Death of a Salesman Summary/Analysis

·         Author-Arthur Miller, born 1915, died 2005.  Wrote many plays and was well-known, was married to Marilyn Monroe.

·         Setting-Willy Loman’s house and yard  and other places in New York and Boston

·         Plot-Willy Loman is a struggling salesman in his mid-sixties.  Every week, he travels hundreds of miles, driving from city to city trying to sell his products, but he never seems to be able to sell enough to pay for all the bills.  He has had to borrow money from his friend Charley in order to pay for everything and to be able to have money to give to Linda when he comes home.  Lately, Willy has become distracted while driving, losing his memory for spaces of time and almost crashing the car.  Willy’s sons Biff and Happy are at home, which causes tension because Biff isn’t living up to what Willy wants him to be.  Happy has a job and is just like Willy, but Willy has never really cared about Happy.  Biff and Willy have arguments about what Biff wants, what Willy wants and why nothing is working out.  Willy gets upset so Biff and Happy make a plan to borrow money from Bill Oliver, an old acquaintance, and start a business selling sporting goods.  Willy goes to Howard Wagner, the manager of the company Willy works for.  Howard tells Willy that he is fired.  Willy is devastated and goes to visit Charley, his friend who has all the successes Willy wanted.  Willy goes to dinner upset but looking forward to his sons’ deal.  Meanwhile, Biff goes to Bill Oliver’s office, but Bill Oliver doesn’t remember who he is.  Biff steals a fountain pen and runs out of the office to have dinner with Willy.  Willy refuses to understand what Biff is trying to say, so Biff and Happy leave with two women and leave Willy in a “flashback” in the restaurant’s bathroom.  Willy pulls himself together and goes to buy seeds to plant in his back yard.  The whole family is a home and Biff decides to leave for good so he goes to tell Willy, but Willy refuses to let him leave.  They argue and Biff breaks down and cries to Willy asking him to let him be who he is.  Willy feels relieved that Biff loves him.  He decides to kill himself and crashes the car so that Biff can get the insurance money.  At the funeral, Biff decides to go out west again, Happy decides to continue in his father’s path and Linda is sad, but also feels free of a burden.

·         Significant characters:

o   Willy Loman-failing salesman who is fired from his job at the company that he worked 36 years for.  He starts to lose his mind gradually throughout the play, from just spacing out to living out events in his past.  His greatest desire is to be loved by people all over the country.  Willy’s motto is that if you are loved, you will never want.  He teaches this to Biff, encouraging his bad behavior, thinking that all that matters is whether or not he is liked.  Willy also believes in this and struggles with understanding the hard truth of things. 

o   Biff Loman-Biff was a successful high school student loved by everyone, set to go to college and become successful when he discovered Willy cheating on Linda.  He gave up on life, couldn’t hold a job, and has spent his life trying to “find himself.”  Biff realizes that his family often exaggerates things to suit their desires.  Biff wants to please his dad, but all he wants to do is work in a ranch out west. 

o   Happy Loman-the “unwanted child.”  Happy is always trying to get Willy’s approval, however, nothing he does seems to get his father’s attention.  Happy seems happy because he has a job, money, and gets the ladies when he wants, but he just wants his father’s approval.  He is just like Willy and is following in his path. 

o   Linda Loman-A loyal wife who has more of a motherly relationship with Willy rather than a husband-wife relationship.  She does everything to make sure he is okay and stays alive.  We don’t know whether she suspects Willy’s infidelity, but she doesn’t show it.  At the end, Linda says “we’re free” meaning that they are free of the burdens of the house, but also the she is free of him.

o   Charley-Willy’s only friend.  Has a son, Bernard, who was a nerd, but became very successful.  Charley is a successful businessman and keeps offering Willy a job, but Willy is too proud.  Charley also lends Willy money to pay for his bills.  

·         Theme: Industrial America and American society destroy the dreams of people.    

·         Narrative voice/style-Miller uses a differing perception of time to help portray Willy’s state of mind.  The blending of past and present creates a sense of confusion, which reflects Willy’s perception towards life.  Nothing can save Willy from his disintegrating mind and we can only watch as he drives himself to suicide.  Miller’s is trying to show the ruthlessness of industrial America and how people are destroyed by it.     

·          There is a little bit of symbolism with the seeds that represent his “seed” and his desire to leave an impact in the world.  There is also some symbolism with the diamonds, which his memory of Ben continues to remind him of.  Willy wishes he could have those diamonds and the riches, but he misses his chance to go with Ben.  Willy’s last hope for the diamonds is the insurance money that Biff will receive when he dies, which is how he justifies killing himself.

·         Setting:  The setting of this play isn’t very clear.  We kind of have a location-Willy’s house and New York and Boston, however, these are not very specific locations so we don’t quite know where exactly this play takes place.  The only specific location is the house, which we know has a barren back yard and use to be surrounded by trees but now is surrounded by apartment complexes.  This is an image of the industrial America and the impact on the fertility of the land.  There isn’t really a specific date in the play, just seasons.  It also doesn’t reflect the events going on at that time.  This gives the play a feeling of being separated from everything, yet completely relatable to people. 

·         Quotes: “There’s more of him in that front stoop than in all the sales he ever made.”  This shows how Willy really belonged out in the nature, doing stuff with his hands.  Willy built his front stoop and lovingly repaired his house with his own hands.  The selling was his desire to have the American Dream and what he thought he could obtain, but that never happened.  “Will you take that phony dream and burn it before something happens?” This shows the effect of the American dream on the characters.  On one hand, Willy tries to achieve the American Dream, but he never succeeds.  Meanwhile, Biff realizes that the American Dream isn’t really true and that not everyone will be able to achieve it.  This causes a major conflict between Biff and his father.