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Abstract:The death of the salesman is a masterpiece of Arthur Miller. This thesis simply analyzes the tragedy. What have been discussed in the thesis implies that the author uses the tactics of symbolism to describe a vivid picture of our futile struggle. It also suggests that life means choice.
Key words:symbolic;Bowman;life
In this story, Bowman, a traveling salesman, struggled to do his business when he had not recovered from his illness. Because he was too weak to be conscious enough, he got lost when he was driving to Beulah .What is worse, his car slid into a ravine .Obviously Bowman couldn’t pull it out himself, so he went to a shotgun house for help, where he met a woman and she said Sonny could pull up his car. However, it was completely dark when Sonny made it and Bowman was too weak to walk back to his car so he begged to stay at the house for a night and the couple agreed after Sonny checked that he didn’t take a gun with him. When they had supper, Bowman found that the woman, whom he thought to be Sonny’s mother, was a young pregnant woman[1]. She was Sonny’s wife! “He was shocked with knowing what was really in this house. A marriage, a fruitful marriage.That simple thing. Anyone could have that[2].” Actually, this is an average family but the warmth of this family gave Bowman a blow because he began to realize that he had nothing and belonged to no one after a life of suffering. The couple went to bed and left him lie on the floor at the fire in cold January though they knew he was badly sick. Bowman’s illness caused him to think of something that had never occurred to him when he was healthy and strong. He began to think about the meaning of life feeling lonely and envying others’ common happiness. Bowman left the house after the fire died and he died on the way back to his car [1].
In my view, Bowman’s life symbolized that of the human beings. Bowman’s suffering from failure, alienation to the world and isolation stand for the fact that every life’s pain and helpless situation. In this world, we are alone and isolated despite the existence of relatives, friends and family because they can’t dominate their own fate, either. As a single man, Bowman was lonely and helpless. However, who can say a man with a family is sure to be lucky and happy? So, Bowman’s struggle and failure is a symbol of the human beings’ futile attempt to steer their own fate. Bowman’s pains belong to everybody. His journey to sell footwear symbolizes our journey of life where we must endure kinds of pains and the worst of all are loneliness of soul and the empty feeling of being deserted by the world and the same species .On Bowman’s journey to sell shoes, he had no one to count on like everyone of us on the journey of life because when we grow up we find that even our parents are not able to aid us. The indifferent and alert attitude of Bowman symbolizes the relationship between us. Human beings need others to live a happy and meaningful life, but at the same time we often hurt or destroy one another so we become alert, indifferent and even cruel to others.
In the story, Bowman’s grandmother is symbolic of death. At the beginning of the story, Bowman thought of his grandmother and her soft bed, which suggested his own death.
To sum up, the author uses the tactics of symbolism to describe a vivid picture of our futile struggle. But on the other hand; I think if Bowman had chosen to live a normal and common life with a family, maybe he could to some extent avoid his death and isolation despite relevant possible sufferings caused by family life. This can also be seen as a symbol of making choice of life. Life means choice, like playing chess. A wrong move may cause a complete failure.
References
[1]Miller,Arthur. The Death of a Salesman,New York: Penguin Books Ltd, 1976
[2]Eudora Welty.Death of a Travelling Salesman,Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 2003
作者简介：肖莉，女，（1976—），汉，四川泸州人，泸州医学院外国语学院助教，硕士，主要研究方向：英语语言学。
袁继红：女，（1977—），汉，四川泸州人，泸州医学院外国语学院讲师，硕士，研究方向：英语语言学。
Key words:symbolic;Bowman;life
In this story, Bowman, a traveling salesman, struggled to do his business when he had not recovered from his illness. Because he was too weak to be conscious enough, he got lost when he was driving to Beulah .What is worse, his car slid into a ravine .Obviously Bowman couldn’t pull it out himself, so he went to a shotgun house for help, where he met a woman and she said Sonny could pull up his car. However, it was completely dark when Sonny made it and Bowman was too weak to walk back to his car so he begged to stay at the house for a night and the couple agreed after Sonny checked that he didn’t take a gun with him. When they had supper, Bowman found that the woman, whom he thought to be Sonny’s mother, was a young pregnant woman[1]. She was Sonny’s wife! “He was shocked with knowing what was really in this house. A marriage, a fruitful marriage.That simple thing. Anyone could have that[2].” Actually, this is an average family but the warmth of this family gave Bowman a blow because he began to realize that he had nothing and belonged to no one after a life of suffering. The couple went to bed and left him lie on the floor at the fire in cold January though they knew he was badly sick. Bowman’s illness caused him to think of something that had never occurred to him when he was healthy and strong. He began to think about the meaning of life feeling lonely and envying others’ common happiness. Bowman left the house after the fire died and he died on the way back to his car [1].
In my view, Bowman’s life symbolized that of the human beings. Bowman’s suffering from failure, alienation to the world and isolation stand for the fact that every life’s pain and helpless situation. In this world, we are alone and isolated despite the existence of relatives, friends and family because they can’t dominate their own fate, either. As a single man, Bowman was lonely and helpless. However, who can say a man with a family is sure to be lucky and happy? So, Bowman’s struggle and failure is a symbol of the human beings’ futile attempt to steer their own fate. Bowman’s pains belong to everybody. His journey to sell footwear symbolizes our journey of life where we must endure kinds of pains and the worst of all are loneliness of soul and the empty feeling of being deserted by the world and the same species .On Bowman’s journey to sell shoes, he had no one to count on like everyone of us on the journey of life because when we grow up we find that even our parents are not able to aid us. The indifferent and alert attitude of Bowman symbolizes the relationship between us. Human beings need others to live a happy and meaningful life, but at the same time we often hurt or destroy one another so we become alert, indifferent and even cruel to others.
In the story, Bowman’s grandmother is symbolic of death. At the beginning of the story, Bowman thought of his grandmother and her soft bed, which suggested his own death.
To sum up, the author uses the tactics of symbolism to describe a vivid picture of our futile struggle. But on the other hand; I think if Bowman had chosen to live a normal and common life with a family, maybe he could to some extent avoid his death and isolation despite relevant possible sufferings caused by family life. This can also be seen as a symbol of making choice of life. Life means choice, like playing chess. A wrong move may cause a complete failure.
References
[1]Miller,Arthur. The Death of a Salesman,New York: Penguin Books Ltd, 1976
[2]Eudora Welty.Death of a Travelling Salesman,Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 2003
作者简介：肖莉，女，（1976—），汉，四川泸州人，泸州医学院外国语学院助教，硕士，主要研究方向：英语语言学。
袁继红：女，（1977—），汉，四川泸州人，泸州医学院外国语学院讲师，硕士，研究方向：英语语言学。