Death of a Salesman Synthesis and Analysis

Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

• Author: Arthur Miller
• Setting:
• Late 1940s or early 1950s.
• Willy’s house in New York, a few other places he visits in the city, and a few scenes are in Boston.
• Plot:
• Willy returns home after a sales trip that failed again, after setting the scene for the current household, Miller begins to divulge Willy’s past.
• Willy has a flashback about the years when Biff and Happy were younger and it reveals many of the hopes Willy had for their futures, with being popular, that is “well liked,” as the important part.
• Another flashback ensues where Willy is meeting with his mistress, The Woman.  This flashback fades and the prior flashback remains, Willy is angry with Linda and Bernard (the neighbor boy) for criticizing Biff and the flashback fades away.
• Willy regrets to himself about how he did not go with Ben, his brother, to Alaska and strike it rich there, and he marvels at Ben’s magnificence.
• Linda confronts Biff and Happy about their lack of engagement with their father and tells them that Willy is suicidal, they promise to be more active in his life and make a plan to go into business together.
• The morning begins with Willy in a good mood, but it is dampened by all the bills they must pay and the appliances and cars that keep breaking.  Before he leaves for work Linda tells Willy that Biff and Happy are taking him out for dinner that night and this brightens his mood again.
• At work Willy tries to switch his position from a traveling salesman to something where he can work in the city, but instead is basically fired from his job.
• Willy descends into a flashback again and speaks with Ben about his prospects, then sees Biff’s exciting moment as the big football game is approaching, but comes back to reality in Charley’s office seeing the present day successful Bernard in front of him.
• Willy asks if it was all his fault that Biff didn’t turn out to be successful, but then tells Bernard not to blame him for Biff’s lack of success and ambition.  Charley gives Willy the money he needs after learning Willy was fired, and Willy leaves saying Charley is his only friend.
• At the dinner Biff tries to tell Willy that the business plan didn’t work, but Willy cannot hear it and says Biff is trying to spite him, then falls into a flashback of the time when Biff discovered Willy’s affair.
• Once everyone arrives home Linda scolds the boys for their actions and Biff tries to say goodbye to Willy who had been planting seeds in the garden and talking to Ben again.
• Willy again gets angry at Biff’s continual failure and says Biff is trying to spite him, but Biff, in his frustration ends up crying.  This makes Willy realize that Biff actually does love him.
• After this conversation everyone goes to bed except Willy who ends up driving away and killing himself.
• At Willy’s funeral only Biff, Happy, Linda, Charley, and Bernard attend.  Biff says Willy always had the wrong dreams, but Happy says he will prove that Willy didn’t die in vain.  Linda is shocked at what Willy did, and ends the play sobbing “We’re free.”
• Main Characters:

o       Willy – Willy is a stubborn, but broken down man.  He wants to be well-liked, which is why he became a salesman.

o       Linda – Linda is the rock the family is built on, she is the strong one who holds them all together.

o       Biff – Biff is the most sensible character as he actually understands the world, but he is lost because he is still trying to find himself, something he hasn’t managed with Willy’s inflated ideas about Biff’s life.

o       Happy – Happy is the son who is always craving attention, even when Willy dies he is determined to win his favor and he says that he will prove Willy did not die in vain.

·        Narrative Voice: There is not really a narrative voice in this piece as there is no narrator in this play.

• Author’s Style:

o       Point of View: Miller writes this play as one that really points out tragedy, in another of his works “Tragedy and the Common Man” Miller defines tragedy.  Willy Loman is the definition of tragedy according to Miller; this shows what Miller thinks of society because it created this broken man who is the epitome of a tragedy.

o       Tone:  Miller’s tone in this piece is depressing in the nonmedical sense of the word.  He writes about the failures of the members of this family and they all impact the family so greatly that the anger and sadness that arises from these actions feels depressing.

o       Imagery:  The imagery Miller includes in this piece is interesting with the way the flashbacks are shown, the setting changes, and this changes the atmosphere so much.  The imagery also included in the dialogue of the play is saddening, when Biff, Happy, and Linda are discussing Willy and his suicidal tendencies the images created show Willy as a broken man.

o       Symbolism:  One of the most interesting symbolism examples I saw in Miller’s play was that of geography, Ben goes to the jungle in Africa and strikes it rich, but the Africa seems to symbolize Hell while Alaska, where Ben also makes a profit and offers Willy a chance to do so also, seems to represent Heaven.

• Quotes:
• “Walked into the jungle, and comes out, the age of twenty-one, and he’s rich!” (41).
• This is an important quote to use to show the ease with which Ben gains the American Dream, it shows the American Dream Willy wants but cannot reach.
• “Never fight fair with a stranger, boy.  You’ll never get out of the jungle that way” (49).
• This quote is important to show the means you actually must use to obtain the American Dream, but Willy is unable and unwilling to use them.
• “You cannot eat the orange and throw the peel away – a man is not a piece of fruit!” (82).
• This quote is an important one to use to show how Willy is a tragic character who is broken by his dreams.
• Theme:  The American Dream is destructive and unattainable.
• As seen in the Author’s Style section there is much symbolism and imagery that supports this theme, the symbolism shows how you must go to death or something near it to reach the American Dream.  The imagery shows how destructive it can be on the people seeking it, and even the tone of the play shows how this attempt to reach the American Dream has failed and is only depressing to see.