Death of a Salesman

Author

Arthur Miller. Felt that the word tragedy should be redefined to change with the times and that his play fit the modern definition of tragedy. Also considered it humorous.

Characters

Willy Loman: The salesman around whom the play revolves. Lies to himself and others in order to maintain his sense of personal dignity. Obsessed with conventional "American Dream" success but not willing to actually work for it. His failure to achieve success leads to his mental deterioration.

Linda Loman: Willy's wife. Cares for him as if he were her child. Very protective and forgiving of all his errors. Critical of her children and calls them out for their wrongdoings. Far more down to earth than the rest of her family. Knows more than she lets on.

Biff Loman: The eldest Loman child (34). Glory days were in high school, when he was a popular football player. Willy had high hopes that he would become "successful," but he failed math and never graduated. Cannot hold a steady job because he is always stealing things, usually items that symbolize what success would be to his father, such as a nice suit and a fountain pen. Would much rather work outdoors but doesn't want to disappoint Willy.

Happy Loman: The younger Loman brother (32). Has lived in Biff's shadow his whole life. Lies in order to draw attention to himself. Sleeps with many women, including his boss' fiancés. Tries to fulfill the same dream that Willy has. 

Ben: Willy's older brother. Left when Willy was a child. Found his fortune in Africa, likely through unethical means. Has achieved the type of success Willy dreams of. Often appears in Willy's flashbacks.

Charley: The Loman's neighbor. Owner of a successful business. "Loans" Willy money to pay his bills, and offers him a job when he is fired. Willy is jealous of Charley but also considers him his only friend.

Bernard: Charley's son. Willy considered him a loser in high school because of his attention to his grades, but he has become a wealthy lawyer in adulthood. Far more successful than either of the Loman boys, a fact that Willy cannot understand. 

Setting

Brooklyn, New York, in the late 1940s. Primarily takes place in the Loman's old, rickety house. Also moves to Howard's office, Charley's office, and a restaurant.

Plot

Revolves around Willy Loman's life as he struggles to deal with the fact that, by society's standards, he has not had a successful life. He is no longer capable of traveling to work, and his job is going downhill (he's being paid on commission despite having worked with the company for many years). Throughout the play, Willy has flashbacks to Biff's senior year of high school. At the start of the play, Biff and Happy have returned home for a visit. Willy cannot understand why they have not become "successful." Still desperately hoping that Biff will make him proud, Willy encourages the boys to go to one of Biff's previous bosses, Bill Oliver, with a business proposition, a thought that greatly excites him. While they do that, he visits his own boss, Howard. At this point he is fired. He visits Charley in order to get money to pay his bills, and gets the idea to commit suicide so his family will get insurance money. He then goes to dinner with his sons, where Biff tries to tell him that he never even got a meeting with Bill Oliver. Willy refuses to hear it, and Biff realizes he can't help his father anymore. The boys leave, and Willy has a flashback to when Biff discovered he was cheating on Linda in order to get ahead. When the boys get home, Linda is furious with them for abandoning Willy at the restaurant. Willy is in the garden discussing a $20,000 proposition with a Ben he has imagined. Biff tries to make Willy understand that he will never be able to achieve conventional success, but Willy doesn't understand. He kills himself in what seems like a car accident, ensuring that his son will get the $20,000, which he hopes will be used to achieve "success."

Narrative Voice

There is no narrative voice, as the it is a play. The entire play is centered around Willy, though, and there are very few scenes that he is not in.

Style

Point of View: Third person, as it is a play.

Motifs: Every flashback is prefaced by or includes flute music (which means that Willy's conversation with Ben at the end of the play is entirely imagined). Location is stressed - Ben means to go to Alaska, but ends up in Africa, where he takes advantage of the people already living there to become rich. Biff would far rather be out west making his own way than trying to fit into society's boxes. He has traces of pioneer ethic in him.

Symbols: The voice recorder symbolizes Willy's inability to accurately remember the past, as he breaks it almost immediately. The seeds symbolize Willy's inability to care for things and help them grow. They also show that it is a combination of situation and attitude that leads to this failure - Willy's backyard has no sun and thus will not be able to have plats, but he never tries very hard to plant the seeds correctly either.

Diction: The play often hints at Willy's inevitable death by using many phrases that involve it. As his mind grows weaker, more and more people call Willy "kid," hinting at his falling back into a childlike state.

Tone: Miller argued that his play was a tragedy, but by the standard definition it is not. However, it evokes a tragic sentiment in the way that Willy so desperately wants "success" but cannot achieve it.

Quotes

Biff: He walked away. I saw him for one minute. I got so mad I could've torn the walls down! How the hell did I ever get the idea that I was a salesman there? I even believed myself that I was a salesman for him! And then he gave me one look and -- I realized what a ridiculous lie my whole life has been. We've been talking in a dream for fifteen years. I was a shipping clerk. (81)

Biff has had a great shock and realized that Willy's influence and his lies go far deeper than he had imagined. If Biff wasn't successful in this instance, then he will not be successful in conventional business in the future, either. He believes that if he can make his father see this and understand that he will never live up to his expectations, things will be better between them.

Biff: Hap, help him! Jesus... help him... Help me, help me, I can't bear to look at his face! (90)

Biff has realized that the only thing that could help his father would be for one of his sons to achieve conventional success. He also knows, however, that he will never be able to be happy fulfilling his father's dream. He is forced to choose between his own happiness and his father's. By asking Hap to stay, he is hoping that at least one of Willy's son's will amount to something in his eyes.

Willy: Spite, spite is the word of your undoing! (103)

Despite Biff's attempts to leave peacefully, Willy cannot understand it. Self-centered as usual, he thinks that Biff is doing it to spite him when in reality he is trying to help Willy.

Theme

Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman comments that America's conformist society inhibits the pursuit of one's dreams, which can lead to tragic outcomes.

The plot itself shows the effects that trying too hard to fit in have on Willy Loman - he slowly deteriorates until he has become little more than a child. In order to be a conventionally successful salesman, he ignores what he truly enjoys, which is carpentry. He also lies in order to make himself seem better. His constant lying leads to his living in a world of illusion, which he can no longer distinguish from the real world. This lying also leads to many failures of responsibility in relationships between people. Additionally, the pressure he puts on Biff to do what he himself could not ends up destroying their relationship.