Death of a Salesman Questions and Answers
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Death of a Salesman By Arthur Miller
Assignment Questions
1. Choose TWO of the following and fully explain the symbolic significance of each:
Silk stockings
The jungle
"Willy (as opposed to "William" or "Bill") Loman"
The front stoop that Willy built
Oliver's fountain pen
The stockings that Linda darns and Willy gives as a gift to Miss Francis, are a symbol of Willy's career and how he perceives his self worth. At home, Willy's life is in chaos, and the stockings are "full of holes." Linda tries to mend their life together as she symbolically mends the holes in the stockings. Whenever Willy sees her mending the stockings, he orders her to throw the stockings out. This is symbolic of Willy's desire to be free of his problems, both at home and in his career. Willy just wants to live a successful life in happiness without any "holes" needing to be mended.
Oliver's fountain pen, which Biff steals, is symbolic as the focus of Biff's inadequacies. Biff doesn't need the pen and it doesn't mean anything to him. Biff realizes when he steals the pen the absurdity of stealing something you don't need from someone...