Death of the Salesman - Book Report/Review Example

Restlessness and troubled thoughts preoccupied Willy when he returned home from an aborted sales trip. His wife, Linda, noticed Willy’s difficulties and urged him to speak to his boss and request a position that would not require traveling. Willy recalled the times when he was still a young father full of vitality, had an optimistic business outlook, and dreamed of success. Likewise, he also reminisced on his brother Ben, who left for Africa to mine diamonds and became financially successful.

Happy and Biff found Willy’s behavior erratic and asked their mother about things that bothered Willy. The two brothers learned that Willy has lost his salary and worked only on commission. Linda also told the brothers that Willy tried to kill himself. Learning these, Biff came to a realization that he had to change his life and find a decent job to help his parents.The next day, Willy has been upset with knowing that he has been fired from a job. His neighbor Charlie offered him a job but he refused to accept it because of pride and instead, borrowed money from Charlie to pay for the bills and insurance premium.

In a restaurant, Willy met his sons and end up shouting because of Biff’s constant failure and Willy’s verbalization of the loss of a job. The two sons left Willy who became tormented again with fragmented thoughts. Back at home, Linda argued with her sons why they left Willy but Biff broke down with anger due to Willy’s suicide attempts. Willy reflected that to manifest love, he decided to commit suicide so that his life insurance policy would provide Biff with the wealth he needs to start a new life.

The script ended with Willy’s funeral and family members reflecting on his life and legacy.CritiqueThe title of the script lacks suspense and revealed what will eventually happen to the main character. Major highlights of the script were also revealed earlier such as Loman being a failure, and incapable traveling salesman, and a suicidal individual – which pre-empted the suspense that most of the audiences look for in a play. In addition, one found it unbelievable that Loman refused the job offered by Charlie that could give him the chance to start a new life and instead, computed the insurance amount that he could get and opted to commit suicide as a resolution of the conflict.

Conflicts between the father and son due to failure to achieve the American Dream is too superficial, indicating that familial conflicts were uprooted in material things and not in issues of love and support. Thus, Willy’s American Dream and perception of worth as a father was apparently based on consumerism, ambition, and social stature which encompassed the central theme of the script. Furthermore, thematic points also encompassed evading responsibility through suicide and the inability of Willy to separate fantasy from reality.

In general, the use of the term “tragic” in the play clearly depicts the life of Willy, as a salesman, whose life summarily ended to fulfill the dreams of a loved one.