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2006. Many writers use a country setting to establish values within a work of literature. For

example, the country may be a place of virtue and peace or one of primitivism and ignorance.

Choose a novel or play in which such a setting plays a significant role. Then write an essay in

which you analyze how the country setting functions in the work as a whole.

    Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman portrays the country as a location of hope and freedom. Both Willy and Biff long for the country even though Willy does not admit it. Through Willy’s memories, his happiness is shown in the country and Biff tells everybody about his freedom in the country as opposed to the strained feeling the city brings.

The country in Willy’s memories is always full of sunshine, hope, and admiration. His boys love him and respect him when he lived in the country.  Life is perfect for him, he has a wife who loves him, boys who help him around the house, and a beautiful, large yard but all of this changes when he goes to the city. In Willy’s memories Biff is great at football and Happy does whatever Biff wants playing the adoring younger brother.Willy could not be any happier but one step into the city starts his downfall.

 Miller shows the city as a dirty place, it is always gloomy in the city and people act out of the ordinary when surrounded by this gloom and dirt. Willy is no different, in the country he is a family man, and in the city he is a business sleaze. Fallen under the corrupt spell of the city Willy finds himself a mistress and hides it from his family until his son Biff finds them together. Biff from then on is destroyed and runs to the country to get back the values it brought.

Biff goes South to find a job, one where he can work in the fresh air and support a family. Although Biff had good intentions he was unable to stick to one job and found himself in jail. Once he was set free he came back to his family in the city. Here he finds the city depressed his father to the point of suicidal thoughts and corrupted his little brother, turning him into a ladies man. Biff who still holds the country values tries to convince Happy that one girl is enough and that physical labor is better than talking your way up. But Biff is the only one who keeps these values and so when his father dies he goes back to the country to  be free and start his own family.

Arthur Miller’s play shows that all family values come from the country where life is simple and peaceful. He does this by contrasting the country values with the values of the city which leads many good men astray.