Death of a Salesman
Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman tells the story of a man confronting failure in the success-driven society of America and shows the tragic trajectory which eventually leads to his suicide. Willy Loman is a symbolic icon of the failing America; he represents those that have striven for success but, in struggling to do so, have instead achieved failure in its most bitter form. Arthur Miller's tragic drama is a probing portrait of the typical American psyche portraying an extreme craving for success and superior status in a world otherwise fruitless. To some extent, therefore, Death of Salesman is concerned with the jagged edges of a shattered dream but on another more tragic and bitter level, it also evokes the decline of a man into lunacy and the effect this has on those around him, particularly his family. Willy's decline of a man into lunacy is shown through his recollection of his dead brother and his successes. Willy's older brother Ben, is a subordinate character and his actions are only seen through Willy's daydreams. Ben serves to symbolize all that Willy once hoped for but never achieved, the "American Dream" and as a motivating force for Willy in his youthful days as a salesman.
, and the only Loman to achieve anything great. Ben exclaims, "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" (48). Willy spends his whole life living in the shadows of his successful older brother. Every day of his life he sees his rich brother and dreams of being as successful as he is. Willy becomes a traveling salesman with the hopes that he can cajole and persuade people into buying his products with ease. However Willy overstays his welcome in the fast-paced profession and is left with no clientele. "If I'd gone with him to Alaska that time, everything would've been totally different," laments Willy (45). Ben struck it rich in Africa in four years and never had to work another day in his life, while Willy had the opportunity to travel with Ben and elected not to. Willy has to live knowing that he could have struck it rich and would not have to travel to New York and Boston everyday, nor would he have to sell his soul. Ben reminds Willy of his opportunities, "You've a new continent at your doorstep, William. Get out of these cities, they're full of talk and time payments and courts of law. Screw on your fists and you can fight for a fortune up there" (85). This conversation is forever engraved in Willy's memory because of the open and welcome invitation to escape the life he lead and would leave and have the chance for wealth. Willy idealizes Ben because Ben
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Approximate Word count = 984
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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