Narcissistic Personality in Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” and Saul Bellow’s “Seize the Day”: A Comparative Study

Abstract

The paper is a comparative study on narcissistic personalities and
consequences of their actions in Arthur Millerís play ìDeath of a
Salesmanî (1949) and Saul Bellowís novella ìSeize the Dayî (1956).
Relational content analysis method is used to explore different
degrees of narcissism in the characters ñ the subject of this paper.
The research aims at analyzing narcissistic traits, such as obsession
with fostering a self-image, denial, preoccupation with unrealistic
grand fantasies of success, obsession with superiority and fear of
inferiority, and feelings of specialness in connection with the charac-
ters of Willy Loman and his sons in Millerís play and Dr. Adler and
his son in Bellowís novella. Their desperate and excessive attempts
to attain their desired image and to get approval of self-worth in
society detach them from their true identity and make them lead a
life of failure, alienation, and helplessness as well as suffer from an
existential crisis.
The narcissistic characters lack empathy and capability of estab-
lishing healthy relationships with others they are associated with
even as regards parental and conjugal bonding. Instead of healing
them, such bonding actually turns out to be a form of bondages that
victimizes them. A materialistic and capitalistic society like that of
the twentieth century New York was no less for their suffering on
both the personal and professional levels. Their fallacious perception
of the American Dream is also associated with their narcissist vision
of denying their poor status, which was in perpetual conflict with
their make-believe images.