Death of a Salesman

Death of a Salesman characters

Miller's characters explore the different expectations and viewpoints of the American Dream.

William (Willy) Loman

Willy Loman is a 64-year-old travelling salesman. He has wasted his life trying to reach the perfect version of the American dream that he believes in. His ambitions have negatively affected his wife, Linda, and his sons, Biff and Happy. During the last 24 hours of his life, Willy is in a confused state of mind. He relives his memories of the past and confuses illusion with reality. Willy compares himself to his dead brother, Ben, who attained the material success that escapes Willy's grasp.

Willy Loman is a victim of a society which puts financial gain above all else. At the same time, Willy himself is to blame for his downfall, for he refuses to embrace reality and to be grateful for what he has. At the end of the play, Willy commits suicide, convinced that he's doing the right thing for his family, who can collect the insurance money.

Linda Loman

Linda is Willy's wife. She is patient and supportive of him even though he doesn't always deserve it. At times he mistreats her and in the past, he has cheated on her. Linda is aware of Willy's first attempt to take his life. She urges her sons, especially Biff, to be on better terms with Willy and to make him proud, so that he won't harm himself. She also implores Willy to ask his boss to let him work in the city and not travel anymore.

Biff Loman

Biff is the elder son of Willy and Linda. During high school, he had the opportunity to gain a football scholarship that would allow him to attend university. However, witnessing his father's infidelity made him drop out of summer school.

At 34, Biff is torn between trying to achieve the success that his father envisioned for him and going to the countryside to work on a farm. Biff is the only member of the Loman family who eventually manages to break free from his father's illusions that have defined their lives. Biff repeatedly tells Willy that he's an ordinary man and not destined for greatness.

Harold (Happy) Loman

Happy is the younger son of Linda and Willy. Happy is neglected by his parents, who have put their hopes on his brother, Biff. Happy has a more chaotic lifestyle. He sleeps around with different women. He's not ashamed to deceive and cheat in order to move up in his workplace.

At 32, most of what Happy does is a cry for attention. However, his actions don't make his parents see him in a more positive light. At the end of the play, Happy, who has been influenced by Willy's illusions throughout his whole life, decides to follow in his footsteps.

Death of a Salesman: brief analysis

Now we will explore the main themes and symbols in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman.

Themes

The American dream

When Willy's boss, Howard, fires him, Willy tells him that he can't throw him away like he's a piece of fruit. Arthur Miller argues that human beings should not be disposable and that they're not only as valuable as the profit they make.

Death of a Salesman explores the idealised view that Willy Loman has of the American dream. Willy believes that if he's well-liked and hard-working, he can achieve the success he dreams of. He believes that the same logic applies to his sons, especially to Biff. Willy is sure of this because he has seen men like his brother Ben achieve this ideal.

In his obsession with reaching the American dream, Willy fails to enjoy the good things that he already has in his life, such as his family. Willy prefers to die so that he can give his family the financial security he couldn't provide when he was alive. Arthur Miller comments on the pressures of a capitalist success-driven society. The constant competition of financial gain can lead a person astray.

At the end of the play, Biff realises that his father had the wrong dreams, while Happy risks ending up just like Willy.

Reality vs Illusion

Biff finally acknowledges that his life until this moment has been the product of his father's illusions.

Willy Loman is a man who lives more in his mixed-up memories and illusions than in reality. Willy sees himself not as he really is, but through the illusions he has about himself. In his mind, he is liked and respected by all, and his success is only a matter of time. Willy's illusion encompasses the other people in his life too. He pretends that he didn't cheat on Linda and tries to block his affair out of his memory.

Willy also refuses to accept Biff for who he is and entertains the illusion that he is going to be extremely successful. Indeed, the whole Loman family functions on Willy's illusions. Only Biff realises the damage that this distorted view of reality has done.

Symbols

The symbols in Death of a Salesman include seeds, stockings, and flute music.

Seeds

The seeds symbolise Willy's efforts to plant something that would grow. He desperately wants to be successful. Just before he kills himself, he's planting seeds as he gets lost in his hallucinations. This is his last attempt to not have lived in vain. At the same time, the seeds are symbols of the peace of the natural world that Willy longs for. He's forced to spend his whole life in the concrete jungle of the city.

Stockings

During the 1940s, good-quality stockings were hard to come across. The fact that Willy gives stockings as a gift to The Woman (his lover) is a symbol of his infidelity and his betrayal to his wife.

Flute

The flute music is described in the stage directions. It serves as an expression of the past and it emphasises the flashbacks. The melody of the flute symbolises Willy's memories.

Death of a Salesman: setting

The play is set in 1949 in Brooklyn, New York. The Loman family's home is the primary setting for the play, and it is where much of the action takes place.

The house is described as being small and cramped with all four members of the Loman household. The house is filled with Willy's memories and regrets, and it becomes a symbol of his failed dreams and aspirations.

The play also takes place in various other locations, including hotel rooms and restaurants where Willy conducts his sales business. However, the play's setting focuses on both the physical and mental confinement that Willy Loman faces.

Act One takes place in the present, while Act Two of the play is a series of flashbacks that show events from Willy's past.

How has Death of a Salesman influenced culture today?

Death of a Salesman is one of the most famous plays of all time. Since its premiere in 1949, it has had four Broadway revivals. The play has inspired numerous adaptations for stage, screen, and radio, in different languages.

In 1983 Arthur Miller himself directed a production of Death of a Salesman at the Beijing People's Theatre. This experience revealed to him that, although the play is written in the context of the American dream, it can be interpreted in different ways. Death of a Salesman is much more than a commentary on American reality in the 1940s. It is a drama that explores the tragedy of the human condition, which people all around the world can relate to.