Analysis of Death of a Salesman Written by Arthur Miller - Book Report/Review Example

Can the man be worth more dead than alive? Introduction It is ironical that in the pursuit of superficial materialistic gains, a man loses the most powerful objective of one’s life, that of being happy. ‘Death of a salesman’ written by Arthur Miller, an eminent playwright, is a sensitively written play that depicts the dual nature of the life of a common man. The play portrays the ambitious but unrealistic aspirations of the protagonist of the play, Willy Loman, a salesman by profession, for whom, being a successful salesman epitomises the height of success in life. Through the character of Willy, Miller skilfully takes the audience through the experiences of day to day struggle of a man and shows how a man camouflages his failures, in order to gain and maintain the respect from his family and society at large. The play forces us to question whether it is indeed worthwhile to live an illusionary world which would not give us anything but false hopes of a brighter tomorrow. In the play, Willy is an aging salesman who thinks the success depends on the fact that one is ‘well liked’ which results when one is good looking. Inspired by another aging salesman Dave Singleman, who dies on the road and whose funeral is attended by many people that, Willy assumes is due to his popularity amongst his colleagues and people as a salesman. He thus embarks on the path to being as successful a salesman as Dave Singleman and starts on a career which was founded on the illusionary success of another person. Delusion of success All through the play, Willy is under the impression that he is well liked by people and is a successful salesman. ‘I'm the New England man. I'm vital in New England’ (Death of a salesman, act I), amply shows the self importance that Willy has of himself. He deliberately does not see the reality and likes to live an imaginary world because that makes him feel important and this is what makes this a landmark play. We all aspire to become popular and important people in the eyes of the world and in pursuit of these goals, we are often at odds with the reality of life. The way Willy often lapses into past is a clear sign of the conflicts that he comes across in real life which he tries to overcome by reliving the past events in his life. Willy is highly impressed by the wealth of his brother Ben who becomes wealthy when he goes to Africa. Hence, he thinks that far off places are easy sources of becoming rich. For him, material things are important and being liked by others is a sure sign of success in life. Wily is often arguing that despite being a successful salesman, he has nothing concrete to leave behind to his family. Such statements reflect the growing disillusionment of Willy with his life but he averse to acknowledge the same because he is afraid of losing the respect of the people and his family members and friends. In one of reviews in ‘The New York Times’, Brooks Atkinson, asserted that through the play ‘Miller has looked with compassion into the hearts of some ordinary Americans and quietly transferred their hope and anguish to the theatre’ (Atkinson, 11 Feb 1949). Unrealistic expectations and conflicting ideologies All through the play, Miller has shown that the illusions of Willy are important factors that help him to hide his failures, both as a salesman and as a person and which make it easy for him to move on in a world that is ruthless and highly competitive. Willy is obsessed with American dream that want Americans to pursue their ambitions and become successful. Willy thus develops images of sons as highly successful persons, especially of his younger son Biff and starts having unrealistic expectations from them. He refuses to acknowledge them as anything but good looking and intelligent beings who are destined to achieve great things in life. His refusal to accept them as they are, becomes a major cause of friction which not only results in frustrations amongst the sons but leads to all round unhappiness that was both unnecessary and avoidable. BBC news, in its obituary to Miller, reaffirmed that in his play ‘Death of a salesman’ the protagonist ‘Willy Loman, became a symbol of the struggle of the "little man" to realize the American Dream’ (BBC News, 2005). The twisted ideologies and inconsistent behaviour of Willy sends conflicting signals to his sons, right from their childhood which influences their character and probably becomes responsible for their failures in life later on. Willy, while praising his son Biff’s skill as a football players, inadvertently approves stealing because he does not scolds Biff when he brings the ball from the school without his teacher’s permission. Willy sets stores on material gains, making it important criteria of personal and professional success which makes it difficult for the sons to lead a contented life. Their pursuit of the same becomes an ongoing struggle because there is no end to material gain. Willy thus deprives his sons of their legitimate right to happiness by fostering unrealistic goals and expectations on his sons. Life worth more dead than alive The play is a prime example of the struggles of a common man who continuously strives to succeed in this world and earn a rightful place. Through the character of Willy, the author shows that often the struggles and competitions force the people to adapt ways and means that help them to stay alive with relative self respect and sense of importance that is so important for survival. This is the reason that Willy prefers to create an illusionary world of self importance and unconsciously starts having inflated images of his sons’s talents and their successful futures. His refusal to acknowledge the reality as such becomes the main reason for his ultimate downfall. He commits suicide in the end because he is unable to come to terms with his failures in life both as a person and as a father. In the last act of the lay, when Willy utters ‘After all the highways, and the trains, and the appointments, and the years, you end up worth more dead than alive’ (DOS, Act 2), he accepts his failures but by that time, it was too late. He assumes that what he was not able to his family in his lifetime, his death would be able to give that. The insurance money on his death would give be able to provide the requisite opportunities to his sons to become successful in life thus justifying the topic of the essay. On the other hand, Biff’s anguished wail that his fathers dreams were all wrong is echoed by Twayne Publishers who reiterate that dreams and illusions must be conform to realistic actions in order to convert them into realities and quote ‘Biff calls "all wrong" Willy Loman's desire "to come out number-one man’ to prove that finally the son had realized the truth (Twayne publishers, 1980). Conclusion The play is highly relevant in the contemporary times also because we are living in a world that is becoming progressively more competitive and callous towards the feelings of the fellow-beings. Principles and ideologies are increasingly becoming a thing of the past and people are chasing their ambitious goals with ruthless intent. In such circumstances, ordinary people who are less capable need to retain their self respect and they do so as Willy has done in the play. Indeed, dreams give us a reason to live and as Joyce Carol Oates says ‘dreaming is required of us, even if our dreams are very possibly self-willed delusions’ (Oates, internet).The most unfortunate part is that like Willy, it is easy for people to keep pretending that they are best and refuse to see the reality until finally the whole illusion crashes around them. Indeed to have illusions of good life and better future are important but it is equally important that one is also capable of accepting the reality and work towards making their illusionary world into reality and then we can all claim that man is not worth more dead than alive! Reference Atkinson, Brooklyn. 11 Feb. 1949. Death of a Salesman. The New York Times. Available from: [Accessed on 26 May, 2008]. BBC News, 11 Feb. 2005. American Playwright Miller Dies. Available from: [Accessed on 26 May, 2008]. Brief excerpts from the preface of Leonard Moss’ Arthur Miller. Twayne Publishers. G.K. Hall & Co. 1980. Available from: [Accessed on 26 May, 2008]. Miller, Arthur. 1949. Death of a Salesman. Penguin Publications. Oates, Joyce Carol. Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman: A Celeration. Available from: [Accessed on 26 May, 2008]. Read More