preview

The Theme Of Lying In The Crucible And Death Of A Salesman

Decent Essays

At times lying can be exceedingly necessary and people try to justify lying. Notably, lying is to not tell people the truth for whatever reason. In particular, some say that being deceitful is merely a part of human nature, but it is not logical. Generally speaking, there are people in this world who lie to protect other people, they lie to aid in increasing their confidence, or they just lie simply to protect themselves. When the truth is misleading, consequently, there are certain facts that are destined to come up causing the situation to turn chaotic. With this in mind, Arthur Miller carefully crafts two plays, The Crucible and Death of a Salesman, where lying is a pivotal part of the characters’ personalities. These characters all lie …show more content…

Willy was overcome by the desire to prove to his family that he actually was an important person and that his family can depend on him for anything in the hope that he is the “man of the house”. He was so overcome with this desire that he lost sight of everything else, which in the end led to his epic downfall. This fatal flaw is what made Willy a tragic hero. Willy not only lies to the people he talks to but he also lies to himself. In Act 1 Willy Loman says “I'm the New England man. I'm vital in New England.” Willy reveals this to Linda due to the fact that he undoubtedly believes it, he believes he is vital to the company even though the company could care less about him. Willy was so intent on having everyone like him that he did not even pay attention to his sons and what they have been going through. When Willy lied he was not affecting the people around him, but it did affect his mental state, for eventually he believed everything he was lying about and it did drive him insane. Although Willy’s lies are the most prevalent in the play, Linda lies throughout the play as well. Linda Loman lies to protect her husband, or at least that’s what she thinks she is doing. Linda constantly assures her husband with lies, but, evidently, her lies turn out to become realities. For an example, in Act One after Linda hears that Willy did not do great in his commissions, she said that next week his income would improve. As it was said, the Loman

Get Access