The Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller.
Introduction
The death of salesman is an intriguing play by Arthur Miller. This play was written in 1949. The Death of a Salesman mostly talks about the downfall of Willy who according to the play is perceived as a great man. However, Willy is an ordinary man though his downfall is made to look like that of a great man whom he is not. He is mixed in a world full of illusions. From the play, it is evident that Willy is quite obsessed with a fondness of greatness which has actually led to his downfall. His downfall has actually risen from his delusion of himself. Willy is also obsessed with a feeling that greatness and entrenched conviction are only realized from popularity as well as personal appeal. It is from this notion that the play is perceived to incorporate three different worlds which the main characters and especially Willy finds themselves in. These worlds include personal, business as well as the natural world.
The play intensely highlights the powers of American inclinations which are usually made of destructive powers. The main character in the play has a tendency of connecting virtue with earthly possessions and personality with prosperity. It is worth noting that the connections between wealth, personality, reality and prosperity has actually lead to the death of the main character who essentially commits suicide due to a feeling of inadequacy as a human being. The fate of the main character in this play is in fact triggered by, human needs, which represents personal world, economic system which represents business world and dreams and reality which represents the natural world. It is from this point that we can deduce that reality versus illusions represents the major theme in this play.
Willy works for Wagner Company where he is striving to earn a living in order to fully sustain his family. However, Howard wants to fire Willy because he seems to be less concerned with his business that brought him to the company. Willy tries to resist, “You can’t eat the orange and throw the peel away – a man is not a piece of fruit”, but Howard maintains his decision on firing Willy (Miller, 62). Both Howard and Willy have different views about the world they live in. According to Howard, the bottom line of his activities is actually described by his world. The two live in different worlds. Howard believe that even after firing Willy, his life and that of his family won’t change much because they will actually benefit from Willy’s insurance plan. He therefore tells Willy that “business is business” (Miller, 60). By this Howard means that Willy does not necessarily need to work for his company in order to live. What he has earned for the entire period he has worked in the company is actually enough for him and his family. Willy appears to be contented with Howard statement and argues that personality can be measured according to ones wealth. His sentiments on wealth and personality are actually highlighted by his statement “you end up worth more dead than alive” (Miller, 76). From the statement Willy means that without wealth and personality one is worthless just like a dead person.
Willy commits suicide because he recognizes that the natural world that he lives in does not acknowledge the consuming control of figment of his imagination. Notably, Willy thinks that his illusions are the ones which keep him alive until the end of time. Willy is a dreamer and he is actually filled with the American delusion. He does not see reality and he refuses to acknowledge the power of the natural world. He lives in a world of his own whereby he refuses to accept reality. At 63, Willy is still working for a car, refrigerator and a house. At first Willy does not realize the value of owning something of his own though he acknowledges the value of having something of his own when it is too late and when it is less importance. Accordingly to him what matters most in life are wealth, personality and popularity? Willy suffers from his boss cruelty as well as his incapacity to bring together his hopes and reality.
Nonetheless, Willy’s dream world is significant because his illusions and dreams actually protect him from regret and guilt. Willy laments on his decision not to follow his brother Ben to a place where he believes that he would have lend a comfortable life. He actually thinks that Alaska would be a better world which is not linked to the natural world. The main character in the play refuses to realize the differences between his illusions and the reality of his actions and decisions. He entirely lives on his thoughts where loss and disillusionment are not possible since according to him nothing is permanent. Charley on the other seems to have some bits of lack of interest in the real world. Willy underlines that Charley is less concerned about his son’s life. In response Charley tells Willy that,” “My salvation is that I never took any interest in anything” (Miller. 74). Charley dos not fear disappointment and he therefore seems to live on his own world where nothing is of interest to him. While Willy is unable to leave his dreams and illusions, Charley on the other hand is disinterested. He takes everything lightly and he seems to care less on what goes around him as well what people think and say about him.
Willy’s wife, Linda is another character in the play who seems to also have some interest in the personal world. From her sentiments on page 112 of the play,” “We’re free” (Miller. 112), we can say that Linda is happy about his husband insurance policy package. From the statement we infer that she means that her family is free from financial constraints. Though Linda is aware of the damage that Willy has caused them through his illusions, personality and lack of acceptance of the natural world, Linda too has more concern on the personal world. She does not care about changing Willy’s perception on women. She seems to have respect on Willy’s personal character and his thoughts that women are objects which one can have whenever he wants. Although Linda is not treated the right way by her husband, she refuses to fight for herself. Despite all her troubles and mistreatment, she keeps them as he personal problems.
The personal world dominates both the natural and business worlds. Almost every character in the play is concerned with his personal life, feeling and worthiness. Willy’s world depicts the personal world since he is more concerned on his popularity, wealth as well as celebrity. His world fails to recognize the natural world in the sense that Willy does not acknowledge reality of failure and success (Miller, 23). He clings to his illusions. On the other hand, Charley lacks interest of what goes around him as well as what happens to his family. He is full of himself and less concerned about his family.
While Happy and Willy seems to care about popularity which they actually think is a source of greatness, Bernard and Charley center their attention on personal knowledge, autonomy and growth. However some characters in the play with the example of Howard care about the business world. Howard tells Willy that what he does in his life as well as his success is attributed to his business. However, Willy believes that in order to be successful in the business world, one has to be popular and wealth,” “The man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead. Be liked and you will never want.” It is from this that we can say that personal world dominates the others since almost every character in the play is concerned about him/her (Miller, 23).
Conclusion
The personal world which dominates the entire play has contributed enormously to the major theme which is reality versus illusion. The theme has been well developed from the characters perceptions of American dream and the reality which they seems to have less concerns on. Though both the business and natural world have also contributed in the plot of the play, personal world has contributed enormously on plot and character development.
Work Cited
Arthur Miller. The death of a salesman: Play in two acts. New York: Dramatists Play Service, 1952
