The play, Death of a Salesman, was first produced in 1949. Write an essay evaluating the play in terms of how it is relevant to families today. Support your judgement with experiences taken from the lives of yourself and your friends as well as specific examples from the play.

First produced in 1949, Death of a Salesman's featured family and their conflicts remain congruous with families of the 21st century. In the time the play was set (the 1930s), up until the here and now, it has been a common occurrence for a child's parents to try and foist the dreams they themselves were unable to accomplish upon their sons or daughters. Similar to what happened to Willy Loman's family in the play, these circumstances tend to create kid-to-parent conflicts. Also, as Willy Loman spent his whole life in pursuit of the American Dream, many families today are doing the same, whether as a whole, or individually. It is said that history repeats itself, and it looks to be holding true within numerous American families as they strive to become one of the lucky few who are able to achieve the ever-elusive "American Dream."

It is only natural that parents desire the best for their children, that parents want more for their child than they were able to have. More opportunities, more happiness and a better life all-around. It goes hand in hand with loving and caring for treasured offspring. However, many parents have taken just "wanting the best" for their children to a whole new level. It has become common for some parents to push their own dreams onto their sons and daughters. Perhaps they feel that they are able to live through their child at that point, but it is not a fair situation. Every person is unique, and their dreams are as well. Therefore, a person should  never force their dreams on someone else. It will end in unhappiness, like for Biff in Death of a Salesman. His father Willy Loman had always dreamed of being successful, of achieving the American Dream. He wanted to be well-liked, respected and make good money. That's what would make him happy. So, having failed at achieving his own dreams, Willy tried to "groom" his Biff into an all-American football star with a head for business. His thought process was that because Biff appeared to be well-liked and respected, he could follow in his father's footsteps as a salesman and succeed where Willy had failed. Yet this was not young Biff's dream. Biff wanted to have a job where he could work with his hands and be beneath the sky. He wanted nothing to do with the superficiality of the people operating within the world of business. The basics of this story are not so uncommon. The people of today can see much the same going on in households across the nation. The phenomenon is even depicted in various American films. The Proposal and Something Borrowed are just two such movies. In both films, the son of a successful man is being pressured by his father to go into a profession, have a job or, in Dex's case from Something Borrowed, a marriage he does not want to. 

"If Willy's is an American dream, it is also a dream shared by all those who are aware of the gap between what they might have been and what they are." If this is so, then the nation of America, throughout its abundant number of generations, can relate to being caught up in the ideals of the American Dream. It seems the lower and middle class populations, of which Willy is a prime example, put their faith in the pursuit of the American Dream, believing it to be infallible if they only try hard enough to achieve it. Its promise of financial security and happiness beckon to many. It did so in the 1930s and continues to be pursued by families of today. The American Dream also holds great appeal for the nation's illegal immigrants. Indeed, many people migrating to the land of the United States are looking for better opportunities; in education, jobs and even just simply living. From my own personal experience, I know that from other countries are here working and making money to send to their families back home. I have several friends currently in this situation right now. It is apparent that some of the central themes in Death of a Salesman continue to remain relevant in American families and society.

Overall, many aspects and themes from Death of a Salesman have persevered throughout the decades and remain pertinent to American family life. Parents continue to "give everything" so that their children may have better and still think that when their children turn down the dreams that have been imposed upon them that it is a reflection of their parenting abilities, though it is not so. In addition, the belief in the American Dream is still alive and kicking. This is in part due to all the wonderful things it seems to promise, which include financial support, a higher standard of living, and a happily ever after. Many have failed to realize that a person's worth lies far within, and achieving the American Dream is close to impossible. Hopefully future generations will learn to put their faith in more realistic goals with tangible rewards, so history no longer has to repeat itself when it comes to this vicious cycle of disappointment.

How is Willy's killing himself for the insurance money symptomatic of the way he has lived? What legacy does Willy leave his family?

Willy's life was about making money. As a salesman, that is all he strove to accomplish. Indeed, it was his job. In the end, by killing himself for the insurance money, he was still doing the same thing: striving to make money. His whole life he seemed to be going about things in the wrong way and he applied this same level of ineptitude in killing himself. Willy and Linda had only one payment left on their house, the fridge, and numerous other things, and then they would be in the "free and clear." Yet this is when Willy Loman decides to succeed at killing himself before those things could be realized by him and his wife as a couple.

Willy leaves in his family a legacy of failure. Maybe not for Biff, but for Happy. It is easy to see who more closely resembles Willy in temperament and characteristics. Biff resembles Willy's older brother Ben in a way, while Happy has the same younger sibling syndrome that Willy had when he was growing up. Admittedly though, Willy sort of bred it in his son, and it could be considered a cycle because that was probably how Willy's father treated him. The only difference in the two situations is that Willy didn't leave his children entirely, although he was on the road a lot and not able to be with them as much as another man with a different job would be able to. Ben was treated as the golden child in Willy's family and he passed that same treatment to his eldest son Biff, possibly because it's the only behavior he knows. Perhaps saying that Willy left his family a legacy of failure is harsh. But it is true that he has left them with the same unreachable ideals and dreams he held. The very same ones that led to his demise. In essence, this is the same as setting them up to fail.

The apple does not fall far from the tree, but let us hope that Biff and Happy are not as willing to sacrifice their very lives for the sake of money.

How does the structure of the play mirror Willy's blurring of illusion and reality?

The play is a collage of events in the life of the protagonist, Willy Loman. It is a mixture of flashbacks and events that are occurring in the present. Willy seems to be living in two worlds, one where he is a great salesman, making awesome sales and being really well-liked by people and the second (one I like to call Reality), in which he is a sad, small little man who no longer earns a salary, but is reduced to living on commission, who is not so well-liked, and not such a great salesman.

The play could be seen as a sort of reenactment of the turmoil going on inside Willy's head, where he can no longer tell the difference between past and present. Perhaps the gas-inhaling he does using the tube attached to the water heater has damaged his mind a little bit and messed with the stability of his mental state, but it is clear that Willy would rather reminisce and lose himself in the better moments of the past than live out the current real life situation he's in. He has in essence let his control of his mind go, letting his thoughts and memories have free reign, which causes a bit of chaos. Indeed, Willy could be talking to a memory of someone while another, "real" person is sitting in the room trying to talk to him.

Illusion:

Reality:

Trace one of the symbols (stockings, diamonds, etc.) throughout the play and explain why and how Miller has used it. What other symbols does Miller use and to what purpose?

[THE WOMAN bursts out laughing, and LINDA'S laughter blends in. THE WOMAN disappears into the dark. Now the area at the kitchen table brightens. LINDA is sitting where she was at the kitchen table, but now is mending a pair of her silk stockings.]

LINDA: You are, Willy. The handsomest man. You've got no reason to feel that--

WILLY [coming out of THE WOMAN'S dimming area and going over to LINDA]: I'll make it all up to you, Linda, I'll--

LINDA: There's nothing to make up, dear. You're doing fine, better than--

WILLY [noticing her mending]: What's that?

LINDA: Just mending my stockings. They're so expensive--

WILLY [angrily, taking them from her]: I won't have you mending stockings in this house! Now throw them out!

...

WILLY: She's nothing to me, Biff. I was lonely, I was terribly lonely.

BIFF: You-- you gave her Mama's stockings!

...

LINDA: Be careful on the subway stairs.

[She kisses him, and a silk stocking is seen hanging from her hand. WILLY notices it.]

WILLY: Will you stop mending stockings? At least while I'm in the house. It gets me nervous. I can't tell you. Please.

...

An important symbol throughout Death of a Salesman is stockings. For the protagonist Willy Loman, they stand as a reminder of his betrayal and infidelity when it comes to his wife Linda. As can be seen in the passages above taken from the play, Willy lashes out at Linda for mending stockings because it reminds him of his affair with THE WOMAN and the incident in Boston with his son Biff. When Biff caught Willy cheating, he was heartbroken and really upset. Apparently, Willy had promised the Woman a box of stockings, and Biff accused him of giving her Linda's stockings. 

No one wants to be confronted with something that reminds them of their own bad qualities and mistakes. Willy certainly does not wish to be either. He is not comfortable with Linda fixing her stockings because he cannot fix his betrayal. If her stockings not being mended means that she won't wear them, the better off for Willy. If she throws them out, they can no longer haunt his conscience as much. Also, the fact that Linda has to mend her stockings instead of simply buying new ones stands as a further reminder to Willy that he is failing to provide for his family and his wife. 

The stockings evoke shame and guilt- two feelings that Willy Loman does not want to have brought up. He does not wish to face these emotions, rather, he wishes to suppress and ignore them. This is what drives him to yell at Linda for no apparent reason. 


Other symbols seen throughout the play include diamonds- which act as a symbol of tangible wealth, a wealth that Willy was never able to put his hands on like his brother Ben was- the rubber hose taken from the water heater serves as a symbol of a man's desperation to kill himself and be of some kind of worth to his family, and the seeds Willy wishes to plant are a symbol of Willy's efforts to provide for his family. A garden would feed Linda and his sons where his income is lacking in its ability to do so at the time. A garden is all that Willy has left, considering the son who was supposed to turn into a big success turned out instead to be a "bum." 

Why does Miller let us know in the title that Willy's death is coming? Why doesn't he make it a surprise? Is Willy's death in a car more or less appropriate than a suicide using the rubber hose on the water heater would be? Why? What harm does Willy's death do? What good?

Miller's purpose behind letting his readers know right from the beginning that the salesman Willy Loman is going to die is simple. There can be no other end for a salesman. In the play, salesmen are portrayed as working until their life is finished. Of course, in those times, people were known to stick to one profession throughout their lifetime and usually the company they worked for would honor their employees loyalty. For Willy Loman, unfortunately, he was fired. Yet even in the end, he was earning money, although his suicide was an attempt to obtain insurance money for his family, since he was no longer making his own money in sales.

*Being fired was technically the "death" of Willy as a salesman, and his actual death was so soon after the loss of his job that Miller might have meant that the death in the title was in fact Willy being fired. 

Willy Loman had a road job. He was constantly on the road in order to sell merchandise. The fact that he committed suicide and died by way of a car is much more appropriate than gas poisoning by inhaling the fumes from the water heater. Besides, Biff had taken off the hose to the water heater, effectively canceling out that as an option for Willy to try and kill himself. It seems that he didn't much of a choice if looked at in that way. 

Overall, Willy's death seems to be rather anti-climatic and unnecessary. For Linda, it was a shock, considering they were almost finished with all their troubles and they were finally working on getting along with Biff and Happy. They seemed to be coming together as a family when Willy decides to die. If the situation is looked at with an absence of emotion, then it could be said that Willy's death did a lot of good. His family would no longer be submitted to his lies, Charley would no longer have to pay out fifty dollars a week, and Biff and Willy would of course no longer be able to fight. No longer would any tension between the members of the Loman family in regards to Willy exist, but they did lose a vital person in all their lives. The effect is devastating even when the member of a family dies that is hated or despised. Willy was simply "not well-liked." His family did indeed love him and his death was hard on them all. Linda is now technically on her own as well. Who will support her now? Linda gave the majority of her life to support Willy Loman, now let’s hope the insurance money from his death will be enough to support her in his absence. 

Willy is proud of putting up the living room ceiling and making a cement porch. How is the image of working with his hands carried through the play? Why, then, doesn't Willy think highly of being a carpenter?

It is shown throughout the play that Willy is very proud of his renovations in his home and porch. He is always bragging to others about his accomplishments in this arena. Even though it is clear that Willy enjoys working with his hands and doing projects along those lines, that he finds joy and satisfaction in these things, he looks down upon professions that make their living performing manual labor. This is because many manual laborers do not get paid much. That is unacceptable for Willy Loman. As previously stated, Willy is all about making money. It seems his pursuit of happiness morphed into the pursuit of the dollar bill. $ 

Even gardening seems to put Willy at ease. His family notices that he is never as happy as he is than when he is fixing something or creating something new, like putting in his ceiling or the garden he wants to plant in the back of the house. It is true that no greater satisfaction is to be had than when someone sits back and looks at what they have built or created. To physically accomplish something is Willy's drive, and he is more successful when it is an in-home project than selling merchandise.

How does Ben affect Willy? How does he influence the events in the play? What do you think of the way he has achieved his wealth?

Ben is Willy's older brother, a figure he looks up to. A figure he is always trying desperately to impress, even though Ben has passed away. In a way, Ben haunts his younger brother with his failure to be successful and achieve the American Dream. Ben is said to have walked into the African jungle at the age of seventeen, and when he walked out at twenty-one, he was rich "by God." It is assumed that he got into the business of diamond mining to earn his riches. Why Ben never deigned to share with his brother Willy is uncertain. 


Whenever Ben shows up throughout the play, during one of Willy's numerous and periodic flashbacks, he causes Willy to become over-exuberant and a bit pathetic. Willy seems to simper in the presence of his brother, his idol. It is rather like the way Happy looks up to Willy as his father. It is reasonable to infer that Ben acted as Willy's father figure in their father's absence. Ben serves as a reminder to Willy of what he could have been, and the things he could have accomplished. He stands as a real-life example of one of the few lucky people ever to attain the American Dream. To Willy, Ben holds the secret to success, so whenever he appears, Willy immediately focuses solely on him, asking him questions and consulting him about his life. Although, to be honest, the way Ben earned his wealth is questionable. He was originally supposed to travel to Alaska and ended up in the African jungle... He makes like he didn't know he'd traveled to an entirely separate continent, which is pretty unbelievable. Ben even mentions the fact that he's built an empire and never kept any books. People who don't keep track of their money usually tend to lose it. It is not clear whether he is even telling the truth about his rags to riches story, given that he would never go into to detail and only kept repeating "When I was seventeen I walked into the jungle, and when I was twenty-one I walked out. And by God I was rich." That is the extent of his story, the only piece of information he really gave anyone. 


In all honesty, I would rather see a man who works hard for his money, see him get to experience a struggle, because that is when respect is earned. Easy money builds no character, and it is clear that that is something Ben does indeed lack.