Summary:
In Arthur Miller's, Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman returns home after a failed trip to his wife Linda. After some loud conversation between Linda and Willy, their songs, Biff and Happy got up. Biff's life has become a total mess with no direction. Although Happy is successful, he is still lacking something in life. It's ironic that he is named Happy but his life does not reflect that. Biff offers Happy a chance to move out west with him. However chooses to decline.
Willy taught his songs that in life, it is very important to be liked and not just "well liked". Willy always looked down upon Charley and how he was raising his son, Bernard. Many times throughout the play, Willy talked to Ben for advice about life and becomes rich. Willy has long been carrying the burden of money, cheating on Linda and the question of what Biff and Happy will do. In essence, all the facts drove Willy to his own death.
Author:
Arthur Miller grew up in New York with a well respected family. Miller uses his life story to explain Death of a Salesman. He is well-known American play and essay writer. One of the most well known play is The Crucible.
Setting:
This play takes place in Willy Loman's house New York about the 1930s-1940s. It is important to note that their house is surrounded by tall apartments which blocks the light from entering the backyard.
Characters:
Willy Loman- Linda's husband who struggles in society to be liked by all that he encounters. He sadly fails to reach his desired destination because of the lack of knowing who he is in combination with Linda's directions. He seems to live his life in the past leading to an unstable mindset.
Linda Loman- Willy's wife who can seen as a hinderance to Willy dreams. At times, she almost seems like a mother to Willy instead of wife as she caters to all his needs. She blames Willy's suicidal thoughts on Biff since he always fights with Willy.
Biff Loman- The oldest son of Willy and Linda. He realizes that his whole life and has been a failure however he attempts to find himself and turn his life around. He is favored by Willy over Happy. In a way, Willy's false advice lead him down a path of failure.
Happy Loman- The younger son always tries to get his parents attention especially Willy's. He tries to please his father but doesn't seem to be happy himself.
Charley- Willy's neighbor and true friend. Charley is a successful businessman who earned his way with hard work. He has always been ridiculed by Willy in the way he raised Bernard.
Bernard: He is Biff's foil. He showed a great amount of concern in his future and Biff's. However he was often teased and made fun because of how studious he was.
Ben- This is Willy's dead brother. Willy always looked to memories of Ben for advice on what Willy should do to become rich and successful.
Author's Style/ Point of View
I found this play to have a very somber tone. The scenes help deep meanings with important themes to consider. The tone also added to how I felt about development of the characters in this play. It shows Willy to have a weak personality.
Symbols/ Motifs
Directions- North and East: Success and fortune, South: the unknown and self discovery, West: place of opportunity
Seeds- The respect that Willy wants for the work that he has done
Money- Willy's point of view about the American dream.
Stockings- Dishonesty in Willy's family and societal class that is represented with silk stockings.
Important Quotes
"Don't be so modest. You always started too low. Walk in with a big laugh. Don't look worried. Start off with a couple of your good stories to lighten things up. It's not what you say, it's how you say it- because personality always wins the day" (Miller 65).
I think this quote really represents Willy and what his purpose in life is. Even through all that has happened, he does not realize what is important in his life. After all the years that have passed, Willy still guides Biff down the wrong path and seems like he just sets him up for failure. This also shows the faults in Willy that holds him back from achieving success.
"But you didn't rest your mind. Your mind is over active, and the mind is what counts, dear" (Miller 13).
This shows Linda motherly side towards Willy. She always tries to defend him and make him feel better. Since she has made such a contribution into Willy's life, it seems like she was a reason that Willy was not able to reach his own potential. In a way, she hindered in ability to move forward.
Theme
Through honesty and hard work, one must work to earn a place in society.
This is supported by Willy's lack of importance that is given to honesty and ethics. He believe that being liked and popularity will give him the spot at the top. However, Charley and Bernard earned their way to the top with hard work and morals. This is something Willy should have considered changing his ways of life and teaching his sons to be the right thing.
I think you have a really nice summary here, as well as an interesting interpretation of Linda.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I think that there is more to the theme.
For example, how do you think Ben plays into world of work and society. The oft repeated quote "When I was seventeen, I walked into the jungle. And by twenty-one, I walked out. And by God, I was rich!" How does this tie into the theme and how Willy characterizes success?
I agree with Emily that there's more to the theme in DOS. It's a little too optimistic and simplistic. You mentioned earlier that the tone is very somber, but your theme doesn't really fit with that. Also, do you remember that scene between Willy and his boss? When the boss cruelly fired him? That definitely points more to the theme being closer to a comment on the dysfunctional nature of capitalism. I would agree that there is evidence that honesty and hard work are key to succeeding, but that's not the only component.
ReplyDeleteYour interpretation of Linda is interesting, and I mainly agree with you. She mainly babies him and plays a motherly role. I'm not sure she holds him back from his dreams, though. I don't think Willy would have gone to Alaska even if Linda hadn't said anything. There was way too much "talk-about-it-and-never-do-it" crap that went on in the play for me to believe that.
I agree with Haley about Linda not being in Willy's way. The reason why she said Willy had a good job already is because she knew he took great pride in his work, and was trying to support him. Willy easily brushes Linda to the side when he thinks she is annoying, like when Willy is talking about Biff's meeting with Bill Oliver and keeps telling Linda to be quiet. I thought Linda was motherly towards him for sure, but she never controlled his actions. To me she seemed like a weak character, and just agreed with Willy all the time in an attempt to have a good family life. You provided a good commentary on this play.
ReplyDeleteAgain, I like how much detail you give in describing the characters. I especially like how you explained Bernard when you said that he looked out for Biff's future along with his. This really highlights that they are foils for each other and shows how twisted the entire Loman family's views really were. I also think it is cool that you added the part about the apartments into the description of setting. This is something that I would not think to add but was definitely helpful when reading this and trying to refresh my memory! Nice job!
ReplyDeleteYour summary is very concise, but I think it lacks several key details as a result. (For instance, that Willy's problems seemed to start when he alienated Biff by cheating on Linda.) You also have multiple claims about the author's tone/style with no real evidence explicitly provided to back them up. It's probably worth making sure you can do that before the test.
ReplyDeleteYou touched on how Miller seems to use his characters' names to say something about them when you mentioned Happy and how he doesn't seem happy, ironically. You could also apply this to some of the other characters, in my opinion.
Nice work! Going off of what Mayank said about the summary, I agree in that it is missing some key details and events. It seems like you skipped over a lot, and you don't talk about the ending either other than what drove him to his death. I really liked your author and setting descriptions. I thought it was interesting that you said Miller used his own life story to create DOS. Also I liked how you added a note to the setting around the Loman's home, that is important to the play so nice work.
ReplyDelete