Truth and Illusion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Truth and Illusion - Essay Example As the paper outlines Willy Loman, the protagonist of the play, a man in his sixties, has spent his life pursuing the dream of making a good life for himself through his hard work, but now in the sunset of his life realizes, that the dream was nothing but an illusion which he had been breathlessly pursuing. However, life dealt a cruel blow when he was just like that, dismissed him from the job and soon realizes that dreams have no place in the reality of daily life. From this study it is clear that Willy’s chosen profession that of the salesman, was itself associated with trickery and illusion. The job called on a person to be a glib tongued, smooth talker and Willy carried this role even into his own home, where he instilled the same poor values in his sons Biff and Happy. Biff, the elder son, lived a life of uselessness, drifting from one job to another, and even going to prison a couple of times. His life was a sham and even his parents were unaware of the truth. Happy, the younger son, on the other hand had made money his ultimate goal and even at his father’s grave promised to pursue the goal of making money. The play has a constantly shifting scenario—moving from past to present, illusion to reality, falsehood to truth, and finally a rude awakening from a dreamy state to one of harsh reality. This oscillation between the past and present fills the play with a lot of ambiguity. The reader’s emotions also swing ba ck and forth from a touch of sympathy for the Loman family to a complete indifference towards their pathetic condition, which is a result of their materialistic ambitions.