Family, Identity and the “American Dream” in Death of a Salesman
Arthur Miller's 1949 play, Death of a Salesman tackles the issues of identity, family dynamics and the pursuit of the “American Dream” using the Loman family as a model to illustrate these concepts. The play starts with Willy Loman, a traveling salesman, returning from a botched business trip. Willy expresses disgust towards his oldest son, Biff, who has failed to do anything substantial with his life. Biff and his younger brother Happy take their father out to dinner where Biff has a flashback to the time he visited his father in Boston and discovered Willy was having an affair with a receptionist. He confronts his father about the incident and then angrily leaves the restaurant, with Happy leaving as well. The family reconvenes at home, and Biff and Willy try to talk about their differences yet again. Biff claims that he, like his father, was never destined for anything more than mediocrity and begs his father to let go of the expectations of greatness that he has for his own life and the lives of his sons. Willy takes this discussion as a sign that Biff will follow in his footsteps and become a businessman himself. Willy then commits suicide by crashing his car so that Biff can use his life insurance payout to start his own business. In the final act of the play, Biff reiterates that he is not interested in becoming a businessman while attending Willy's funeral, however, the youngest son, Happy decides to take the life insurance payout and follow in his father's footsteps, allowing him to come out from the shadow of his older brother's life for the first time ever.
I enjoyed Death of a Salesman because of its relevancy to the current news in today's society. As the economy continues to be sluggish, much has been said about the “American Dream” and how it has become increasingly impossible to achieve. Willy Loman is constantly striving to make it big as a salesman, but he always falls short. As it becomes clearer that Willy is never going to become wealthy, happy and successful, he pushes his oldest son towards a career in business so that Biff may achieve what Willy was unable to. Much of the first act is centered around the idea of what the “American Dream” is and how each of the men in the Loman family work towards their personal “American Dream”. Willy deals with his inability to achieve the “American Dream” by fantasizing about bringing home sizable commissions so that his family can live comfortably and drifting in and out of reality, while Biff satiates himself with theft and working on a ranch and Happy deals with his shortcomings by pursuing women constantly. Although Willy criticizes the shortcomings of his children, towards the end of the play he realizes how he is actually upset with his own inability to achieve personal success and that his best hope is to live vicariously through his children. The complex family relations explored throughout the play were another personally enjoyable part of Death of a Salesman.
Although Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman was written over sixty years ago, it is still a relevant and compelling play that explores the intense family dynamics and identity struggles of a family as they work towards, and fail to achieve, the “American Dream”. The struggles in this play are timeless and this work is certain to remain a classic for years to come.
Works Cited
Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. New York City: Penguin, 1949. Print.
