Arthur Miller’s timeless play, Death Of A Salesman, showcases the tragic downfall of the protagonist’s life. Throughout the play, Willy Loman is faced with a series of challenges including a strained relationship with his sons and a dead-end job. These challenges take a toll on Loman’s psyche and as the play progresses, his mind slowly deteriorates causing his mental state to diminish. Willy Loman’s suicide implies that he was dealing with heavy emotional conflicts as well. In many scenes, Loman behaved in some highly unusual ways. As seen throughout the plot of Death Of A Salesman, Willy Loman’s flashbacks and strange behavior suggest that he may be suffering from Bipolar Disorder. Willy Loman is depicted as a character that believes
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Melinda Smith and Jeanne Segal, who conducted research on the signs and symptoms of
Bipolar Disorder, state that Bipolar Disorder comes with numerous symptoms including: feeling of worthlessness, memory problems, suicidal thoughts, and also feeling hopeless and sad. This study conducted by the two women also portray that people who suffer from Bipolar Disorder are also more likely to develop psychotic depression, which is a condition where the person has lost all contact with reality and they experience a major disability in their work and social functioning. These observations accurately portray the feelings and thoughts built up inside Willy
Loman’s confused mind. Willy states, “After all the highways, and the trains, and the appointments, and the years, you end up worth more dead than alive” (98). This buildup of anger portrayed by Willy incorporate the feelings he felt about his worthlessness and how all his years of work was a waste. His realization about his failure drives him to his suicide due to his harsh judgement on his past mistakes. Willy’s sudden tendencies to have flashbacks of memories in his earlier life result in his emotional deterioration and feeling of having no …show more content…
According to this information, Willy Loman’s past histories deeply affect his present life experiences. Most of the flashbacks throughout the play incorporate how Willy has a desire to return back to the past when everything was more optimistic and positive. Willy Loman’s Bipolar Disorder can be a cause from the disappointment he suffered in his present life because as he grew older, his life became more difficult and darker compared to his past when it was easier and full of better times. Dante Cicchetti and David J. Miklowtiz also portray that, “Because psychopathology unfolds over time in a dynamically developing organism, the adoption of a developmental perspective is critical in order to comprehend the processes of underlying individual pathways” (2). The two authors incorporate how Bipolar Disorder develops over time throughout the course of someone’s life and how past experiences reflect the evolving disorder in their individual life which can relate to Willy and his continual drawbacks to his past life. Willy reflected on happier times in his past throughout the play which result in a build up of anger and bipolar outbursts because he is angered by his present life and how it isn’t as positive as his past. Demitri F. Papoolos stated in his novel focused on Bipolar Disorder that, “Children who are striving to feel safe when the world around them feels threatening, who are distractible, who have difficulty
Melinda Smith and Jeanne Segal, who conducted research on the signs and symptoms of
Bipolar Disorder, state that Bipolar Disorder comes with numerous symptoms including: feeling of worthlessness, memory problems, suicidal thoughts, and also feeling hopeless and sad. This study conducted by the two women also portray that people who suffer from Bipolar Disorder are also more likely to develop psychotic depression, which is a condition where the person has lost all contact with reality and they experience a major disability in their work and social functioning. These observations accurately portray the feelings and thoughts built up inside Willy
Loman’s confused mind. Willy states, “After all the highways, and the trains, and the appointments, and the years, you end up worth more dead than alive” (98). This buildup of anger portrayed by Willy incorporate the feelings he felt about his worthlessness and how all his years of work was a waste. His realization about his failure drives him to his suicide due to his harsh judgement on his past mistakes. Willy’s sudden tendencies to have flashbacks of memories in his earlier life result in his emotional deterioration and feeling of having no …show more content…
According to this information, Willy Loman’s past histories deeply affect his present life experiences. Most of the flashbacks throughout the play incorporate how Willy has a desire to return back to the past when everything was more optimistic and positive. Willy Loman’s Bipolar Disorder can be a cause from the disappointment he suffered in his present life because as he grew older, his life became more difficult and darker compared to his past when it was easier and full of better times. Dante Cicchetti and David J. Miklowtiz also portray that, “Because psychopathology unfolds over time in a dynamically developing organism, the adoption of a developmental perspective is critical in order to comprehend the processes of underlying individual pathways” (2). The two authors incorporate how Bipolar Disorder develops over time throughout the course of someone’s life and how past experiences reflect the evolving disorder in their individual life which can relate to Willy and his continual drawbacks to his past life. Willy reflected on happier times in his past throughout the play which result in a build up of anger and bipolar outbursts because he is angered by his present life and how it isn’t as positive as his past. Demitri F. Papoolos stated in his novel focused on Bipolar Disorder that, “Children who are striving to feel safe when the world around them feels threatening, who are distractible, who have difficulty