English
The Death of a Salesman deals with two unresolved problems; the problem of family, and the marked society. Volker Schlöndorff made Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman (1985) into a mini-serial for television audiences. The movie deals with the dynamics of the family system; whether it’s the relationship between father and son, or the relationship between father and daughter, and so on. In Death of Salesman, Willy Lowman, the protagonist, is seen as a man who leads a life in isolation. His life goes around in circles and has illusions that he would make it rich one day. The frequent appearance of Ben, who left for the jungles at seventeen, and walked out rich at twenty-one comes back to haunt his conscience. The isolation and alienation of Willy is what forms the theme, and the focal point of the story. It is isolation that finally led Willy to commit suicide. Willy represents a person alienated by society that worships money and power. Right through the movie, the focus is centered on Willy and his relationship with other characters; especially with Biff.
Schlöndorff, through his movie, dwells on the character of Willy Lowman, his affair, his rejection from society, the degradation of human values, the conflict and tragedy, which ultimately leads to the death of the American dream. Willy Lowman has a lot of dreams for his family, but as he sees his dreams evaporate, he finds himself scourged between reality and mirage. Sensing that nothing favourable would happen as long as he lived, Willy sacrifices his life to keep his family together. Schlöndorff’s production has Dustin Hoffman playing Willy Lowman, an aging traveling salesman who is in the midst of a major crisis where he has to distance himself from his wife Linda, played by Kate Reid, and sons Biff (John Malkovich) and Happy (Stephen Lang). The distance isolates Willy who tries to reminiscence what had led to his present predicament. The financial woes notwithstanding, Willy just couldn’t fit the role of the father perfectly. His family life and family gradually started to fade away, and even though his family was only four, they seemed distanced to such an extent that it was practically impossible for Willy to bring them under one roof.
The lack of understanding and the generation gap between Willy and his two sons was evident, and which, ultimately led to their disconnection. Fredrick and Mary Ann Brussat (2011), reviewing Volker Schlondorff’s Death of a Salesman, say that Death of a Salesman has become embedded in the minds and hearts of people everywhere. While a number of views have been expressed about the theme of the movie; whether it is a tragedy, or is an affirmation of the American spirit or the depiction of the salesman’s life, contemporary viewers have somehow analogized the salesman with their own lives. The play was first shot as a movie in 1985 by director Volker Schlondorff, and presented on CBS Television. Lowman (Dustin Hoffman), who spent most of his energetic life working as a salesman is removed from the company role as a permanent employee and forced to work on commission in an unknown territory. He believes that injustice was done as he had worked so hard for the company for thirty-four years, and now was most unceremoniously dumped to lift the garbage.
His elder son, Biff, who has had a chequered life, and at thirty-four is still trying to find his way in life and Willy don’t see eye-to-eye and this causes friction in the family. As Willy’s financial worries and Biff’s attempts to work his way up goes nowhere, Willy is annoyed that Biff resents Willie’s high hopes for him. Biff, also knowing about a dark secret of his, does not make matters any better. Further, Willie’s younger son, Happy is far more successful in life than Biff, and this has only made matters worse for Biff, who has frequent fights with Willy. This leaves Linda to be the mediator. Linda is not in the best of health, but despite this, she tries to mediate the conflict between Biff and his father, but to no avail; the resentment is far too deep for them to reconcile. Willy’s friend, Charley (Charles Durning), offers to help Willy when he loses his job, but he refuses. The relationship between father and son is well constructed in the movie, and Willie’s relationship with Biff is one that challenges social norms. There is an attempt by Biff to reach out to his father, but Willy, who has already decided his fate, decides to commit suicide to get the insurance money for his family.
Willy has his share of flirtation when he meets this beautiful woman, Ms. Francis, whom he calls, a buyer for J.H Simmons. Biff is witness to the incident when he walks into Willy’s room in Boston to tell him about flunking math, where he sees Willy and Ms. Francis in his room in Boston. When Biff says that he cheated on his mom and gave her stockings to Francis, Willy expostulate his claim and orders him to stop crying. Biff calls Willy a fake, and pushes him down on the bed, only to see him on the bathroom floor. This incidence shows the deteriorating state of mind of Willy, who tries to escape reality and live in a make-up world. The father-son relationship becomes even clearer, as Willy, fired from his job, has serious concerns for Biff. He is well aware that Biff should do something in life and succeed, but when he meets Biff and Happy in the restaurant, and sees them with a couple of girls; his mind goes into hallucination as he tries to find a way to escape reality. However hard he tries, Willy is not able to get Biff of his mind. He carries with him the guilt that he cheated on his family when they needed him most, but because of his inability to do what he wanted for the family, he was becoming increasingly insecure. When Biff tells Willy, “Will you take that phoney dream and burn it before something happens?’ the plot is complete. The whole movie revolves on the great ambitious dreams that Willy had for Biff, and he just couldn’t afford to see Biff fail in life.
Left with no other option but to sacrifice his life, Willy plans to commit suicide. He knew the only way he could live his dream was by not being there. Therefore, Willy commits suicide. Willy believed that what he couldn’t do while he was alive, could be achieved when he was dead, and so, to claim the insurance money, Willy dies on purpose.
Works Cited
Brussat, Fredrick, and Mary Ann Brussat. 'Spirituality & Practice: Film Review: Death of a Salesman, Directed By Volker Schlondorff'. Spiritualityandpractice.com. N.p., 2014. Web. 18 Nov. 2014.
YouTube. 'Volker Schlöndorff. Death of a Salesman. 2011'. N.p., 2014. Web. 18 Nov. 2014.
