Death of a Salesman is an American tragedy, written in 1948 by Arthur Miller. While it reflects the values of American society such as success and the American dream, the play continues to have relevance and a universal appeal because it depicts the struggle of a man, Willy Loman, to come to grips with a rapidly changing society which he no longer understands. Hooti and Azipour (15) are correct in their appreciation of the play when they assert that “this play is the story of all human beings who are in search of success, Love, Pride and Ambition, but are oscillating between modern and postmodern values.” Toward the end of his life Willy Loman discovers he has failed to achieve financial success for his family, and what is worse, he experiences strong feelings of guilt because his sons, especially his oldest son, Biff, has failed to live up to the American dream and to find a place in society: “But it’s more than ten years now and he has yet to make thirty-five dollars a week!” (Death of a Salesman act 1). When the play opens Willy Loman is reaching a self-awareness crisis as he confronts the reality that he is sixty-three years old and no longer able to generate the sales revenues of earlier years. His company for which he has worked for thirty-six years has taken away his salary and put him on straight commission. He is financially ruined and unable to support his wife Linda. He is forced to borrow money from his friend Charley from week to week and pretend that it is his paycheck. Through a series of flashback and stage arrangements, the audience and readers come to realize that Willy Loman is reviewing his past life, becoming increasingly unable to separate the present from the past. As the drama begins to unfold it becomes clear that Willy Loman’s flaws have brought about his failure and ruined the life of his beloved son Biff.
Self-deception is a major theme in Death of a Salesman because the Lomans are unable to speak with the truth to each other (Karin, 58). Willy’s first deception comes almost at the beginning of the play when he tells his wife Linda that he cannot ask for a job in the office because he is vital as a road salesman: “They don’t need me in New York. I’m the New England man. I’m vital in New England” (Death, act 1). Willy is unable to face the fact that since his sales have decreased he is no longer necessary for the company. This painful truth hits Willy when his boss Howard fires him without any consideration for his years of service to the company. His son Biff also deceives himself when he plans to see his former employer, Bill Oliver to borrow money from him, knowing full well that he had stolen a carton of basketballs from him. Early in the play, while Biff still idolizes his father Willy refuses to face the fact that his son is drifting away from the values of honesty and righteousness when Biff steals the football from the coach. Instead of reprimanding him for his act Willy prefers to mask the fact: “Coach’ll probably congratulate you on your initiative” (Death, act 1). Willy is ungrateful toward Bernard who is willing to help Biff study for his math test. He refuses to face the fact that if Biff does not study he will not graduate. When Bernard leaves the scene, the Lomans laugh and scorn Bernard for his diligence and application to learning. Willy sees no need to encourage his sons to study since they are well built and full of personality (Karin, 56). Willy also deceives his family and himself when he tells them how popular he is and how easy it is for him to get through buyers: “be liked and you will never want. You take me, for instance, I never have to wait in line to see a buyer” (Death, act 1). However, the sad truth is that Willy has a hard time making sales. Zaidi (28) is correct to state that he has failed to understand the emerging business culture and has a hard time making himself noticed. He tells his wife “you know, the trouble is, Linda, people don’t seem to take to me” (Death, act 1). Even Linda who is smart enough to understand Willy’s situation does not have the courage to help him modify his behavior. Instead of agreeing with him that he ought to talk less she says that he is lively. She is a supportive and loving wife, preferring to lift Willy’s spirits instead of helping him change the way he approaches people. Perhaps the biggest deception of all is that Willy refuses to admit to himself that Biff discovery of his affair with the prostitute is the main reason why Biff has lost his way in life.
The main characters of the play are Willy Loman and his beloved son Biff who as an adolescent was the pride and joy of the neighborhood because of his outgoing and cheerful personality. Biff seems to be on his way to a bright future after graduating from high school, having received a scholarship to attend college. He is all his father could hope for and Willy is the ideal father for him. However, Willy has instilled in him a sense of overconfidence and Biff fails to prepare for his math exam. Believing that his father is all powerful, he travels to Boston hoping his father can convince his math teacher to change his grade. Upon finding his father with another woman, Biff loses all respect for him and Willy is deprived of his son’s love (Zaidi, 28). From this point on father and son will be in constant conflict with each other and Biff starts wondering aimlessly from job to job. Willy realizes how much harm his extramarital relationship did to his son when Bernard tells him how Biff burned his sneakers with University of Virginia printed on them. Reflecting on this incident, Bernard explains: “I’ve often thought of how strange it was that I knew He’d given up his life” (Death, act 2). There are two other incidents of stealing after Biff breaks up with his father; he steals a suit for which he goes to jail for three months and he steals a fountain pen from Bill Oliver, the man from whom he was supposed to borrow money to start a business. It is as if by engaging in such destructive behavior Biff is closing all opportunities to make a fresh start in life, and in so doing places the blame on his father for making him believe that he can be a great personality (Zadi, 32). At the same time, by refusing to enter the business world Biff denies his father the satisfaction of projecting his success in his son. All these events are revealed as Willy makes the journey to his past. By the time he returns to the present he cannot stand the realization that his ideals and value system have failed him, his sons, especially Biff have failed him and there is no future left for him because he has outlived his usefulness. The only thing he can do is to take his life away. Reflecting on Willy Loman’s flaws, Karin (58) states that “Willy Loman is the tragic protagonist and the effects of his tragic flaws are clearly engraved upon his sons.”
Even with all his flaws Willy Loman is a human being who deserves compassion and sympathy. Fortunately for Willy, he has friends who stay with him until the end. His wife Linda is his strongest supporter. She brings her husband’s problem to the attention of his sons and is always ready with a word of encouragement. Even when Willy was unfaithful to his wife, there is no question that he loves her. He as drawn to the prostitute because he felt terrible lonely wondering if he was ever going to sell anything again. There is also his friend and neighbor Charley who is always ready to lend him money even though Willy often insults him. He even offers him a job, but Willy’s foolish pride prevents him from accepting the job offer. He and his son Bernard are the only ones besides the family who attend the funeral. Like many human beings in this rapidly changing world, Willy Loman was cast into isolation and loneliness and as a human being deserves our sympathy.
Works Cited
Hooti, Noorbakhsh and Azipour Farzaneh. “Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman: A Postmodernist Study.” Studies in Literature and Language. Vol1 (8) 2010: 15-28. pdf.
Karin, Shariful.M. M. “A Critical Overview of Miller’s Willy Lowman—A Dreamer, More Sinned Against than Sinning." Journal of Arts, Science and Commerce Vol 4, 1 (1). (2013): 55- 60.pdf.
Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. Unknown: Viking Penguin, 1998.
Zaidi. Samiha. Characters and Themes in Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” and Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot.”Diss Mohamed.Khider University, 2012 People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria pdf.
