Open Prompt Five

2009. A symbol is an object, action, or event that represents something or that creates a range of associations beyond itself. In literary works a symbol can express an idea, clarify meaning, or enlarge literal meaning. Select a novel or play and, focusing on one symbol, write an essay analyzing how that symbol functions in the work and what it reveals about the characters or themes of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.

Things can rarely be taken at face value, and this is especially true in literature. Meaning can be found in any number of places, and this is especially true when symbols are involved. Symbols can serve not only to reinforce an idea, but also to lend meaning to a work as a whole. In Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, the breaking of the voice recorder serves as a symbol of the deterioration of Willy Loman's own mind, and forces him to confront the fact that he is not living in reality.

Throughout Death of a Salesman, it is shown again and again that Willy is not sound of mind. He has conversations with his dead brother Ben, constantly contradicts himself, and can't seem to keep his mind out of the past. The past he is trapped in, however, is a flawed one -- Willy is completely unwilling and unable to accurately recall what has actually happened to him due to a life full of lies, both to himself and to his family.

At one point in the play, Willy goes to visit his boss, hoping to ask for a raise and a position in the city. Upon his arrival, he finds that his boss is ignoring him entirely, in favor of playing with a machine that records any sounds it picks up. He demonstrates for Willy how it recorded the various members of his family speaking before leaving the room. Being the curious man that he is, Willy goes over to the machine and, upon touching it, breaks it immediately. This is symbolic of the way Willy's memory is flawed.

The voice recorder is a stark contrast to Willy's mind. Where Willy cannot differentiate between truth and lies, the machine records only what actually happens. The voice recorder is incapable of falsely remembering something. Willy breaks the recorder because he is unable to confront the truth. He is too wrapped up in what he's convinced himself has happened. Shortly after leaving his boss's office, Willy's son Biff attempts to force him to see the truth, but the only thing that happens is that Willy withdraws further into his mind. Biff acts as a sort of living voice recorder, since he is able to accurately remember the past and attempts to make Willy hear it as well. However, by this point Willy's mind is so far gone that Biff cannot bring him back to reality.

Death of a Salesman centers around the failing of Willy Loman's mind and his inability to confront reality. The voice recorder serves as a symbol of the reality that Willy cannot accept, and his breaking it reinforces the idea that his own memory is flawed.