Death of a Salesman analysis

Death of a Salesman

Author: Arthur Miller is an American playwright and essayist. He testified before the HUAC and was blacklisted by Hollywood for his communist beliefs.

Setting: It is set in the 1900s in the US, in a middle class/working class home, and the society embodies the values of consumerist America.

Plot: Willy Is an aging salesman

Characters:

Willy Loman – He is the character referenced in the title, and is first introduced to the readers as an aging salesman who is losing his mind. As a travelling salesman, he does not earn much money and returns to a rundown home.  The reader slowly learns throughout the play the circumstances  that caused Willy’s downfall. He is represented as a victim of the American Dream.

Linda Loman – She is Willy’s wife and caretaker, and is somewhat of a mother figure to both Willy and the boys. She sees through Willy’s lies but cares about him too much to bring him to reality.

Biff Loman – He is Willy’s son, and believes wholeheartedly in the vision that Willy creates regarding the American Dream  until he sees Willy with The Woman.

Happy Loman – He wholeheartedly believes in the vision Willy creates.

Bernard – He is portrayed as less successful  than Biff and Happy in high school, but is more succesful later in life.

Charley – He is Willy’s neighbor, and tries to keep Willy’s spirits up despite Willy’s illusions.

Point of View : Miller is critical of the materialistic, glamorous version of the American Dream, and details Willy’s downfall. He gives Willy’s lines that cause the reader to sympathize with him and blame the society he lives in for his death.

Symbolism: Willy symbolizes the population of Americans that have bought into the hollow American Dream and have been met with failure. The house represents the state of Willy’s mind, being barren and decaying by the end of the play. The darker side of Ben and the jungle represents the pitfalls of the infatuating American dream. Geography is important, with Ben trying to go north but ending up south, and the idea of the West idealized. Sports and popularity symbolize the worse sides of the American Dream.

Narrative: Miller uses a nonlinear narrative and juxtaposes the past and present. This allows for greater characterization of the characters.

Imagery: The imagery of the house before and after Willy’s affair with the Woman show his demise

Theme: The materialistic, glamour-obsessed American Dream is an unattainable fallacy. Instead, one should aspire to one's own desires.

Miller obviously condemns the version of the American Dream that is sold by Willy, portraying him as the victim through the subtle comparisons of Willy to an innocent boy, even through naming him Willy. He contrasts the unsuccessful Loman family to Charley and Bernard, who work hard and are charitable and considerate. Though Charley is a high paid banker and Bernard a lawyer who is a rising star, Miller does not exclusively  advocate for those paths. At the end of the play, Biff embarks on a journey to make something of himself out "West". Miller conveys the message that the American Dream is specific to each individual, and should not be a standard imposed by society on the individual.