DEATH OF A SALESMAN About Death of a Salesman 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. 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.
The American Dream in "Death of a Salesman" What does Willy Loman sell? In the play Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller avoids mentioning Willy Loman’s sales product. The audience never knows what this poor salesman sells. Why? Perhaps Willy Loman represents
“Everyman.” By not specifying the product, audiences are free to imagine Willy as a seller of auto equipment, building supplies, paper products, or egg beaters. An audience member might imagine a career linked with his/her own, and Miller then succeeds in connecting with the viewer. Miller’s decision to make Willy Loman a worker broken by a vague, unfeeling industry stems from the playwright’s socialist leanings. It has often been said that Death of a Salesman is a harsh criticism of the American Dream. However, it may be that Miller wanted to clarify our definition: What is the American Dream? The answer depends on which character you ask. Willy Loman’s American Dream: To the protagonist of Death of a Salesman, the American Dream is the ability to become prosperous by mere charisma. Willy believes that personality, not hard work and innovation, is the key to success. Time and again, he wants to make sure his boys are well-liked and popular. For example, when his son Biff confesses to making fun of his math teacher’s lisp, Willy is more concerned with how Biff’s classmates react: BIFF: I Crossed my eyes and talked with a lithp. WILLY: (Laughing.) You did? The kids like it? BIFF: They nearly died laughing! Of course, Willy’s version of the American Dream never pans out. Despite his son’s popularity in high school, Biff grows up to be a drifter and a ranch-hand. Willy’s own career falters as his sales ability flat-lines. When he tries to use “personality” to ask his boss for a raise, he gets fired instead. Ben’s America Dream: To Willy’s older brother Ben, the American Dream is the ability to start with nothing and somehow make a fortune: BEN: William, when I walked into the jungle, I was seventeen. When I walked out I was twenty-one. And, by God, I was rich! Willy is envious of his brother’s success and machismo. But Willy’s wife Linda is frightful and concerned when the Ben stops by for a brief visit. To her, he represents wildness and danger. This is displayed when Ben horses around with his nephew Biff. Just as Biff starts to win their sparring match, Ben trips the boy and stands over him with the “point of his umbrella poised at Biff’s eye.” Ben’s character signifies that a few people can achieve the “rags to riches” version of the American Dream, but Miller’s play suggests that one must be ruthless (or at least a bit wild) in order to achieve it. Biff’s American Dream: Although he has felt confused and angry since discovering his father’s infidelity, Biff Loman does have potential to pursue the “right” dream – if only he could resolve his inner conflict. Biff is pulled by two
different dreams. One dream is his father’s world of business, sales, and capitalism. But another dream involves nature, the great outdoors, and working with his hands. Biff explains to his brother both the appeal and the angst of working on a ranch: BIFF: There’s nothing more inspiring or – beautiful than the sight of a mare and a new colt. And it’s cool there now, see? Texas is cool now, and it’s spring. And whenever spring comes to where I am, I suddenly get the feeling, my God, I’m not getting’ anywhere! What the hell am I doing, playing around with horses, twenty-eight dollars a week! I’m thirty-four years old. I oughta be makin’ my future. That’s when I come running home. However, by the end of the play, Biff realizes that his father had the “wrong” dream. Biff understands that his father was great with his hands. Willy built their garage and put up a new ceiling. Biff believes that his father should have been a carpenter, or should have lived in another, more rustic part of the country. But instead, Willy pursued an empty life. Willy sold nameless, unidentified products, and watched his American Dream fall apart. During the funeral of his father, Biff decides that he will not allow that to happen to himself. He turns away from Willy’s dream and, presumably, returns to the countryside, where good, old-fashioned manual labor will ultimately content his restless soul.
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. 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.
Character List Willy Loman A sixty year old salesman living in Brooklyn, Willy Loman is a gregarious, mercurial man with powerful aspirations to success. However, after thirty-five years working as a traveling salesman throughout New England, Willy Loman feels defeated by his lack of success and difficult family life. Although he has a dutiful wife, his relationship with his oldest son, Biff, is strained by Biff's continual failures. As a salesman, Willy Loman focuses on personal details over actual measures of success, believing that it is personality and not high returns that garner success in the business world. Biff Loman The thirty-four year old son of Willy Loman, Biff was once a star high school athlete with a scholarship to UVA. But he never attended college nor graduated from high school, after refusing to attend summer school to make up a flunked math class. He did this primarily out of spite after finding out that his father was having an affair with a woman in Boston. Since then, Biff has been a continual failure, stealing at every job and even spending time in jail.
Despite his failures and anger toward his father, Biff still has great concern for what his father thinks of him, and the conflict between the two characters drives the narrative of the play. 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. Happy Loman The younger of the two Loman sons, Happy Loman is seemingly content and successful, with a steady career and none of the obvious marks of failure that his older brother displays. Happy, however, is not content with his more stable life, because he has never risked failure or striven for any real measure of success. Happy is a compulsive womanizer who treats women purely as sex objects and has little respect for the many women whom he seduces. 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.
Major Themes The Dangers of Modernity Death of a Salesman premiered in 1949 on the brink of the 1950s, a decade of unprecedented consumerism and technical advances in America. Many innovations applied specifically to the home: it was in the 50s that the TV and the washing machine became common household objects. Miller expresses an ambivalence toward modern objects and the modern mindset. Although Willy Loman is a deeply flawed character, there is something compelling about his nostalgia. Modernity accounts for the obsolescence of Willy Loman's career - traveling salesmen are rapidly becoming out-of-date. Significantly, Willy reaches for modern objects, the car and the gas heater, to assist him in his suicide attempts. Gender Relations In Death of a Salesman, woman are sharply divided into two categories: Linda and other. The men display a distinct Madonna/whore complex, as they are only able to classify their nurturing and virtuous mother against the other, easier women available (the woman with whom Willy has an affair and Miss Forsythe being two examples). The men curse themselves for being attracted to the whore-like women but is still drawn to them - and, in an Oedipal moment, Happy laments that he cannot find a woman like his mother. Women themselves are two-dimensional characters in this play. They remain firmly outside the male sphere of business, and seem to have no thoughts or desires other than those pertaining to men. Even Linda, the strongest female character, is only fixated on a reconciliation between her husband and her sons, selflessly subordinating herself to serve to assist them in their problems. Madness Madness is a dangerous theme for many artists, whose creativity can put them on the edge of what is socially acceptable. Miller, however, treats the quite bourgeois subject of the nuclear family, so his interposition of the theme of madness is startling. Madness reflects the greatest technical innovation of Death of a Salesman--its seamless hops back and forth in time. The audience or reader quickly realizes, however, that this is based on Willy's confused perspective. Willy's madness and reliability as a narrator become more and more of an issue as his hallucinations gain strength. The reader must decide for themselves how
concrete of a character Ben is, for example, or even how reliable the plot and narrative structure are, when told from the perspective of someone as on the edge as Willy Loman. Cult of Personality One of Miller's techniques throughout the play is to familiarize certain characters by having them repeat the same key line over and over. Willy's most common line is that businessmen must be well-liked, rather than merely liked, and his business strategy is based entirely on the idea of a cult of personality. He believes that it is not what a person is able to accomplish, but who he knows and how he treats them that will get a man ahead in the world. This viewpoint is tragically undermined not only by Willy's failure, but also by that of his sons, who assumed that they could make their way in life using only their charms and good looks, rather than any more solid talents. Nostalgia / regret The dominant emotion throughout this play is nostalgia, tinged with regret. All of the Lomans feel that they have made mistakes or wrong choices. The technical aspects of the play feed this emotion by making seamless transitions back and forth from happier, earlier times in the play. Youth is more suited to the American dream, and Willy's business ideas do not seem as sad or as bankrupt when he has an entire lifetime ahead of him to prove their merit. Biff looks back nostalgic for a time that he was a high school athletic hero, and, more importantly, for a time when he did not know that his father was a fake and a cheat, and still idolized him. Opportunity Tied up intimately with the idea of the American dream is the concept of opportunity. America claims to be the land of opportunity, of social mobility. Even the poorest man should be able to move upward in life through his own hard work. Miller complicates this idea of opportunity by linking it to time, and illustrating that new opportunity does not occur over and over again. Bernard has made the most of his opportunities; by studying hard in school, he has risen through the ranks of his profession and is now preparing to argue a case in front of the Supreme Court. Biff, on the other hand, while technically given the same opportunities as Bernard, has ruined his prospects by a decision that he made at the age of eighteen. There seems to be no going back for Biff, after he made the fatal decision not to finish high school. Growth In a play which rocks back and forth through different time periods, one would normally expect to witness some growth in the characters involved. Not so in Death of a Salesmen, where the various members of the Loman family are stuck with the same character flaws, in the same personal ruts throughout time. For his part, Willy does not recognize that his business principles do not work, and continues to emphasize the wrong qualities. Biff and Happy are not only stuck with their childhood names in their childhood bedrooms, but also are hobbled by their childhood problems: Biff's bitterness toward his father and Happy's dysfunctional relationship with women. In a poignant moment at the end of the play, Willy tries to plant some seeds when he realizes that his family has not grown at all over time.
Quotes and Analysis I'm the New England man. I'm vital in New England.
Willy Loman, Act I Willy's self-definition is centered around his career. He isn't the man who does sales for New England - he's the New England man. He believes himself to be vital to the company, but in reality it's the company that's vital to him and his feelings of self worth. When he discovers that he isn't vital anywhere, his worldview crumbles. He's liked, but not well-liked. Biff, referring to Bernard. Act I Willy's recipe for success is based entirely around a cult of personality. Most people are liked by their friends and acquaintances. But only great men, according to Willy, are truly wellliked - and that is what brings them success. In this quote, we see that Willy's belief in personal connections has been transferred to his sons as well, as they dismiss their friend Bernard for only garden-variety likability. The man knew what he wanted and went out and got it! Walked into a jungle and comes out, the age of twenty-one, and he's rich! Willy, regarding Ben. Act I This is a principal refrain for Ben. Although Willy is the first one to use this line, Ben repeats it many times throughout the play, making it clear that Ben is only a figment of Willy's imagination. He does not speak normal words, but is the personification of a symbol - Willy has attached all his ideas of success and worth to the abstract concept of his brother Ben, whether Ben merited it or not. I don't say he's a great man. Willie Loman never made a lot of money. His name was never in the paper. He's not the finest character that ever lived. But he's a human being, and a terrible thing is happening to him. So attention must be paid. He's not to be allowed to fall in his grave like an old dog. Attention, attention must finally be paid to such a person. Linda, regarding Willy. Act I This is the play's direct cry to human dignity. The thesis of Linda's speech - and of Salesman as a whole - is that all men deserve respect and attention. No human being is disposable. No man should die without feeling he mattered. You can't eat the orange and throw the peel away - a man is not a piece of fruit. Willy, act II This is Willy's articulation of Linda's "attention must be paid" speech. But Willy's appeal is not for some abstraction of attention or dignity. He is arguing directly to his employer that there must be responsibility taken for employees. Willy gave his youth to the company, and now the company must take care of him.
After all the highways, and the trains, and the appointments, and the years, you end up worth more dead than alive. Willy, Act II Willy is bemoaning the worthlessness of all his years of work. He never earned enough to save anything, and he didn't build, and he didn't grow, and now that his job is done he has nothing left. He was a subsistence worker. It is this realization - along with the realization that he has a life insurance policy with a large premium - that drives him to suicide. I realized what a ridiculous lie my whole life has been. Biff, act II This is Biff coming to terms with the fact that his father's illusions of success for him were truly just illusions and nothing more. Biff has spent his life trying to live up to - or react against - an impossible falsehood and a vision of himself that never existed. Willy's illusions about success impacted every part of his sons' lives. I've got to get some seeds. I've got to get some seeds, right away. Nothing's planted. I don't have a thing in the ground. Willy, act II Willy realizes that his whole career has built up to nothing. He worked for 40 years and has nothing to show for it. This leads to his obsession with seeds late in the play - it is too late to grow anything for his sons, but at least he can plant some vegetables, something that will outlast him and provide some use. I'm gonna show you and everybody else that Willy Loman did not die in vain. He had a good dream. It's the only dream you can have - to come out number-one man. He fought it out here, and this is where I'm gonna win it for him. Happy, Requiem This shows that Happy has become the idealist, while Biff is leaving town to start over as a man who accepts his mediocrity. But now Happy has the urge to try, to become something. Perhaps he will succeed - but more likely, he too will fail. Willy did die in vain, and Happy cannot change that. I am not a dime a dozen! I am Willy Loman, and you are Biff Loman! Willy, Act II Biff has just cried that he is a dime a dozen, and so is his father. Willy refuses to believe this, cannot believe this. He and his sons must be special. The Lomans must stand out from the pack. All of Willy's feelings of self-worth and identity come from doing better than the next guy, and to realize that he is no different than anyone else would be to realize that his life was false.
CHARACTERS Slide 3: Willy Loman: The main character, a traveling salesman who is fairly unsuccessful, who is losing touch with reality. Linda Loman: Willy’s wife, supports Willy through everything. Biff Loman: Willy’s favorite and oldest son who never met the expectations of his father. Happy Loman: Willy’s youngest son, who is in business but is not at the high level him and his father desire. He is the one trying harder to get recognition from his father but his father is to busy flattering biff. Slide 4:Charley: Willy’s neighbor, is very successful with a successful son as well. Helps Willy pay for some bills when Willy can not do so himself. Despite Willy being jealous of Charley he admits that Charley is his only real friend. Bernard: Charley’s son, a successful lawyer. Always thought of Biff as his “hero”. Ben: Willy’s wealthy older brother. He is deceased and only appears in Willy’s daydreams. The Woman: Secretary of one of Willy’s buyers. Also his mistress when Biff and Happy are in high school. Biff catches Willy and the woman together and loses faith in his father and some of his dreams such as college die. Howard Wagner: Willy’s boss. Who refuses to let Willy have a non-traveling job. Slide 5:Summary of Act I: Slide 6: This act begins with Willy, a 63 year old traveling salesman, returning home from a business trip early. Next, you find out that Willy has had many automobile accidents which will serve importance later in the book. Because of these accidents, Linda, Willy’s wife, begs Willy to talk to his boss about a non-traveling job. Willy’s two sons are visiting him right now, Biff and Happy. Willy complains that Biff is lazy but not long after contradicts himself. He believes that Biff will be successful because he is “well liked”. Biff and Happy talk about moving to Florida with what they believe to be a great business plan. Biff plans on asking an old boss for the money to buy a ranch. Willy constantly daydreams about his brother asking him to go to Alaska with him and back to when his kids were younger. Slide 7: Willy daydreams about this because his brother was very successful at his job in Alaska. Biff was a football star and seemed like he was going to have a very successful life. Willy seemed to be happier then because he had high hopes for Biff and he was happier with his job. Now he has to borrow money from Charley to pay bills and hides it from his wife. The voice of a woman’s laughter is heard in this act and this woman is a big confidence boost for Willy because she says he is a wonderful man. Near the end of this act it is revealed that all the car accidents are failed suicide attempts and she also found a rubber hose that Willy tried to choke himself with. The boys say they’ll stay home and get jobs to help pay the bills for the house. Slide 8:Summary of Act II: Slide 9: The next morning when Willy wakes up he says that both his sons have left the home. He finds out they went to see Bill Oliver Biff’s old boss for money to start their own business. Willy is overjoyed when he hears this because he desperately wants his boys to become successful business men. Biff and Happy offer to take Willy to dinner. Willy notices Linda mending a stocking and suddenly feels guilty because he buys stockings for his mistress. He then goes to visit Howard his boss to ask for a non traveling job. This request annoys Howard and “fires” Willy and tells him to ask his sons for financial help. This horrifies Willy because he is way to proud to ask his sons for help. Slide 10: After this experience Willy starts to hallucinate about his dead brother Ben. He imagines Ben offering him to go to Alaska with him again. Ben compares Willy’s life to Dave Singleman who was a
successful salesman and then the image of Ben disappears before Willy can get his approval. Jenny, Charley’s secretary, approaches Bernard and asks him to comfort Willy through his issues. Bernard tries to reinsure Willy that Biff really did try in math even after he failed he was still determined to go to summer school. Willy accuses Bernard of blaming Willy for Biff’s failure but during the conversation Charley enters the scene to say goodbye to Bernard. In Charley’s office Charley counts out $50 but Willy has to ask for over $100 to pay his bills. Charley then offers him a non-traveling job for $50 a week but Willy feels insulted at the offer and refuses it. Charley gets upset by Willy’s reaction but still gives him the money to help his friend. Slide 11: Charley gets upset by Willy’s reaction but still gives him the money to help his friend. Biff and Happy meet at the restaurant and Biff explains that Bill didn’t remember him, so they didn’t get the loan to start a business. Happy tells Biff not to tell Willy he didn’t get the loan because it would lower their father’s spirits even further. Willy comes to the dinner and Biff going against his brother’s request tries to explain how he didn’t receive the loan. Willy begins hallucinate during Biff’s explanation and hides in the bathroom remembering how Biff caught Willy with his mistress. Biff and Happy leave Willy in the bathroom to return to their home. Linda angry with her kids yells at Biff and Happy for abandoning their sick father. Slide 12: Willy is contemplating suicide because then his family could cash in a life insurance claim for $20,000. Biff confronts his father about the rubber hose because he is worried about him. This starts an argument between the two while Linda and Happy don’t’ help the situation at all. This brings Biff to tears and then his father suddenly is happy because he finally feels that his son loves him. After the argument is over everyone but Willy goes to bed and then the car is heard starting and speeding off into the night. Slide 13:Requiem: This starts the funeral for Willy. No one shows up expect for Linda, Biff, Happy, Bernard, and Charley. This surprises Linda because Willy talked about how many friends he had at work. This just proves that Willy’s life never went the way he wanted it and was to ashamed to admit it to anyone. Happy swears to become the big business man his father wanted him to be. Biff is sad about his father’s death and disgusted that his father had a dream to be a rich business man even though the thing that made him the happiest was doing home improvement. Charley explains Willy had to dream big because without a dream a salesman is nothing. Linda has trouble crying at the start of the funeral and she starts to ask her husband why he did it when she finally paid the house off the day of the funeral. She starts repeating “we’re free” and then breaks down and begins to sob. Slide 14:Theme Abandonment is a huge theme in this story. Willy feels abandoned by his father and his older brother. Which causes his hallucinations and his strong need for approval from others. Without a supportive male figure Willy feels like he needs approval from everyone and gives himself very high expectations. Slide 15:Social Relevance The Social Relevance is the American Dream. The dream is always to start from the lowest social class and rise to the highest through being a successful worker. Throughout the entire novel you see the constant struggle with Willy and his expectations of the American Dream. Willy feels that he and his sons have all failed the dream because they don’t have the most successful jobs. This failure leads Willy to insanity and his eventual suicide.
