Research of what the story means
The Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller is a play concerning the tribulations of the middle class workers within the American society. This play deals with the social and filial realms of American life. It explores the exploding idea of the American dream. It focuses on the struggle the middle class workers face in their positioning within capitalist societies. The play dwells well on sociopolitical issues through poetic realism and indebted focus on the common citizen. The story is about a salesman, Willy Loman, Linda his wife and their two sons, Happy and Biff. Willy is an aging salesman and can no longer travel for his business endeavors, but out of the refusal of Biff to take up on his position as a salesman, he feels disappointed (Galens 61-78). Willy gathers courage and asks his employer for a transfer to New York and that leads to his firing from the company.
Linda lets their son Biff know about suicide attempts of his father. Biff flashbacks and there is a revelation of Biff finding out that his father had a mistress and that became the main reason for his declining the position of a salesman. In other subplots, the neighbors of Willy: Charley and burners as well as the appearance of Willy’s brother though to have been dead create an interweaving effect in the story (Lahr). Charley is a creditor while Bernard is his dream successful son. On the other hand, Ben becomes the capitalist, a dream that Willy can never achieve. In his desperation, Willy finally commits suicide because he knows that his life insurance will pay off. He feels that his value as a dead person surpasses his living and all these leave his wife in desolation beside his grave crying, “We’re free and clear … We’re free … And there’ll be nobody home” (Miller1-192). There is allusion presented in the play and regardless of the efforts to maintain what is thought as real, the characters keep identifying with the lie they prefer to believe instead of living in reality. Willy thrives at achieving what is in his view the American Dream thinking that such a state would get him out of poverty and make him rich and famous. Willy is a myth exemplifying the American dream, which holds the promise of gaining of happiness once there is gain of materialistic wealth. The story is about the hopes and fears of the middleclass Americans. Hopefulness in such a dream is fatal and tragic whenever it is not fulfilled (Galens 61-78).
The intrigue of the Death of a Salesman is that is easy to relate to daily lives of individuals. The play uses a dramatic structure presented through multiple flashbacks for the stimulation of the minds of people through relation of outer experiences and inner subjectivity of the experiences of the characters. This leads to visits such as those from the scenes of Ben and Willy. Such juxtaposition of place and time provides a dimension for appearances and reality. Through such fabricated flashbacks, there is display of reality and the things he wish could be real. There is a sense of superiority between Biff, Happy and Willy as much as there is no evidence of their high positions. Such positions in life lead to a lack of knowledge of each other and it is confirmed at the end of the play with Biff confirming that he “didn’t know who he was,” because he cannot understand how intense the ambitions of his father were to lead him to suicide (Miller1-192). Happy in turn, has an ultra opinion and swears to achieve the dream of their father. It is evidence that too much ambition can destroy a man and lead him to tragedy. In a display of the concept of individual versus society, it is noticeable that the efforts of Willy to win clients leads him to unreasonable worries of the perception people have about him and they become his blame points for not succeeding (Lahr). He worries too much about his dressing and talking too much making him to see those traits as his reasons for failure. Out of that ideal situation, the failure of Willy is out of his failure of identifying or rather pursuing his gifted areas. He has no knowledge in sales and fails to accept that reality leading to his failure. He is oddly against his true self and most often he creates a mediocre of himself pressing with out of date sales tactics such as smooth talking and charisma. He has a focus on becoming reach and can never understand why his ambition does not bear fruit regardless of his efforts. However, because of his denial of his carpentry talent, he is far from reaching his destiny and he remains through a continuous struggle that eventually pushes him to his death after the realization that he will never achieve any of his dreams (Kjellberg 65-91).
This is a treasured national myth that traverses across periods of when there was view of the sales profession as a career requiring no education and training. It was a means of achieving financial success and through strategies of promoting sales through manipulation of clients. However, the time of Willy’s venture into sales was a period with different strategies and venturing into manipulation of people no longer sufficed making his dream for gaining wealth and fame as a salesman to dwindle. His lack of knowledge and training in sales meant failure in his venture into business, as much as he did not want to believe that the business course had changed and that he needed to change strategies to excel as a sales man (Galens 61-78). His adamancy of changes in business leaves him striving for prosperity through persuasion and as he notices failure, he starts envying his brother Ben and Dave Singleman. Their prosperity frustrates him and he keeps striving hard hopping to achieve the level of success enjoyed by the two men. This version of the American Dream as presented through Willy leaves him as a complete failure. The presentation of the play in a realistic manner gives it the feel of being on true aspects. It is based on the things that happen in the real life of the characters and elements of expressionism, which invoke feelings and emotions of what takes place in the lives of people daily through Willy Loman.
The reminiscing of past events by Willy and the situations he imagines bring his thoughts clearly to the audience. It gives an opportunity for the audience to understand his inner thoughts and provides the audience with an insight to their behaviors in the real life situation (Lahr). One of such a reminisce reveals the tormenting of Biff through his past discovery of his father’s affair with a mistress. It presents a reason for his refusal to take up his job because he does not have faith in him at all. He reaches a point when he intends to make everyone know what he feels amidst his or her denial by saying. “Let’s hold on to the facts to night, pop” and neither Happy nor Willy wants to hear about it knowing very well that they are in possession of the truth as much as they may not be ready to hear the truth (Miller1-192). It is an explanation of the angry outbursts of Biff towards his father clearly shows how people think. It is a presentation of the minds of people and the influences for their actions even if they do not reveal what they may be thinking in actuality.
The play shows that failure to achieve the dreams of an individual present’s life with illusions between the imagined and reality (Galens 61-78). All the characters have their personal issues of disappointment affecting their present lives and the failures can only be traced through the imagination of the past. The play shows the present outcome of the characters through the experiences they faced in their lives and it is a case only possible through the presentation of flashbacks as shown in the play. The past in the lives of the characters influence their emotions and reactions in present times and remains as the controls of whatever reactions and decisions they make (Galens 61-78).
Works Cited
Galens, David. Drama for Students. Presenting Analysis, Context and Criticism on Commonly Studied Dramas. New York: Thomson Gale. (2005): 61-78
Kjellberg, Hans. “The Death Of A Salesman? Reconfiguring Economic Exchange In Swedish Post-War Food Distribution.” Sociological Review Monograph 55.2 (2007): 65-91. SocINDEX with Full Text. Web. 1 Dec. 2012.
Lahr, John. Illusions and delusions in Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams. March 26, 2012. Retrieved from: _Death_of_a_Salesman_and_C mino_Real_in_Revival__The_New_Yorker_2-2.htm. December 3, 2012.
Miller, Arthur, and Enoch Brater. Death of a Salesman. London: Methuen Drama. (2010):1-192. Print.
