Incurable Hurt:A Traumatic Study Of Willy In Death Of A Salesman

Arthur Miller is a realistic dramatist with outstanding achievement and notable reputation both inside and outside America.Concerned about social problems and human nature,he argues that the common people also have the right to appear on the stage of tragedy.Therefore,the ordinary people are frequently portrayed in his plays.In 1949,his amazing play Death of a Salesman earned him the international reputation.Based on the theory about trauma and recovery,this thesis is an attempt to reveal Willy's traumatic symptoms in Death of a Salesman,to analyze his traumatic factors in the fickle society where he struggles for survival,and to discuss the reasons why he fails to recover from trauma.This thesis is composed of five chapters.As a general introduction,Chapter One is mainly about Miller,his plays,literature review,theoretical framework,the research method and significance.Based on a close analysis of the play,Chapter Two examines Willy's various symptoms after his trauma.Willy shows some typical symptoms of trauma,which mainly include distractions,flashbacks,compunction,and communication barriers.From the perspective of the trauma theory and the symbolic images in the play,Chapter Three analyzes Willy's traumatic causes and ambivalence from society,family,and the individual.Through the trauma theory,Chapter Four elaborates Willy's efforts to recover from trauma and the reasons of his failure.Owing to his failure of establishing a sense of security,narrating(including remembrance and mourning)the traumatic experience and accomplishing self-reconstruction,he has not been able to realize his trauma recovery.A conclusion is drawn in Chapter Five.With the heavy tone,Miller vividly portrays Willy's traumatic experience and incurable hurt.As for the reasons why Miller's many works end up with the protagonist's suicide,at least three aspects will be covered.First,suicide is a kind of extreme effort to conduct the trauma recovery.Second,suicide is a kind of strong indignation and discontentment with oneself,others and society.Third,suicide is a kind of need of tragedy creation.As an experiencer of his personal trauma,a witness of the trauma of others,and a creator of imaginative works,Miller cleverly mixes these different identities together.Willy's traumatic stories in his Death of a Salesman are from the reality but higher than the reality.Actually,trauma acts as the medium,through which Miller enlighten people to reflect on social reality and examine personal dignity.As a serious playwright,recording the experiences of his and others,Miller shows his excellent imagination,humanistic concerns,the great depth of history and culture.