Death of A Salesman: Summary and Analysis

Author: Arthur Miller- an American playwright. He is famous for many strong, candid works such as The Crucible.

Plot:

ACT 1- The play begins with Willy coming home from an unsuccessful business trip because of car trouble. Immediately, Linda begins to mother him while Willy bickers about Biff. We then meet Biff and Happy speaking about various things in their lives: work, dreams, women, etc.

Willy then begins his first flashback. It is a happy time in the past where the boys admire him. They are speaking about Biff’s upcoming football game. At this time, Biff is a hot-shot football player with offers from numerous colleges. Willy entertains his boys will stories of his travels as they plan trips for the future. Bernard comes over, warns Biff about failing math and that’s when things turn rotten. Willy becomes pessimistic while talking to Linda about money and he then begins a dream within a dream where he is back to the women he had an affair with. As things go bad, he comes out of his flashback. Willy’s mental problems become obvious at this point.  He wakes up to Charley coming over to play cards. While playing, Willy hallucinates his brother. While talking to both Ben and Charley a fight breaks out between Charley and Willy. As Charley leaves, Willy goes into another flashback like the last one.

The family comes downstairs and Linda scolds Biff for leaving his father. She then tells the boys about finding Willy’s rubber pipe. Linda continues to make Biff feel awful for being gone and goes on to blame Willy’s problems on him. Willy and Biff begin arguing but Biff eventually promises to have a meeting with Bill Oliver. 

ACT 2-  Act 2 begins with the Loman family happily at breakfast. Willy goes to talk to his boss, hoping to get a job that allows him not to travel. His boss is the son of his old boss, a man Willy was very close to. This guy though, is very rude and shuts Willy down. From here, Willy goes to Charley’s office where he runs into Bernard. He learns about Bernard’s success. He is married, has two sons, and is  a successful lawyer on his way to fight a Supreme Court case. Charley comes and offers Willy a job. This infuriates Willy. He takes money from Charley and then leaves.

From Charley’s office, Willy goes to meet the boys at a restaurant. Biff tries to follow Happy’s advice to lie to his father about the result of the meeting with Bill Oliver, but Biff just can’t do it. When Biff tells the truth, Willy gets extremely upset and goes to the bathroom where he enters another flashback. He continues the one where he is in the hotel room with the woman. Simultaneously, Biff and Happy leave the restaurant with two women. When Willy comes out of the bathroom, the boys are gone. He frantically asks the waiters where he would find a plant store.

Back at the house, Linda is furious. She is beyond upset at the boys for leaving their father alone. Willy is outside pathetically attempting to plant seeds in the concrete garden. Biff brings him inside and tells him he is leaving to go back out West for good. This begins a climatic argument between Biff and Willy. The confrontation ends in Biff crying to Willy and Wily realizing how much Biff loves him. When the fight is over and the family goes up stairs, Willy stays downstairs to “cool down.” He begins to talk to Ben about the life insurance money and ends up committing suicide in his car.

REQUIM- The play ends at Willy’s funeral. No one is there but Happy, Biff, Linda, Charley, and Bernard. They discuss his life; Biff saying how his dream was all wrong and Happy defending his father’s dream. Linda is confused as to why no one is there and keeps talking about how she paid the last payment on the mortgage. When Linda is saying her goodbyes alone, the other characters exit. Biff stands off to the left while all of the other characters go to the right. The play ends with Linda muttering to Willy about how they were finally free.

Setting: The play takes place in the Loman’s house in Brooklyn, New York. There are scenes at various places downtown, such as Willy’s boss’ office, a local restaurant, and Charley’s office. Scenes of Willy driving and in a hotel with a woman in Boston are also part of the play. It is placed in the 1940’s.

Characters:  

  Willy Loman- A defeated, salesman. Willy has lived his life around the idea that popularity is the key to success. He is a banded by his father and brother at a young age. He has been a salesman dedicated to making a name for himself and his family his whole life. Now, he is an elderly man who has gone psychotic. We never know exactly what his diagnosis is but, we know his failures through life has messed him up.

                   

  Linda Loman- Linda is Willy’s wife; his rock. She is very supportive of Willy and stands as a mother figure to him. She does not work outside of the house. She refuses to admit to Willy that he is suffering and tries to help him by optimistic support. She takes out her anger on their sons, Biff and Happy by blaming Biff’s absence as the cause of Willy’s troubles.

                 

  Biff Loman- Willy’s oldest and favorite son. Biff was a popular football player in high school who loved and admired his father. Once finding his dad in a hotel room with a woman other then Linda, he fled. Biff is a carpenter, a man who loves to work with his hands. He has had a problem with stealing. All his life, his father has pounded his idea of The American Dream into his head: that popularity gets you success. Biff is the only one who understands being a salesman is the wrong dream for both his father and himself. The play takes place right after Biff returns from the West.

                 

  Happy Loman- Happy is the second son in the Loman family. He works in a corporation and is very inappropriate with woman. Happy is begging for attention from his father. He is parallel to Willy as a child: benched while his father and brother went on. Throughout the play, Happy refuse to confront Willy and believe the truth.

                   

  Charley- Charley is the Loman’s lifelong neighbor. He is a successful business man and a man who knew how to raise his children. Every time he tries to help Willy or give him advise, Willy denies is. He even tries to give Willy a job when he is in need. Charley is Willy’s foil. 

                 

  Bernard- Bernard is Charley’s son. He was the “nerd” in high school. He always tried to help Biff with school but the Loman’s were always rude to him. We see him as a grown man in the play; now a successful lawyer with a wife and two sons. He is Biff’s foil.

                

  Ben- Ben is Willy’s older brother. He is the man that Willy always talks to and asks advice from when he is in a crazy mental state. Willy admires Ben and looks to him for advice as to how to become successful. We know Ben as a very successful man; always dressed in a white suit, always having somewhere he needs to go.

Narrative Voice: The tone of this piece is pretty dark. There are not many happy and optimistic moments. I thought the point of view was satisfactory. Since it is a play and the narrative voice is all of the characters talking, there was not an omniscient narrator and therefore a biased point of view. The symbolism was magnificent. Arthur Miller did a phenomenal job layering the book: the depth is incredible. Watching the play, reading the book, discovering its many levels is like a puzzle; a fun, confusing, somewhat depressing novel. Some symbols/motifs include stockings, dairy, flutes, car, seeds, women, stealing, funerals, and directions. The flashbacks were obviously one of the most important components of the play. They not only give us a vision of the past, but they tie together all of the missing strings. The flashbacks help to enhance the average at best imagery so the reader gets a realistic vision of the life of the Lomans’.

Important Quotes:

1. “Because sometimes I’m afraid that I’m not teaching them the right kind of….. Ben, how should I teach them?” – Willy (pg. 37)    This quote highlights a major part of the play. Father- son relationships are ever-present throughout the story. Both negative and positive relationships and lessons are presented. Willy undoubtedly raised his boys wrong. He pounded the wrong idea of success into their heads. This quote shows Willy, in a wrongful mental state, seeking comfort from his brother about how he raised his sons.

2. “To put up a ceiling is a mystery to me. How do you do it?” – Charley (pg. 31)            Charley is a figure of success in the book; a foil to Willy. This quote shows how Willy had the wrong dream. Willy was an amazing carpenter, something that was a foreign language to many men like Charley. This goes to show that if Willy would have followed his passions and strengths instead of conforming to society and being a salesman like everyone else he would have been successful.

Theme: Do not let others dictate your future.

This play revolves around Willy Loman’s failure at success. He has spent his whole life working towards his American Dream. He desperately wanted to support his family, be part of the middle/upper class, and be a revered, accomplished salesman. He taught his boys about how to find success all wrong and ended up ruining their futures as well. If Willy had followed what he was good at instead of conforming to society, he would have lived his American Dream. If his sons would have done what wanted instead of solely listening to heir father, they may have gotten somewhere too. Both Willy and his sons made life changing mistakes by letting others opinions and actions dictate their future. Charley and Bernard, the two successful characters, found success by doing what they were good at and not letting other people control their lives.

*Other Supporting Elements-

Setting- The main stage of the play is the Loman’s house. For one, all of the electronics keep breaking since they keep buying things based off of advertisements; what people are telling them to buy. Also, Willy is constantly complaining about how his home is being surrounded by the city. This shows how other people’s decisions and actions are changing Willy’s home for the worst.

Title- The title, “Death of A Salesman” shows that the book is about “a salesman.” This is a broad term instead of saying “Willy Loman.” This shows that Willy is not an individual. He didn’t follow a path for himself.

Tone- The book leads a depressing, regretful tone. This shows that the characters are not happy and the plot is not optimistic. By allowing others to dictate their futures, the characters do not lead bright, happy lives.