Death of a Salesman Study Guide

Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman stems from both Arthur Miller's personal experiences and the
theatrical traditions in which the playwright was schooled. The play recalls the traditions of Yiddish
theater that focus on family as the crucial element, reducing most plot to the confines of the nuclear
family. Death of a Salesman focuses on two sons who are estranged from their father, paralleling one of
Miller's other major works, All My Sons, which premiered two years before Death of a Salesman.

Although the play premiered in 1949, Miller began writing Death of a Salesman at the age of seventeen
when he was working for his father's company. In short story form, it treated an aging salesman unable
to sell anything. He is berated by company bosses and must borrow subway change from the young
narrator. The end of the manuscript contains a postscript, noting that the salesman on which the story is
based had thrown himself under a subway train.

Arthur Miller reworked the play in 1947 upon a meeting with his uncle, Manny Newman. Miller's uncle, a
salesman, was a competitor at all times and even competed with his sons, Buddy and Abby. Miller
described the Newman household as one in which one could not lose hope, and based the Loman
household and structure on his uncle and cousins. There are numerous parallels between Abby and
Buddy Newman and their fictional counterparts, Happy and Biff Loman: Buddy, like Biff, was a renowned
high school athlete who ended up flunking out. Miller's relationship to his cousins parallels that of the
Lomans to their neighbor, Bernard.

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While constructing the play, Miller was intent on creating continuous action that could span different
time periods smoothly. The major innovation of the play was the fluid continuity between its segments.
Flashbacks do not occur separate from the action but rather as an integral part of it. The play moves
between fifteen years back and the present, and from Brooklyn to Boston without any interruptions in
the plot.

Death of a Salesman premiered on Broadway in 1949, starring Lee J. Cobb as Willy Loman and directed
by Elia Kazan (who would later inform on Arthur Miller in front of the House Un-American Activities
Committee). The play was a resounding success, winning the Pulitzer Prize, as well as the Tony Award for
Best Play. The New Yorker called the play a mixture of "compassion, imagination, and hard technical
competence not often found in our theater." Since then, the play has been revived numerous times on
Broadway and reinterpreted in stage and television versions. As an archetypal character representing the
failed American dream, Willy Loman has been interpreted by diverse actors such as Fredric March (the
1951 film version), Dustin Hoffman (the 1984 Broadway revival and television movie), and, in a Tony
Award-winning revival, Brian Dennehy

Death of a Salesman Summary

Willy Loman, a mercurial sixty-year old salesman with calluses on his hands, returns home tired and
confused. His wife Linda greets him, but worries that he has smashed the car. He reassures her that
nothing has happened, but tells her that he only got as far as Yonkers and does not remember all of the
details of his trip; he kept swerving onto the shoulder of the road, and had to drive slowly to return
home. Linda tells him that he needs to rest his mind, and that he should work in New York, but he feels
that he is not needed there. He thinks that if Frank Wagner were alive he would be in charge of New
York, but his son, Howard, does not appreciate him as much. Linda tells him how Happy, his younger son,
took Biff, his eldest son, out on a double-date, and it was nice to see them both at home. She reminds
Willy not to lose his temper with Biff, but Willy feels that there is an undercurrent of resentment in Biff.
Linda says that Biff is crestfallen and admires Willy. They argue about whether or not Biff is lazy, and
Willy believes that Biff is a person who will get started later in life, like Edison or B.F. Goodrich.

Biff Loman, at thirty-four, is well-built but not at all self-assured. Happy, two years younger, is equally tall
and powerful, but is confused because he has never risked failure. The two brothers discuss their father,
thinking that his condition is deteriorating. Biff wonders why his father mocks him, but Happy says that
he merely wants Biff to live up to his potential. Biff claims he has had twenty or thirty different jobs since
he left home before the war, but has been fired from each. He reminisces about herding cattle and
wistfully remembers working outdoors. Biff worries that he is still merely a boy, while Happy says that
despite the fact that he has his own car, apartment, and plenty of women he is still unfulfilled. Happy
believes that he should not have to take orders at work from men over whom he is physically superior.
He also talks about how he has no respect for the women he seduces, and really wants a woman with
character, such as their mother. Biff thinks that he may try again to work for Bill Oliver, for whom he
worked years ago but quit after stealing a carton of basketballs from him.

The play shifts in time to the Loman house years before, when Biff and Happy were teenagers. Willy
reminds the teenage Biff not to make promises to any girls, because they will always believe what you
tell them and he is too young to consider them seriously. Happy brags that he is losing weight, while Biff
shows Willy a football he took from the locker room. Willy claims that someday he'll have his own
business like Charley, their next door neighbor. His business will be bigger than Charley's, because
Charley is "liked, but not well-liked." Willy brags about meeting the mayor of Providence and knowing
the finest people in New England. Bernard, Charley's son, enters and tells Willy that he is worried that
Biff will fail math class and not be able to attend UVA. Willy tells Bernard not to be a pest and to leave.
After Bernard leaves, Willy tells his sons that Bernard, like Charley, is liked but not well-liked. Willy claims
that, although Bernard gets the best grades in school, in the business world it is personality that matters
and that his sons will succeed. After the boys leave, Linda enters and Willy discusses his worry that
people don't respect him. Linda reassures him and points out that his sons idolize him.

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Miller returns to the more recent past past for a short scene that takes place in a hotel room in Boston. A
nameless woman puts on a scarf and Willy tells her that he gets lonely and worries about his business.
The woman claims that she picked Willy for his sense of humor, and Willy promises to see her the next
time he is in Boston.

Willy, back in the kitchen with Linda, scolds her for mending her own stocking, claiming that she should
not have to do such menial things. He goes out on the porch, where he tells Bernard to give Biff the
answers to the Regents exam. Bernard refuses because it is a State exam. Linda tells Willy that Biff is too
rough with the girls, while Bernard says that Biff is driving without a license and will flunk math. Willy,
who hears the voice of the woman from the hotel room, screams at Linda that there is nothing wrong
with Biff, and asks her if she wants her son to be a worm like Bernard. Linda, in tears, exits into the living
room.

The play returns to the present, where Willy tells Happy how he nearly drove into a kid in Yonkers, and
wonders why he didn't go to Alaska with his brother Ben, who ended up with diamond mines and came
out of the jungle rich at the age of twenty-one. Happy tells his father that he will enable him to retire.
Charley enters, and he and Willy play cards. Charley offers Willy a job, which insults him, and they argue
over the ceiling that Willy put up in his living room. Willy tells Charley that Ben died several weeks ago in
Africa. Willy hallucinates that Ben enters, carrying a valise and umbrella, and asks about their mother.
Charley becomes unnerved by Willy's hallucination and leaves.

The play returns to the past, where Willy introduces his sons to Ben, whom he calls a great man. Ben in
turn boasts that his father was a great man and inventor. Willy shows off his sons to Ben, who tells them
never to fight fair with a stranger, for they will never get out of the jungle that way. Charley reprimands
Willy for letting his sons steal from the nearby construction site, but Willy says that his kids are a couple
of "fearless characters." While Charley says that the jails are full of fearless characters, Ben says that so is
the stock exchange.

The play returns to the present, where Happy and Biff ask Linda how long Willy has been talking to
himself. Linda claims that this has been going on for years, and she would have told Biff if she had had an
address at which she could contact him. She confronts Biff about his animosity toward Willy, but Biff
claims that he is trying to change his behavior. He tells Linda that she should dye her hair again, for he
doesn't want his mother to look old. Linda asks Biff if he cares about Willy; if he does not, he cannot care
about her. Finally, she tells her sons that Willy has attempted suicide by trying to drive his car off a
bridge, and by hooking a tube up to the gas heater in the basement. She says that Willy is not a great
man, but is a human being and "attention must be paid" to him. Biff relents and promises not to fight
with his father. He tells his parents that he will go to see Bill Oliver to talk about a sporting goods
business he could start with Happy. Willy claims that if Biff had stayed with Oliver he would be on top by
now.

The next day, Willy sits in the kitchen, feeling rested for the first time in months. Linda claims that Biff
has a new, hopeful attitude, and the two dream of buying a little place in the country. Willy says that he
will talk to Howard Wagner today and ask to be taken off the road. As soon as Willy leaves, Linda gets a
phone call from Biff. She tells him that the pipe Willy connected to the gas heater is gone.

At the office of Howard Wagner, Willy's boss, Howard shows Willy his new wire recorder as Willy
attempts to ask for a job in New York. Howard insists that Willy is a road man, but Willy claims that it is
time for him to be more settled. He has the right to it because he has been in the firm since Howard was
a child, and even named him. Willy claims that there is no room for personality or friendship in the
salesman position anymore, and begs for any sort of salary, giving lower and lower figures. Willy insists
that Howard's father made promises to him. Howard leaves, and Willy leans on his desk, turning on the
wire recorder. This frightens Willy, who shouts for Howard. Howard returns, exasperated, and fires Willy,
telling him that he needs a good, long rest and should rely on his sons instead of working.

Willy hallucinates that Ben enters and Linda, as a young woman, tells Willy that he should stay in New
York. Not everybody has to conquer the world and Frank Wagner promised that Willy will someday be a
member of the firm. Willy tells the younger versions of Biff and Happy that it's "who you know" that
matters. Bernard arrives, and begs Biff to let him carry his helmet to the big game at Ebbets Field, while
Willy becomes insulted that Charley may have forgotten about the game.

The play returns to the present day, where the adult Bernard sits in his father's office. His father's
secretary, Jenny, enters and tells Bernard that Willy is shouting in the hallway. Willy talks to Bernard who
will argue a case in Washington soon and whose wife has just given birth to their second son. Willy
wonders why Biff's life ended after the Ebbets Field game, and Bernard asks why Willy didn't make Biff to
go summer school so that he could go to UVA. Bernard pinpoints the timing of Biff's failures to his visit to
his father in New England, after which Biff burned his UVA sneakers. He wonders what happened during
that visit. Charley enters, and tells Willy that Bernard will argue a case in front of the Supreme Court.
Charley offers Willy a job, which he refuses out of pride. Charley criticizes Willy for thinking that
personality is the only thing that matters in business. Willy remarks that a person is worth more dead
than alive, and tells Charley that, even though they dislike one another, Charley is the only friend he has.

At the restaurant where Willy is to meet his sons, Happy flirts with a woman and tells her that Biff is a
quarterback with the New York giants. Biff admits to Happy that he did a terrible thing during his
meeting with Bill Oliver. Bill did not remember Biff, who pocketed his fountain pen before he left. Biff
insists that they tell their father about this tonight. Willy arrives and tells his sons that he was fired.
Although Biff tries to lie to Willy about his meeting, Biff and Willy fight. Biff finally gives up and tries to
explain. As this occurs, Willy hallucinates about arguing with the younger version of Biff. Miss Forsythe,
the woman with whom Happy was flirting, returns with another woman and prepares to go out on a
double date with Happy and Biff. Happy denies that Willy is their father.

Willy imagines being back in the hotel room in Boston with the woman. The teenage Biff arrives at the
hotel and tells Willy that he failed math class, and begs his father to talk to Mr. Birnbaum. Biff hears the
woman, who is hiding in the bathroom. Willy lies to Biff, telling him that the woman is merely there to
take a shower because she is staying in the next room and her shower is broken. Biff realizes what is
going on. Willy throws the woman out, and she yells at him for breaking the promises he made to her.
Willy admits the affair to Biff, but promises that the woman meant nothing to him and that he was
lonely.

At the restaurant, the waiter helps Willy and tells him that his sons left with two women. Willy insists on
finding a seed store so that he can do some planting. When Biff and Happy return home, they give their
mother flowers. She asks them if they care whether their father lives or dies, and says that they would
not even abandon a stranger at the restaurant as they did their father. Willy is planting in the garden. He
imagines talking to Ben about his funeral, and claims that people will come from all over the country to
his funeral, because he is well known. Ben says that Willy will be a coward if he commits suicide. Willy
tells Biff that he cut his life down for spite, and refuses to take the blame for Biff's failure. Biff confronts
him about the rubber tube attached to the gas heater, and tells his mother that it was he, not Willy, who
took it away. Biff also admits that his parents could not contact him because he was in jail for three
months. Biff insists that men like he and Willy are a dime a dozen, but Willy claims otherwise. Biff cries
for his father, asking him to give up his dreams, but Willy is merely amazed that he would cry for his
father. Happy vows to get married and settle down, while everybody but Willy goes to sleep. Willy talks
to Ben, then rushes out of the house and speeds out away in his car. Happy and Biff come downstairs in
jackets, while Linda walks out in mourning clothes and places flowers on Willy's grave.

Only his wife, sons, and Charley attend Willy's funeral. Linda wonders where everybody else is, and says
that they have made their final house payment and are free and clear after thirty-five years. Biff claims
that Willy had the wrong dreams, but Charley says that a salesman must dream, and that for a salesman
there is no rock bottom in life. Biff asks Happy to leave the city with him, but Happy vows to stay in New
York and prove that his father did not die in vain. Everybody leaves but Linda, who remains at the grave
and talks about how she made the final house payment

characterWilly Loman
Despite his desperate searching through his past, Willy does not achieve the
self-realization or self-knowledge typical of the tragic hero. The quasi-
resolution that his suicide offers him represents only a partial discovery of the
truth. While he achieves a professional understanding of himself and the
fundamental nature of the sales profession, Willy fails to realize his personal
failure and betrayal of his soul and family through the meticulously
constructed artifice of his life. He cannot grasp the true personal, emotional,
spiritual understanding of himself as a literal “loman” or “low man.” Willy is too
driven by his own “willy”-ness or perverse “willfulness” to recognize the
slanted reality that his desperate mind has forged. Still, many critics, focusing
on Willy’s entrenchment in a quagmire of lies, delusions, and self-deceptions,
ignore the significant accomplishment of his partial self-realization. Willy’s
failure to recognize the anguished love offered to him by his family is crucial to
the climax of his torturous day, and the play presents this incapacity as the
real tragedy. Despite this failure, Willy makes the most extreme sacrifice in his
attempt to leave an inheritance that will allow Biff to fulfill the American Dream.
Ben’s final mantra—“The jungle is dark, but full of diamonds”—turns Willy’s
suicide into a metaphorical moral struggle, a final skewed ambition to realize
his full commercial and material capacity. His final act, according to Ben, is
“not like an appointment at all” but like a “diamond . . . rough and hard to the
touch.” In the absence of any real degree of self-knowledge or truth, Willy is
able to achieve a tangible result. In some respect, Willy does experience a
sort of revelation, as he finally comes to understand that the product he sells
is himself. Through the imaginary advice of Ben, Willy ends up fully believing
his earlier assertion to Charley that “after all the highways, and the trains, and
the appointments, and the years, you end up worth more dead than alive
Biff Loman
Unlike Willy and Happy, Biff feels compelled to seek the truth about himself.
While his father and brother are unable to accept the miserable reality of their
respective lives, Biff acknowledges his failure and eventually manages to
confront it. Even the difference between his name and theirs reflects this
polarity: whereas Willy and Happy willfully and happily delude themselves, Biff
bristles stiffly at self-deception. Biff’s discovery that Willy has a mistress strips
him of his faith in Willy and Willy’s ambitions for him. Consequently, Willy sees
Biff as an underachiever, while Biff sees himself as trapped in Willy’s
grandiose fantasies. After his epiphany in Bill Oliver’s office, Biff determines to
break through the lies surrounding the Loman family in order to come to
realistic terms with his own life. Intent on revealing the simple and humble
truth behind Willy’s fantasy, Biff longs for the territory (the symbolically free
West) obscured by his father’s blind faith in a skewed, materialist version of
the American Dream. Biff’s identity crisis is a function of his and his father’s
disillusionment, which, in order to reclaim his identity, he must expose.
Happy Loman
Happy shares none of the poetry that erupts from Biff and that is buried in
Willy—he is the stunted incarnation of Willy’s worst traits and the embodiment
of the lie of the happy American Dream. As such, Happy is a difficult character
with whom to empathize. He is one-dimensional and static throughout the
play. His empty vow to avenge Willy’s death by finally “beat[ing] this racket”
provides evidence of his critical condition: for Happy, who has lived in the
shadow of the inflated expectations of his brother, there is no escape from the
Dream’s indoctrinated lies. Happy’s diseased condition is irreparable—he
lacks even the tiniest spark of self-knowledge or capacity for self-analysis. He
does share Willy’s capacity for self-delusion, trumpeting himself as the
assistant buyer at his store, when, in reality, he is only an assistant to the
assistant buyer. He does not possess a hint of the latent thirst for knowledge
that proves Biff’s salvation. Happy is a doomed, utterly duped figure, destined
to be swallowed up by the force of blind ambition that fuels his insatiable sex
drive.
Linda Loman
The dutiful, obedient wife to Willy and mother of Biff and Happy, Linda
Loman is the one person who supports Willy Loman, despite his often
reprehensible treatment of her. She is a woman who has aged greatly
because of her difficult life with her husband, whose hallucinations and
erratic behavior she contends with alone. She is the moral center of the
play, occasionally stern and not afraid to confront her sons about their
poor treatment of their father
Charley
The Lomans' next door neighbor and father of Bernard, Charley is a good
businessman, exemplifying the success that Willy is unable to achieve.
Although Willy claims that Charley is a man who is "liked, but not well-liked,"
he owns his own business and is respected and admired. He and Willy have a
contentious relationship, but Charley is nevertheless Willy's only friend.
Bernard
Bernard is Charley's only son. He is intelligent and industrious but lacks the
gregarious personality of either of the Loman sons. It is this absence of spirit
that makes Willy believe that Bernard will never be a true success in the
business world, but Bernard proves himself to be far more successful than
Willy imagined. As a grown-up, he is a lawyer preparing to argue a case in
front of the Supreme Court.
Ben
Willy's older brother, Ben left home at seventeen to find their father in
Alaska, but ended up in Africa, where he found diamond mines and came out
of the jungle at twenty-one an incredibly rich man. Although Ben died several
weeks before the time at which the play is set, he often appears in Willy's
hallucinations, carrying a valise and umbrella. Ben represents the fantastic
success for which Willy has always hoped but can never seem to achieve.
Howard Wagner
The thirty-six year old son of Frank Wagner, Willy Loman's former boss,
Howard now occupies the same position as his late father. Although Willy was
the one who named Howard, Howard is forced to fire Willy for his erratic
behavior. Howard is preoccupied with technology; when Willy meets with his
new boss, he spends most of the meeting demonstrating his new wire
recorder.
Stanley
Stanley is the waiter at the restaurant where Willy meets his sons. He helps
Willy home after Biff and Happy leave their father there.
The Woman
An assistant in a company in Boston with which Willy does business, this
nameless character has a continuing affair with Willy. The Woman claims that
Willy ruined her and did not live up to his promises to her. When Biff finds the
Woman in Willy's hotel room, he begins his course of self-destructive
behavior.
Miss Forsythe
An attractive young woman at the restaurant, who serves the play by
allowing Happy to demonstrate his womanizing and seduction habits.
Themes
Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work.
The American Dream
Willy believes wholeheartedly in what he considers the promise of the
American Dream—that a “well liked” and “personally attractive” man in
business will indubitably and deservedly acquire the material comforts offered
by modern American life. Oddly, his fixation with the superficial qualities of
attractiveness and likeability is at odds with a more gritty, more rewarding
understanding of the American Dream that identifies hard work without
complaint as the key to success. Willy’s interpretation of likeability is
superficial—he childishly dislikes Bernard because he considers Bernard a
nerd. Willy’s blind faith in his stunted version of the American Dream leads to
his rapid psychological decline when he is unable to accept the disparity
between the Dream and his own life.
Abandonment
Willy’s life charts a course from one abandonment to the next, leaving him in
greater despair each time. Willy’s father leaves him and Ben when Willy is
very young, leaving Willy neither a tangible (money) nor an intangible (history)
legacy. Ben eventually departs for Alaska, leaving Willy to lose himself in a
warped vision of the American Dream. Likely a result of these early
experiences, Willy develops a fear of abandonment, which makes him want
his family to conform to the American Dream. His efforts to raise perfect sons,
however, reflect his inability to understand reality. The young Biff, whom Willy
considers the embodiment of promise, drops Willy and Willy’s zealous
ambitions for him when he finds out about Willy’s adultery. Biff’s ongoing
inability to succeed in business furthers his estrangement from Willy. When, at
Frank’s Chop House, Willy finally believes that Biff is on the cusp of
greatness, Biff shatters Willy’s illusions and, along with Happy, abandons the
deluded, babbling Willy in the washroom.
Betrayal
Willy’s primary obsession throughout the play is what he considers to be Biff’s
betrayal of his ambitions for him. Willy believes that he has every right to
expect Biff to fulfill the promise inherent in him. When Biff walks out on Willy’s
ambitions for him, Willy takes this rejection as a personal affront (he
associates it with “insult” and “spite”). Willy, after all, is a salesman, and Biff’s
ego-crushing rebuff ultimately reflects Willy’s inability to sell him on the
American Dream—the product in which Willy himself believes most faithfully.
Willy assumes that Biff’s betrayal stems from Biff’s discovery of Willy’s affair
with The Woman—a betrayal of Linda’s love. Whereas Willy feels that Biff has
betrayed him, Biff feels that Willy, a “phony little fake,” has betrayed him with
his unending stream of ego-stroking lies.
Symbols
Symbols are objects, characters, figures, or colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts.
Seeds
Seeds represent for Willy the opportunity to prove the worth of his labor, both
as a salesman and a father. His desperate, nocturnal attempt to grow
vegetables signifies his shame about barely being able to put food on the
table and having nothing to leave his children when he passes. Willy feels that
he has worked hard but fears that he will not be able to help his offspring any
more than his own abandoning father helped him. The seeds also symbolize
Willy’s sense of failure with Biff. Despite the American Dream’s formula for
success, which Willy considers infallible, Willy’s efforts to cultivate and nurture
Biff went awry. Realizing that his all-American football star has turned into a
lazy bum, Willy takes Biff’s failure and lack of ambition as a reflection of his
abilities as a father.
Diamonds
To Willy, diamonds represent tangible wealth and, hence, both validation of
one’s labor (and life) and the ability to pass material goods on to one’s
offspring, two things that Willy desperately craves. Correlatively, diamonds,
the discovery of which made Ben a fortune, symbolize Willy’s failure as a
salesman. Despite Willy’s belief in the American Dream, a belief unwavering
to the extent that he passed up the opportunity to go with Ben to Alaska, the
Dream’s promise of financial security has eluded Willy. At the end of the play,
Ben encourages Willy to enter the “jungle” finally and retrieve this elusive
diamond—that is, to kill himself for insurance money in order to make his life
meaningful.
Linda’s and The Woman’s Stockings
Willy’s strange obsession with the condition of Linda’s stockings foreshadows
his later flashback to Biff’s discovery of him and The Woman in their Boston
hotel room. The teenage Biff accuses Willy of giving away Linda’s stockings to
The Woman. Stockings assume a metaphorical weight as the symbol of
betrayal and sexual infidelity. New stockings are important for both Willy’s
pride in being financially successful and thus able to provide for his family and
for Willy’s ability to ease his guilt about, and suppress the memory of, his
betrayal of Linda and Biff.
The Rubber Hose
The rubber hose is a stage prop that reminds the audience of Willy’s
desperate attempts at suicide. He has apparently attempted to kill himself by
inhaling gas, which is, ironically, the very substance essential to one of the
most basic elements with which he must equip his home for his family’s health
and comfort—heat. Literal death by inhaling gas parallels the metaphorical
death that Willy feels in his struggle to afford such a basic necessity
Individualism
In Death of a Salesman, all the characters differ when it
comes to the fact if they are individualistic or not. I think
Willy, Happy, and Linda are all examples of characters that
are not individualistic. An example for Willy would be when
he says, “Not finding yourself at the age of 34 is a
disgrace!” This means he is not individualistic because he
doesn’t believe in people finding themselves in order to do
what they love. An example for Happy would be when he
says, “See, Biff, everybody around me is so false that I’m
constantly lowering my ideals...” This is an example for
him because he is saying he lets other people affect him.
He isn’t standing out and standing up for what he believes
in. An example for Linda would be when she says, “You’re
doing well enough Willy!” This is an example for her
because she is saying he shouldn’t try harder, he shouldn’t
try to make a difference. Examples of individualists are Biff
and Ben. An example for Biff would be when he says,
“When all you really want is to be outside with your shirt
off.” This is an example of being individualistic because he
is saying he doesn’t want to be like everybody else. He
wants to be himself, doing what he loves. An example for
Ben would be when he says, “You’ve a new continent at
your doorstep.” This is an example because he is saying to
take a risk, and to not be like everybody else. The results
of these decisions to conform and not conform affect
everyone dramatically, and ultimately lead to the
breakdown of everyone in the family and the death of Willy.
I believe Author Miller was trying to express that
individualism is key. He was trying to say that if you are not
yourself, and don’t follow your own dreams and goals, your
life won’t satisfy you, and that can lead to many
catastrophic things. Individualism relates to Death of a
Salesman in every way. This book is filled with examples of
eath of a
individualists and non-individualists.
Salesman Idealism and Truth Essay
B
Pages:4 Words:962

Subject:Literature, Death

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?Idealism describes the belief or pursuit of a perfect vision often based upon unrealistic
principles. This pursuit is often contrasted and opposed by truth. The truth and reality in
an individual’s life is what enables this person to remain grounded and down to earth.
An individual must set themselves high expectations in order to be their best, but they
must also acknowledge the fact that everything they desire is not achievable. The
imbalance of idealism and truth in an individual’s life can have calamitous effects.

It is significant in an individual’s life because it can lead to the deterioration of an

individual’s sanity, destruction of family relationships and ultimately death. This is
exemplified in Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, by Willy Loman. Willy spends his
whole life pursuing the American Dream. This pursuit leaves him in debt and lacking
less than a sliver of sanity. This man lacks the capacity to face the truth; the reality of his
situation. The negative effect that his dream has on his family and life is simply
overlooked and ignored.

As Willy’s life swerves out of control, he tumbles deeper into the abyss of his idealism,
to a point of no return. The inability for an individual to achieve a single-minded dream
can lead to the deterioration of their sanity. In Willy’s case, he has spent his whole life
pursuing the American Dream; a dream that is impossible to achieve. His inability to
cope with the failure of his life at first simply causes him to feel lost, but eventually
causes him to go insane. Ironically enough this man, so set on having the perfect life,
has an affair with a secretary of one of the buyer.
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This is simply a financial transaction of gifts for sex and access to the buyers. Willy does
this to escape the truth of his life, and in the process completely contradicts his goals. In
an attempt to protect himself from the reality of his life, he goes into self-protection
mode. His own mind morphs his memories to achieve and establish his desires. Willy’s
constant flashbacks lay the groundwork to support that he is becoming senile and that
his idealistic tendencies caused him to lose the ability to recognize reality from illusion.

Willy is a very insecure individual, and he tries to make himself look better by lying to
himself and his family. In his world of delusion, Willy is a hugely successful man. He
disguises his profound anxiety and self-doubt with extreme arrogance. Biff nails it on the
head when he points out the fact that Willy “had all the wrong dreams. All, all, wrong. ”
The overpowering pursuit of idealism over truth can lead an individual to lack the ability
to cope with reality. Willy has a lot of potential, but he also has a whopping case of self-
deception paired with misguided life goals.

He has based his whole life on supporting others and does not know how to live any
other way. The effect of lacking a manly figure during his youthful development is
substantial effect in how Willy raises his own sons. In Willy’s pursuit of the American
Dream, he clearly instills in his sons that being well-liked is more important than
character. By emphasizing likability as being the most desirable quality for success he
places a higher premium on outward projection over inner strength of character. He
simply passes on these unrealistic qualities to his sons.

“I never in my life told him anything but decent things. ” Willy’s memories reveal that the
values with which he raised his sons has made Biff comes to consider himself
exceptional and entitled to whatever he wants regardless of how hard he works or
whether it harms others. Biff’s perfect illusion is shattered when he discovers that his
father is having an affair and he feels hateful and confused about his father’s actions.
His excessive pursuit of idealism shatters Willy’s relationship with his son; this is
something that he does not have the ability to repair.

Willy’s pursuit of idealism in his life was extremely unrealistic and eventually prevented
him from having the ability to see the truth in life. He spent his whole life trying to
provide for his family. He wanted the life of a salesman. To be well-liked and have a
massive funeral when he dies. The reality is that he spent his whole life pursuing
unrealistic dreams based on negative personal values. Willy himself points out that he’s
“worth more dead than alive. ” It’s quite tragic that Willy believes he has to kill himself to
feel that he is worth something to his family.
The reality of the situation is that his death is in vain. The Loman’s only had one more
payment left on the house, and don’t actually need the money anymore. But in his
blinded illusion, Willy cannot see through or cope with his failure. This causes him to
believe that he is worth nothing more alive and kills himself to enable his family to
collect his life insurance money. The unevenness of idealism and truth in an individual’s
life can lead to the loss of sanity, deterioration of relationships and even death.

By having a good balanced of idealism and truth, there is a greater potential that an
individual will discover contentment in life. While pursuing an ideal, an individual may be
confronted with truth that must be recognized, and if ignored will have cataclysmic
effect. Idealism provides a good source of motivation to strive for excellence and truth
reminds us that we are all flawed. Together, with an appropriate balance of both, you
have the tools to live a life happy

What Do We Mean By Realism and

Expressionism?
Have you ever come across the concept of realism? How about expressionism? If
you have, it is quite possible that you encountered these terms as they relate to
movements in art. If you haven't, don't worry. You'll soon have a basic
understanding of what these concepts mean.

Let's begin with realism. As the name suggests, realism is all about representing
things in a realistic way. Consider the painting below. Do you see how the level of
detail makes the artwork look almost like a photograph?

Example of a realist painting, The Gleaners by Jean-Francois Millet

In literature, such attempts at being realistic often result in a great level of

detail. In addition, the realist movement was characterized by a greater interest
in everyday life, avoiding romantic notions or exotic themes. But how does this
apply to Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman?

Well, before we get to that question, we need to cover another

concept, expressionism. Again, the name might give you some sense regarding
what this movement was all about, but let's perhaps consider the Oxford
Dictionary's definition, which explains that expressionism refers to 'a style of
painting, music, or drama in which the artist or writer seeks to express the inner
world of emotion rather than external reality.' Again, the picture below might give
you a sense of how this affects the style and focus of these artists. Do you see
how strongly the two styles contrast each other?

Realism in Death of a Salesman Essay

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Realism in Death of a Salesman Essay

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1 page 275 wordsWilly Loman is a Tragic Hero According to Arthur Miller’s Essay Tragedy and the Common Man

 Paper Type: Essay

 Citation Style: MLA

 Majors: American LiteratureLiterature and Languages

 Number of pages: 3

 Spacing: Double

 Language: EnglishUS
Introduction
A tragic hero is person who usually appears in romantic literature. To make it clear, it should be mentioned that the
play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller is created in Romanticism genre as the main character has visions which
divide his life into two parts, real where Willy Loman and his sons are unable to achieve success in sales, and unreal,
where everything is great. Willy Loman’s family got used that he talks to himself and do not react to this anymore.
There is a statement that Willy Loman is a tragic hero according to Arthur Miller’s definition of what a tragic hero is in
his famous essay Tragedy and the Common Man. To make the situation clear, we are going to discuss the main
features which confirm the statement and make Willy a tragic hero.
Willy Loman Is a Tragic Hero
The essay Tragedy and the Common Man written by Arthur Miller presents the main characteristics of a tragic hero in
romantic literature. One of the main features is the referencing of a hero to a common person. Miller states that “the
common man is as apt a subject for tragedy in its highest sense as kings were” (Miller ‘Tragedy’ 1461).
Willy Loman is a simple person who used to work as a salesman, but due to age and health problems he wants to
settle less active life. This is the first argument which proves that Willy Loman is a tragic hero.
Arthur Miller also believes that a hero becomes tragic when he is “ready to lay down his life, if need be, to secure one
thing – his sense of personal dignity” (Miller ‘Tragedy’ 1462).
This is exactly what has happened with Willy when he got to know that all he was trying to reach (to make his children
be successful by means of making them good salespeople) was ruined, he did not manage to achieve this goal.
Thus, he understands that he is not a person, that he has not fulfilled his life goal. “Nothing is planted. I do not have a
thing in the ground” (Miller ‘Death of a Salesman’ 122).
Saying these words, Willy means that all his life is spent in vain and there are no results of it. Willy understands that
salesman is not the best profession and his desire to sacrifice his life for the benefit of his family is nothing but the
desire to save his dignity and do not declare in public that all he has been planning was ruined. This is the second
argument in support of the idea that Willy Loman is a tragic hero.
Arthur Miller is sure that one of the main characteristics of a tragic hero in the play is the understanding of the
difference between real and unreal worlds. He says, “The quality in such plays that does shake us, however, derives
from the underlying fear of being displaced, the disaster inherent in being torn away from our chosen image of what
and who we are in this world” (Miller ‘Tragedy’ 1463).
The main character is a tragic hero as he has been torn away from the world of illusion where his sons are successful
salespeople and has been put in the reality where they have failed to become wealthy and have nothing to do.
He realizes that he was a bad father, except for the imaginary world where he was the best. The tragedy of the hero
is characterized by the fact that he was torn from his imaginary world and put in cruel reality where his dreams were
not realized. This is the third argument in support of the fact that Willy was a tragic hero.
Reading an essay Tragedy and the Common Man by Arthur Miller, it is possible to state that concluding statement
about a tragic hero is exactly what can be seen in Willy Loman, a character of his play Death of a Salesman.
The author writes that the main essence of a tragic hero is “intent upon claiming his whole due as a personality, and if
this struggle must be total and without reservation, then it automatically demonstrates the indestructible will of man to
achieve his humanity” (Miller ‘Tragedy’ 1464). This is the main characteristic feature which shows Willy as a tragedy
character, as searching for something in his life, he has failed to become a personality.
Conclusion
To sum it up, it should be mentioned that the ideas Arthur Miller presents in his essayTragedy and the Common
Man are perfectly reflected in his play Death of a Salesman. The main character of the play, Willy Loman, is a tragic
hero as it is stated in the author’s essay.
All the reasons the author provides in the essay are confirmed by the character’s description in the play. It seems that
the author tried to reflect all this ideas about a tragic hero in Willy Loman to show the reader that such characters
exist.

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