Death of a Salesman

Death of a Salesman Summary and Analysis

About the Author: Arthur Miller was born in 1915 in New York City. He then went on to begin his career as a playwright studying at the University of Michigan. The story was also somewhat based around Miller's own life. Miller's uncle, Manny Newman, and he had a relationship similar to that of Willy and Biff. Newman was also a salesman and enforced a competitive edge between Miller and his cousin. Newman only accepted success from these two and required that they were always confident. When he was younger Miller wrote a short story about the failure of a salesman that eventually he went back to and revised to become Death of a Salesman.

Setting: 1940's in the Loman's house and yard, also the places Willy travels to: Boston and New York.

Characters:
Willy Loman - husband to Linda, and father to two sons. He is a traveling salesman who is worn out from all of the trips. Willy dreams of being successful and wealthy, however he is never able to be fully satisfied. Willy wants to be a good salesman, however he is more interested in manual labor work. He often has flashbacks that eventually begin to take a large tole on him, causing his mental health to diminish quickly.

Linda Loman - Willy's supportive wife, she cares a lot for Willy and is very protective over him. She suffers to see him build his hopes and dreams to a high level and then fail to reach them. Linda is kind of the backbone of the family, she is more realistic and stronger than Willy and is able to guide the family through Willy's times of failure.

Biff Loman - the oldest son, he had everything at his fingertips in high school, very popular, best football player, and he had many colleges looking at him. That is until he flunked math and wasn't able to graduate. From then on he is never able to hold a job and continues to fail at meeting Willy's high expectations for him.

Happy Loman - the younger son, who is basically a copy of Willy. Biff wants success to come easily to him without needing to do the actual work. He feels there is a lot of pressure to meet societies expectations forced on him. He currently works as an assistant of an assistant buyer at a department store, however he acts and dresses as though he is a much bigger deal. Happy is far less superior and feels neglected by Willy.

Charley - Willy's neighbor, he is a successful business worker and has loaned Willy money several times. Willy and him don't have the best relationship however, Willy still calls him "his only friend." Willy has always been very jealous of Charley's success and does not understand how he got it, especially since he doesn't know how to do labor work.

Bernard - Charley's son, he is a successful lawyer and is envied by Willy.

Ben - Willy's older brother who went on a trip to find their father in Alaska but ended up in Africa. There, he claimed to have walked into a jungle and walked out rich. Willy admires him and sees him often in his flashbacks, always trying to impress him.

Willy's Mistress - a secretary at Willy's workplace who does favors for Willy and is also having an affair with him. Willy gains confidence and doesn't feel as lonely while around her. Biff catches the two in the act one time and therefore looses his motivation in his career and fails to graduate high school.

Howard - Willy's boss who treats Willy very poorly and eventually fires him.

Plot: Willy Loman returns home from a business trip in Boston, claiming to have nearly gotten in an accident. Linda recommends that he talk to his boss and request to stop traveling for work. Willy's sons Biff and Happy are home and Willy instantly criticizes Biff of being unsuccessful and a bum. Linda tells Willy not to be as harsh on him and to be happy that he is home. Willy then has a flashback to when Biff and Happy were in high school, Biff was a top football player at the time and three were getting along and were very cheerful. Will speaks hopeful of the future claiming he will one day open a business that is greater than his neighbor, Charley. Charley's son Bernard, then joins them and is looking for Biff claiming he must study math or else he will fail. After Bernard leaves Willy tells the boys they will be much more successful one day than Bernard because they will know how to make an "appearance" and will be well liked in the business world.
The boys then begin chores and Willy and a younger Linda then discuss bills and appliances that need repairing. Willy feels doubtful of his worked and is concerned he won't be able to pay it all, Linda reassures him and tells him he is capable. The Women's laughter is then heard by Willy and eventually she becomes fully visible as Willy enters another flashback. Willy tells The Women he is just so lonely and she claims she chose him. Willy gives her some stockings and says he will see her again in two weeks when he is back in Boston. Willy then goes back to the flashback of sitting in the kitchen with a younger Linda who is mending stockings. Willy immediately feels guilty and gets upset and says he will make it up to her and buy her new stockings. Bernard then enters again nagging about Biff studying and Willy is getting overwhelmed because Linda is also saying that lately Biff has been a trouble maker, scaring the women, driving without a license, and stealing.
Willy goes back to reality, he talks for a while with Happy then Charley comes in. They play cards for a while until Willy imagines Ben in the kitchen with them. Ben says he is on his way to Alaska where many good opportunities await for him. Confused by Willy's absentmindedness, Charley leaves. Willy then goes outside and Linda, Biff, and Happy all go into the kitchen where they discuss Willy's condition. Biff begins to explain how he thinks Willy is a fake, but Linda defends him and then tells them that Willy has been trying to commit suicide. Willy reenters and argues with Biff until Happy suggests Biff and him go into business together, Will cheers up and they go to bed.
ACT II
Willy goes to talk to his boss Howard to ask to stop traveling and work in New York. Howard has a voice recorder that intimidates Willy. Howard tells Willy he thinks his time is done and fires him. Willy then goes to Charley's office and speaks to Bernard about his success and asks how he got that way. Bernard leaves and Charley and Willy discuss Willy's situation. Charley offers Willy a job but he refuses, but borrows money from Charley for all the appliances.
Willy meets up with the boys at dinner and Biff has to break it to him that he didn't get a interview with Bill Oliver. Upset, Willy goes into a flashback with the women. Willy goes into the bathroom and envisions the night when Biff caught him having an affair. When Willy is back in reality and comes out Biff and Happy had already left so he goes to a store to get seeds.
When Biff returns home he finds Willy planting a garden in the yard. They both reenter the house and Willy is angered by Biff's failures. They argue for awhile eventually leading Biff to tears which is comforting to Willy. The family goes to bed except Willy. Willy has another conversation with Ben, discussing the $20,000 insurance money he will leave BIff, while meanwhile Linda is calling him to bed. Willy doesn't answer and Linda and the boys soon hear him speed away in the car.
Requiem
Linda and the boys attend the funeral and are shocked to find so few attended. Biff states that Willy was chasing the wrong dreams but Charley claims he failed because of his career. Biff then offers Happy to finally move out West with him but Happy says no because he wants to finish what Willy started in New York. Linda is left alone with Willy, she apologizes for being unable to cry but eventually does and states "We're free."

Author's Style:
Willy is in most of the scenes so we mostly interpret the actions and interactions from his view however there is no actual narrator.
Tone: The tone of this play is set to be very dry and somewhat sympathetic. This is because Miller often times emphasizes the negative side of stories and makes the reader feel pity for the characters. Also, each of the characters spoke in colloquial language, therefore not adding any significant emotions.
Symbolism: There were many symbols that were significant throughout this play.
The flute - Willy's father used to play the flute so it represents the pressure he feels to reach his father's expectations and also mimics the pied piper.
Tape recorder - represents Willy's lost connection he has with his children when he hears Charlie's children, it also shows Willy's constant struggle with new technology
Appliances (refrigerator, car, etc.) - also represent Willy's struggle with new technology
Seeds - Willy is hopeful of leaving behind something that will be remembered of his, his version of a legacy
Imagery: There were some instances of significant imagery, for instance the Loman's home itself was a very interesting layout, with gaps in walls and no roof. Also the fact that it was a house placed in the middle of the city seems significant.

Quotes:
"Biff Loman is lost. In the greatest country in the world a young man with such--personal attractiveness, gets lost. And such a hard worker. There's one thing about Biff--he's not lazy" (I). Willy to Linda.
This quote is significant because throughout much of the play we are convinced that Willy thinks Biff is completely useless, however we see here that he really does believe in him but he is just trying to push him to be greater. Also, this is a taste of Willy's vision of the American Dream, he thinks being well liked and putting up a good appearance should automatically make one successful.

"Business is bad, it's murderous. But not for me, of course" (I). Willy to Ben.
This is kind of ironic to be in this play since, after all Willy does die the "Death of a Salesman." At this time in the play Willy is still very hopeful and thinks he knows the route to success. This represents how he was once aware of the bad business but did not directly relate it to himself.

Theme:
Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman suggest society's superficial ideas of success does not always match that of the individual and the denial of one's true desires can lead to catastrophic consequences.

Several of the characters throughout the play are faced with the issue of being placed on pressure from society. Willy feels he needs to be a successful business worker and that this should come easy to him because it does to others according to him. Biff, especially during high school, feels he needs to maintain a "tough guy" appearance. Unfortunately, neither of these characters are able to fulfill these high expectations and therefore pay the consequence. Willy falls to his death and Biff becomes a bum, having no motivation to work. The many symbols mentioned above also all lead and relate to this theme. Each of them emphasizes Willy's failure and incompatibility with the new and upcoming world. The characters are not able to reach society's high, and ridiculous expectations and while they try, most of them became so fixated on reaching them that they ignored their personal goals.