Arthur Miller's The Death of a Salesman

A detailed Summary of Arthur Miller's The Death of a Salesman

Arthur Miller's The Death of a Salesman

The Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller, was written in 1949. Miller's purpose of the play was to convey man's incapability to except change within himself and society, and to address the main character's loss of individuality. Arthur Miller's play has been widely recognized as a milestone in the history of American theater. Showing the relationships between characters and in turn the impact they make on the outcome of the play was one main objective that the author accomplishes. In Arthur Miller's, The Death of a Salesman, the main character's emotions and destiny are influenced by the other character's in the play.

Willy Loman, the main character in The Death of a Salesman, and the head of the Loman household was influenced by several characters in the play. Out of the characters that influenced Willy the most, the prevailing one was his oldest son Biff. For the last 15 years after finding out about his father's affair Biff has been at odds with his father. During the 15 years of alienation from his father, Biff hasn't been able to hold a steady job and dislikes his father resentfully. The affect that Biff has on his father's emotions is traumatic. Before Biff was aware of the affa

Connecting his father's affairs with his own life, Happy undoubtedly gains the immoral confidence needed to follow in his father's footsteps. Throughout his childhood and ongoing adulthood, Happy saw his father make a mockery of the marriage Linda Loman strived to keep together. Lying to others became somewhat a necessity in order to keep the ongoing struggle of Willy's imaginary life a reality. In turn, Happy came to the conclusion that the only way to please himself is to deceitfully create situations in which he would always come out on top. Putting aside all injustices created, Happy enabled himself to disregard his father's dishonest nature as a commodity needed to survive the world he is a part of. By showing his father what an impact he has made on his life, Happy creates the delusion that what his father is doing is not so bad after all, allowing Willy to come to terms with all of the immoral injustices he has so willingly laid upon his family.

Not only is Linda the mother to Willy's two sons Biff and Happy, but she is also a motherly figure to Willy and protects him from emotional stress. Willy's mental condition becomes one of her worries, in the fact that she knows her husband is very suicidal. In the play Linda finds a rubber hose behind the heater, which she fears Willy will strangle himself with. Linda also knows many of the other secrets her husband is trying to hide from her. Not only does she know that he is suicidal, she also knows that her husband is getting outside assistance in paying the life insurance and other bills. Keeping all of this to herself she tries her best not to upset Willy so that he won't fill threatened in anyway. Although Linda tries to be a shield for her husbands emotions Willy is unable to block out the memories of his past. In example flashbacks occurring frequently triggered the way he acted towards the ones he loves. Linda did not allow these confused emotions to influence the way she treated him. These events were so monumental in creating his character that he could not avoid the repercussions of his past actions. The way that Willy ended his life was more than proof of how he allowed his emotions control the way he perceived things. With all of the emotional baggage that Willy brings into the relationship, it is somewhat unimaginable that Linda is as supportive as she is. Although, Linda suspected her husbands affair she disregarded the fact that her husband would do such a thing to sabotage their marriage and the family that they created. Standing by

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Approximate Word count = 1704
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English