Death of a Salesman
By Arthur Miller
Setting
Background
Information
Willy Loman is a traveling salesman who has worked for the Wagner Company for 34 years. He is now 61 years old and has been taken off salary and put back on straight commission, and he is unable to earn enough money to pay the bills. Charley, the Loman’s neighbor, has been giving money to Willy every month to meet his payments, even thought Will is too proud to accept a payroll job from him. Charley’s son Bernard, who was in school with Willy’s sons, has become a successful lawyer.
Background Info, cont.
Willy’s two sons, Biff and Happy, come back home
and are
temporarily sharing their old room. Biff
is the oldest son who was a football star in high school with several
scholarships, but for the last 14 years, he has been unable to find
himself. He returned from somewhere in
the West due to his mother’s request for him to see his father. Happy works in a department store and has his
own apartment in another part of
Willy has been plagued by daydreams and illusions,
and the
play begins with his driving home prematurely from one of his
Major Characters
Willy Loman—the salesman who is past his prime, and who was never an exceptional businessman in his prime
Linda Loman—Willy’s wife who loves him despite all of his difficulties
Biff Loman—Willy’s eldest son for whom he had dreams of greatness
Happy Loman—Willy’s younger brother
Charley—Willy’s neighbor
Bernard—Charley’s son
Ben—Willy’s brother who left home very early and became tremendously wealthy; appears only in Willy’s daydreams
Howard Wagner—son of former owner of the Wagner Company; he now runs the firm and is responsibility for putting Willy on straight commission.
The Woman—Willy’s mistress from
Miss Forsyth and Letta—two girls that Happy picks up at the restaurant
Possible Themes
Inadequacy—exemplified by Happy’s randomly claiming to have lost weight and declaring that he’s going to get married someday in an attempt to get his parents’ attention away from Biff
Ignorance—Willy’s philosophy that success is based on appearance and popularity without mentioning hard work.
Pride—Willy was too proud to accept a job working for Charley, but he would accept his money on the premise that it was a loan, even though it was impossible for Willy to repay.
Self-Awareness—Biff knew that he loved working with his hands and outdoors, whereas his father was in denial of the fact that that was his love in life as well; Willy supressed that joy because it did not fit into his predetermined mold for beloved businessman.
Lacking and Awareness of Reality—Willy refused to acknowledge the fact that his is a fine carpenter, and continues to live a life of lies, memories and dreams as a smothered businessman.
Morals
Follow your heart—Willy was well aware of the joy physical labor brought him, but he suppressed those desires to fulfill the meaningless position of a salesman.
Know your strengths and weaknesses—Willy should have chosen a career based on his skills and interests, not on false perceptions and the opinions of others. He should have encouraged his sons to do the same.
Hard work is what pays off—Willy did himself and his family a disservice by putting too much emphasis on appearance and popularity, and not enough on the value of hard work. He wound up living in a daydream whenever things went wrong and his sons were unethical (ex: Biff’s stealing and jail time out West) and unsuccessful.