Death of A Salesman, written by Arthur Miller in 1949, follows an aged salesman, Willy Loman, as he struggles to accept the reality of his failing career and misguided life principles. In this essay, I will examine the structure of the play and how Miller has used time and space to reveal character, present Willy’s faulty ideals, and foreshadow. The play is broken into two acts and a requiem: each segment takes place on a different day in the present day, within the world of the play. For the purpose of this essay, I will refer to ‘present day’ as the present time experienced by all the characters in the world of the play. The only person who experiences time differently in the play is Willy, whose mind straddles present time and his memories. Within Act I and Act II, Miller interlaces the events happening in present day, with Willy’s flashbacks. The use of flashback offers essential background context to the present day events that …show more content…
This tension is created by well placed moments of foreshadowing. Miller foreshadows Biff stealing Bill Oliver’s fountain pen in Act II, with a flashback in Act I where Biff boasts to Willy about ‘borrowing’ the ball from the locker room. Another instance of foreshadowing is the rubber tube that symbolizes the imminent suicide of Willy. It first appears when Linda reveals to Biff that Willy has been trying to kill himself. He has tried to gas himself to death. Biff removes the rubber tube in the following scene and confronts Willy with it in the last scene of Act II. The confrontation is one of the catalysts for Willy’s decision to take his life. He is seen running out of the house and speeding away in his car. It is revealed in the requiem that Willy had ended his life. Only his family and Charley attend his funeral. None of his friends, colleagues or customers have turned up to pay their
Truth be told, the main thing predictable about Willy is his own irregularity. From the earliest starting point of Act I, Scene 1, Willy uncovers this propensity. He names Biff an "lazy bum" yet he then repudiates himself two lines later when he states, "And such a hard worker. There's one thing about Biff — he's not lazy. "
The combination of these things eventually drives Willy to his death, and Biff to his growth and transcendence. Willy Loman is a salesman; he is someone who thinks that success should come to those who are popular and attractive. This ideology shows when he is talking to Linda about Biff, “Biff Loman is lost. […] a young man with such—personal attractiveness gets lost.” (Miller 16).
Willy then individualises the both of them, in doing so, tries to prove to Biff that they are far from worthless. Willy does this by saying: “I’m not a dime a dozen! I am Will Lonman, and you are Biff Lonman!” This interchange between father and son is the first evidence of American society as Biff has already come to the realisation that they are normal folk and nothing makes them more special from the next people, his father, however, is under the impression that they are far from your normal folk and that they are truly special. This inability for Willy to see what reality is really like exposes American society as it shows the way the “American Dream” made people believe they are more than they really are as they try to fit into modern society’s
In both the play and the movie, Willy takes off with the rest of the check. Even so, the movie introduces Willy and we get a feel for his personality and how he thinks. Sorrowfully, the book never introduces Willy. In fact, Willy is mentioned at the end of the play. Meeting Willy makes viewers wonder about his character and why he acts the way he does.
Although in a way one can understand him not taking the risk and going to Alaska. Finally, Willy is responsible for his own death. I see this as a tragedy because Willy felt that the only way for him to make up for the fact that his past actions contributed to Biff’s failure in life was to commit suicide. In order that Biff would get an inheritance that would allow him to achieve the “American
Miller writes in his stage directions that Uncle Ben “enters the forestage from around the right corner of the house” (30). Miller intends for Uncle Ben to be portrayed by an actor. This may confuse audiences that Uncle Ben is a real character who is capable of interacting with other characters in the “present time”. Also, in Willy’s hallucinations, time is bent and warped. So sometimes, Willy’s present day will seamlessly transition a hallucination or happen at the same time, like when he is at the restaurant with his sons: “off left, the Woman laughs” while Willy and Biff argue about Oliver’s stolen pen (90).
From the beginning, Willy found it hard to succeed in the business world. Money was a struggle to obtain, therefore his career kept going downhill. This led Willy to doubt himself and made him go into a deep depression. He was supposed to be a role model for his family and especially for Bif and Happy, but in reality, he is not. His depression reaches the point where he tries to kill himself with a rubber tube: WILLY:
(The flute has faded away,)” The short declarative sentence depicts that his job is becoming strenuous for him and that he finds it harrowing, however there is no indication that he will stop, it suggests that he will continue like he always does. Miller uses the motif of the flute to symbolise the sombre tone of the play. Also, by placing this in the first scene Miler’s intention is to depict that the American society is oppressing Willy and men like Willy as he is a symbol of the common man, leading them to their “death”. Miller portrays Willy’s strife to depict that although post Great-depression resulted in hope and change, therefore people had do evolve with the times and shape their lives and business to fit in the with the
This serves as an ironic counterpoint to Linda 's comment that Willy is idolized by his children; the fact that he is having an affair shows that Willy is not a man worthy of such fervent admiration. He displays the same callous disregard for women that Happy demonstrates as an adult, yet where Happy disregards women with whom he has insubstantial relationships, Willy is unfaithful to the devoted Linda. The flashback also demonstrates that Willy is not a man respected by others. A very important fact is that Biff felt betrayed and did not finish college because he found his father having an affair with another woman, so he did not retake math to spite his father. He could not believe that his father would betray Linda in such a way.
So, from the beginning to the end Willy’s life is nothing but an illusion. Willy makes reality in his own way which becomes more real than real to him. So, his life at last becomes a simulacrum. For example after meeting with Bill Oliver, Biff says “I talked” and “he listened” (Miller 86) which is the basic reflection of reality. Then when Biff says “Oliver talked to his partner about the Florida idea” (Miller 88) is the perversion of reality.
Biff, a consequence of Willy, attempts to bring Willy out of his fantasies and his see the realities of his life, but in the end fails to. The two are different in their ideas, demeanors and personas, yet have some akin characteristics. Willy and Biff’s physical traits are different. At what point, Willy tells his wife Linda, “I’m fat. I’m very foolish to look at, Linda.”
Starting in Act One, Willy is seen talking to Happy and Biff about their career opportunity with Oliver. Throughout this conversation, Linda is constantly chipping in with optimistic comments. “Willy: Lick the world! You guys together could absolutely lick the civilized world. Biff: I’ll see Oliver tomorrow.
He keeps this up with living the fantasy moments that he doesn't move forward with his life and stays miserable when he does come back from those little moments.. That type of tragedy is called Hamartia. A good example of him being stuck in one of those moments was when he was thinking about what Ben ( the brother of Willy) said to the boys : “ Why boys, 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 shows that Willy wants to take that knowledge and achieve it for himself, then his son Biff.
Beginning till end, Willy’s unintentional unawareness
Chapter 1: Introduction Willy Loman’s life is a simulacrum! Whenever Willy fails to cope with the changed situation, he takes shelter in his world of illusion. He creates ‘hyper reality’ to escape from reality. Willy’s son Biff and Happy adopt Willy’s habit of denying or manipulating reality i. e., of creating the ‘hyper reality’ and practice it all of their lives, much to their detriment. It is only at the end of the play that Biff admits he has been a “phony” (Miller 106) too, just like Willy.