Confucius said: If you don't know your destiny, you can't be a gentleman!
This sentence can be explained as: if a person does not understand his origin, does not understand the trend of the times, does not analyze his own situation, then he will never be able to find his own positioning, and in the end, he can only be eliminated by society and photographed on the beach by the trend.
In this world, there is nothing more heartbreaking than looking back on regrets and reflecting on mistakes in old age, because there is only one time in life, and there is no chance to correct it.
Hello everyone, today brings you Arthur Miller's play "Death of a Salesman"
In the 1920s, the United States became a world hegemon with its mass-produced developed industries and popular consumerism.
The rapid development of the economy has brought more opportunities and wealth to the American people, and it is at this time that the salesman came to the front of the people and became a glorious profession, when Willie Lohmann was one of them.
Different from traditional occupations, salesmen only receive commissions, no basic salary, and the wind and sun are not decent, but even so, people who apply for this position are still eager, the reason is naturally very profitable,
When Willie Lohmann was at his best, he was a friend from all over the world, and everywhere he went, he was a diligent conversation.
Through running sales, he lived in a large one-door house, could afford a refrigerator, a vacuum cleaner and a washing machine, and could afford everything new and fun, and in those years in Boston, many beautiful ladies were attentive to Willie, but they only got an opportunity to buy stockings.
In this great situation, the money he earns a week, even the salary of other people for several months,
Therefore, Willie always believed: "As long as he is dignified and liked, the door will be opened everywhere for him, and stepping out is a new world."
Of course, being a salesman also has disadvantages, that is, always living in your own world, often mistakenly taking fantasies as reality.
For example, Willie everyone exaggerates how important he is, loves to brag about how high his sales are, and completely disregards the real situation, falling into a self-woven lie and unable to extricate himself.
Therefore, Willie repeatedly refused, inviting him to Alaska to make a fortune together, and despite the advice of his neighbor Charlie, he thought that success was near
In Willie's consciousness, true success is not just about having money, but about being like his idol, David Singerman, who doesn't have to leave a hotel to stop and get all the sales on the phone.
When David died at the age of 84, many buyers and peers came to see him off, which is what a beloved rich man should look like.
And it is by no means like his brother Ben or neighbor Charlie, who is rich but busy with his feet and shallow and does not know how to enjoy life
In this comparison, Willie is indeed a good man who loves life, but in order to maintain a quality of life, he also pays a high price: he needs to take at least fifty yuan a week to the family.
The reason is nothing else, houses, cars, electrical appliances are bought in installments, fifty is only the most basic living expenses,
However, this was not difficult for Willie, who was doing well, until the late 1920s, when the Great Depression of the United States economy arrived
As people's purchasing power declined, unemployment rose year by year, and the prospects for salesmen were worrying, Willie began to face the risk of unemployment, but the huge debt he was carrying did not decrease in the slightest.
So, in order to maintain the level of consumption, Willie began to worry about fifty dollars a week, and when he had to, he had to borrow money from his neighbor Charlie, whom he had looked down upon.
But even after falling to this point, Willie still can't accept his own situation, and in order to save face, he still insists on giving the waiter a large tip
In fact, Willie, 63, has been working as a salesman for a full thirty years, and his former boss has long since retired to be topped by his son, while he still runs on the dock every day.
For a single order, I will not hesitate to drive hundreds of miles from one city to another, run a company from house to house, and call one by one.
But the elderly patrons have gradually lost the ability to consume, and young people are not used to selling such a way of consumption.
So, no matter how hard Willy tries, it will not help, because the times have changed.
In addition, Willy has its own reasons for falling here, for decades, science and technology are changing with each passing day, society is constantly developing, and willy, who is stubborn and unwilling to learn, has never made any progress.
In this way, it is not surprising that Willie has no income, and the consumption method of installment payment greatly reduces his ability to resist risks, so that Willy can move forward in the advocated American dream, ignoring the ruthlessness and cruelty of this world.
Now, the dream is shattered, but Willie has lost the strength to fight again
But always open his mouth to borrow money from Charlie, after all, it is not a long-term solution, in order to solve the current economic difficulties, Willie has to put down his dignity and play the family card with the young new boss Howard,
He has been working hard in the company for a lifetime, and even the name of the new boss "Howard" was obtained under his proposal, which shows the depth of Willie's seniority.
Now his physical strength and energy can not keep up, so he wants to apply for a more relaxed position, even if the money is small, it does not matter, but Howard did not give Willy a merciful face, directly swept the useless him out of the door,
Faced with Howard's ugly act of unloading and killing a donkey, Willie roared angrily:
"Man is not a fruit, you can't eat an orange and throw away the skin",
But Willie, the hit worker, eventually lost his job, and after this incident, the kind Charlie had thought about giving Willie a job, but Willie, who had long been accustomed to scenery and speculation, could not bear to make a living under the hands of his neighbors he had looked down upon
Career is not going well, the family can not reassure Willy, the two sons Biff and Habi, can not make him satisfied,
First of all, let's talk about the eldest son Bifu, he is the victim of Willie's dream, from childhood to adulthood has been living in his father's "thick long and thin" net, and at a young age, he has identified himself as the proud son of heaven.
Of course, he also regards the father of a "successful person" as his idol, but Biff does not know that his father is actually just a person who likes to be clever and has no principles.
Once, in order to be proud of his brother Ben, Willie instigated the Bif brothers to steal a wooden bath, and thought that the likable Bifu, even if he stole something, would not affect the attitude of others towards him.
Under the education of his father Willie with such values, the eldest son Bifu became an adult, he was muddy, every day in school, but he still had great respect for his father in his heart, until he failed a math test.
When Biff came to Boston to ask his father for help, he accidentally bumped into his father's affair, and Biff began to have a new view of his father Willie.
But because his father "killed" him for many years, even if there has been a disagreement, Biff still lives under the influence of his father unconsciously, still pretentious, and can not change the bad habit of stealing,
For this reason, Biff has been in prison, and has drifted out until the age of 34 and still has no place to live and achieve nothing;
The youngest son, Harby, is a child who has been ignored by Willie, who has not been valued since childhood, and has been living under the aura of his brother Beeve.
When he grew up, he became a selfish prodigal son, "ambitious and cynical", and only knew how to play with women all day.
But seriously, Hobby was no less influenced by his father than his brother, and to this day, the arrogant Hubby still firmly believes that he will be the hero who "overpowers everything and is the first in the world"
Now, Willie's only consolation is his wife Linda, she is a woman who thinks about her husband everywhere and has no opinion, no matter what Willy does, Linda is 100% in favor.
For example, when her husband hesitated to go out to start a business, Linda said: Why do you have to run so far to suffer, you may be a shareholder of the sales company right away.
Now, Willie is unemployed, and Linda has not complained in the slightest, still the wife who loves her husband deeply.
Although sometimes she is also worried about money, the best way for a housewife is to constantly encourage her husband to earn more.
Linda is a true wife and mother in the traditional sense, but her blind worship has, to some extent, fueled Willie's escapist "wild" heart
Compared to Willie, who lives in nothingness, Ben and Charlie's lives are much more fulfilling.
Willie's brother Ben, who has left his hometown alone to enter the primeval forests of Africa since the age of 17, has become a rich man with a solid wealth when he comes out of it at the age of 22.
His success was achieved through brutal competition, and Ben famously said:
"Fight with strangers must not be fair";
Neighbor Charlie is another version of success, he is a realist who believes only in industrious hands and the back of struggle, and Charlie also has a famous saying:
"Put on your clothes and have money in your pockets, others will like you",
It can be seen that as long as the two conditions of adventure and pragmatism are one, life can be successful, but unfortunately, there is no Willie who indulges in dreams and indulges in pleasure.
In the end, for the insurance payment of twenty thousand yuan, the unemployed Willie chose to commit suicide.
Because of this money, the family's loan can be paid off, and the son Bifu also has the principal of the business, which is the last value of his life as a husband and father.
In fact, the death of the salesman Willie was predestined early on, and he has been trying to commit suicide since the beginning of the story.
For this reason, he had tried to collide with two cars, and also thought about dying of gas poisoning, but it did not work, and now for love, this man willingly died,
But he died not from despair, but from hope,
This salesman's name is Willie Norman, and like his English name lowman, he has belonged to the bottom of society all his life, which is not a very fortunate person, but his tragedy is worth reflecting:
When Willie was in the scenery, he never knew how to think of danger in peace, proud did not know how to hide clumsily, after Willy fell, he could not put down the high, so that even his livelihood did not land, there is no doubt that Willy is a person who does not recognize the situation and does not know how to reflect,
It is true that in the rolling tide of the times, the fate of individuals is wrapped up in the general environment, but this does not mean that they will be pushed away.
If you don't recognize yourself, life will wake you up, so at the end of the play, Arthur Miller gives the awakened Beeff the following line:
I am what I am, nothing else