Death of a Salesman Analysis

Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller, was another unique and compelling play. The main character, Willy Loman, is, without a doubt, mentally unstable. The play begins with Willy arriving home from a work trip exhausted and depleted. His two sons are visiting, Happy and Biff, and they hear Willy yelling at his wife, Linda. They come downstairs to the main floor of their house that does not have corners, or a roof. Willy then has a flashback to when his boys were younger and it is apparent that he is jealous of his neighbor, Charley. He then remembers when he and his mistress were together in his hotel room. He gave her stockings. The present day appears again and Linda is sewing her stockings, because they are unable to afford new ones. Later, Willy is playing cards with Charley, and a memory of his brother appears. He then continues a conversation with both Charley and Ben. The flashback of Ben is when he left to go to Alaska, and Willy asking him not to go. During the night, Linda and Biff notice that Willy is outside conversing with himself. Biff tells his dad his plan to go and talk to an old friend the following day to ask for a loan to start a business, the “Florida deal”. The following day, with convincing from Linda, Willy decides to go and converse with his boss, Howard, about working more local so he does not have to travel as much. When he arrives at the office, Howard is playing with a recording device that he just bought. Willy requests to have a lower paying job, but still working in the area. When Howard rejects this, he does not understand why. Willy believes that if you are well-liked you should be able to get what you want. Howard then fires him and Willy has a flashback involving his brother, Ben. Ben asks Willy to go to Alaska with him, and Willy objects. The next scene is a conversation between Biff and Happy. Happy is talking to a prostitute, and Biff mentions that he waited for many hours to talk to the businessman, who does not even remember him. Happy does not think it would be good to tell Willy that, so he convinces Biff to lie to him saying that he is reviewing the proposal. Willy goes to meet his sons for dinner and Biff tries to explain the whole story to him. Willy then flips out and has a flashback to when Biff caught Willy cheating on him in a hotel room years ago. Later, Biff and Happy come home bringing flowers to their mom. Linda yells at them for leaving their father at the restaurant and tells them to leave the house. Willy is outside plating a garden. There is an argument between Biff, Willy, and Linda. Willy then gets in his car, crashes, and then dies. The last scene is at Willy’s funeral with only his immediate family, Charley, and Bernard present.

Motifs

Regret

Dreams

Entitlement

Weath

Significance of Names

Loman- low-man symbolizing low class

Singleman- salesman, a single-man

Biff- punch

Happy- ironically, he is not happy

Linda- housewive’s name, soft, tender, type of tree= strength of family

The affair woman, did not even have a name

Willy- child’s version of William

Miscellaneous Points
The milk = cheese = Linda being motherly
Linda acts like a mother to Willy, because his was absent.
Howard = flashback Willy

Overall Theme

The sense of entitlement for the idealized American Dream of financial and social prosperity can lead to tragedy.

Important Quotes
"He's liked, but not well liked."
"He has the wrong dreams. All, all wrong."
"Willy Loman never made a lot of money. His name was never in the paper. He's not the finest character that ever lived. But he's a human being, and a terrible thing is happening to him"