of Lambeth," Maugham's literary debut, is a less accomplished and complex novel than later masterpieces such as "The Razor's Edge" and "The Moon and Sixpence." Nevertheless, this novel is well worth the read. It chronicles Liza, a young woman who lives in a lower class London neighborhood. She struggles as she works in a factory and helps her alcoholic mother. Despite the rather grim setting, the characters are suprisingly full of life and humor. Liza is a bit of a social butterfly in the neighborhood and is well-liked until she garners the attention of a married man. This connection grows with tragic consequences. There is little sentimentality in the novel, and Maugham was apparently inspired by his work as a medical student in the London slums. Overall, a quick read and a good character study of a young, head-strong woman in late 19th century London.

The story plot is nothing extraordinary, nor are the characaters unique, but what sets this short novel apart from the rest is the vivid picture that Maugham creates of the lower section of the London society. The story flows freely with a lucid style of writing, arresting the reader's attention from the first pages to the last, and touches a chord in the reader's heart somewhere deep, all along the way. Definitely a work of class, more so, it was Maugham's first novel. The old adage 'morning shows the day' aptly describes what the writer achieves in this work and the masterpieces that follow (Of Human Bondage, The Moon and the Sixpence, The Razor's Edge, etc.).

This was Maugham's first published work which appeared 102 years ago. Maugham had just graduated from medical school almost the day the book was published and the modest success and good reviews convinced him to dedicate his life to a career of letters. The story takes place in the Lambeth section of London and is baised of his internship and residence at St. Thomas Hospital where he was required to call on the lower classes in the most dangerous section of town. Later in his life he joked about being a Midwife in his youth and delivering over a hundered babies for the poor. Maugham was influenced by "Sister Carrie" and "Mean Streets." and other books in the realistic tradition of the day. It is a rather short book and is written in the Cockney dialect of conversation like Dickens "Hard Times." It is well worth reading and a must for any Maugham fan.

If you're studying for the decathalon and looking for that extra edge I wouldn't recommend this book. The cliff notes are much better.