Death of a Salesman Summary and Analysis the Quick Kenzie Way

 

Death Of A Salesman -- Summary and Analysis the Quick Kenzie Way

Author: Arthur Miller.  Miller is famous for many of his plays and essays, including The Crucible, testifying in front of the government for his suspicious "un-American" ideas and possible Communist affiliation, and having been married to Marilyn Monroe.  

Setting:  Willy Loman's house, yard, and places he visits "in the New York and Boston of today".  "Today" can be 1949, when it was written, but is not specifically in that exact time period. 

Plot: 
ACT I: 
     We first meet Willy when he comes home from a long day of work and driving.  Linda, his wife, obviously takes great care of him right from the beginning.  We also meet Biff and Happy, his sons.  While the family sleeps, Willy has a flashback to the past, when his sons adored him and all was good.  The audience begins to piece together that Willy has some issues.  While still dreaming, Willy goes to another woman, (a dream within a dream) alluding to a past affair.  Willy's dream starts to turn bad, and he wakes up.  Charley, his neighbor and friend, comes over to play cards.  In the middle of their game Willy begins to see Ben, his older brother he idolizes.  Frusterated, Charley leaves.  Willy is now fully submersed in his dream, one similar to the last.  
    Willy walks out, and Linda, Biff, and Happy discuss him in the kitchen, where Linda reveals he has been trying to kill himself.  Both are shocked, but only Biff seems to care.  Biff and Willy do not get along, but Biff promises to try to be successful in business in order to give Willy the hope he thrives on.  Willy enters back in, and both get heated, but cool down eventually.  They go to bed and the curtain falls. 

ACT II:
    Willy feels good in the morning, and goes off to ask his boss for a promotion, only to be fired.  He is completely devastated by the news, and slips into a dream as he leaves.  He winds up going to Charley's office, where he talks to Bernard, who is now a very successful man.  Willy appears unstable, and asks Bernard how Biff did not turn out like he did.  Charley comes in, and offers Willy a job.  This makes Willy even madder, and says he will not.  However, he accepts Charley's money and leaves.  
   At the restaurant, Happy tells Biff that he must not tell Willy the truth (that his meeting with Oliver was a complete failure.)  Biff isn't sure what to do.  When Willy comes, Biff tries to lie to make Willy happy, but when Willy says he's lost his job, Biff goes back on what he says and tells him the truth.  Both of them get extremely upset, and Willy wanders into the bathroom where he goes into the past.  Biff and Happy leave with two women.  In Willy's dream, he has an affair discovered by the young Biff.  This is probably why their relationship went sour. 
   Back at home, Linda is furious that the boys left Willy there alone.  Willy goes to the back to plant a garden, and talks to Ben.  (dream).  Biff brings him back inside, and tells him that he is going to go out West, and should be forgotten about.  All is laid on the table as Biff pulls out the rubber hose, revealing Willy's serious suicide consideration.  Willy refuses to believe this.  Biff ends up crying, begging Willy.  In the end, all go to bed.  But Willy, having realized that Biff really does love him, talks to Ben before riding off in a car, crashing and killing himself so that Biff may collect his life insurance.  

REQUIREM: 
   Willy's funeral.  No one is there besides Linda, Biff, Happy, Charley, and Bernard.  Biff is angry, Happy says nothing, but Charley says Willy is not to blame.  Linda is left by his grave, and says she cannot cry, but then begins sobbing as she says "We're free... we're free..." over and over until the curtain closes.

Significant Characters:  
Willy Loman: Willy is the 60-year old Salesman.  He is a frantic, disillusioned, superficial man.  His deepest belief is that Biff can succeed where he has failed, and that anyone can make it out there if he is "well-liked".  Willy struggles with identity and knowing his purpose.  His many flaws include the pressure he puts on Biff, his treatment of Linda, his foolish pride, and his disillusioned dreams.  Willy's dreams are of the happy past, but never end well.  His death is when he commits suicide so that Biff may take his life insurance.
Linda: Linda is Willy's patient wife.  She loves Willy, and is somewhat of a mother figure to him.  One of her greatest flaws is that she protects Willy too much, which only leads to his downfall.
Biff: Biff is Willy's oldest son, who Willy puts all of his soul into.  At 34 years old, Biff has no steady job and resorts to petty thievery  as he has all his life.  Biff had adored his father, but that was broken after he discovered Willy having an affair.  Biff then broke away, and does not share Willy's over-enthusiasm and prefers to see the world as it is.  
Happy: Happy is the younger son, whom none of the Lomans seem to care about.  He's grown up in Biff's shadow his entire life, and is constantly striving for attention from his parents.  He is a womanizer, and doesn't love Willy like Biff or Linda do, probably because he never received attention from him.  Like Willy, Happy would rather be disillusioned (like Willy) than know the truth (like Biff).  In the end of the play, Happy says he will continue on in Willy's footsteps.
Ben: Ben is Willy's older brother, who he only sees in his dreams/flashbacks.  Ben went to find their father (who had gone to Alaska) but somehow ended up in the African Jungle.  When he came out of the jungle, he was rich.  Willy idolizes Ben, and is constantly asking Ben how he too can come out successful.

Narrative Voice Description: There is no narrative voice or narrator.  However, it has been speculated that when Charley says that Willy is not to blame for his condition, that is Miller speaking directly to the audience.

Author's style: Not much wasted time for stage transitions, lots of words however!

         POV: It is a play, no major point-of-view

         Tone: Serious

         Imagery: Not a whole lot of imagery within the play; average stage descriptions

         Symbolism: Stockings, Diamonds, the Jungle, West, Seeds

3 Significant Quotes: 
1. Charley, at Willy's funeral: "Nobody dast blame this man.  A salesman is got to dream, boy.  It comes with the territory".  Here the audience is supposed to "get-it".  That is, we aren't supposed to hate Willy for all the pain he's caused his family, we're supposed to understand that this could happen to anyone.  He was a salesman, sold on the American Dream that anyone can do it.  And when his American Dream didn't work out, he just blinded himself to the truth.

2. Willy to Ben.  "Oh, Ben, how did you do it?  What is the answer?"  Willy repeats these questions over and over, every time he sees Ben.  He just cannot get over how he himself has ended up where he is now.  It's not so much how did you do it, but why can't I seem to be successful?  

3. Biff to Willy, pg. 133 "Will you let me go, for Christ's sake?  Will you take that phony dream and burn it before something happens?"  Biff fully believes that they, and especially Willy, cannot keep living like they have been without major consequences.  Being realistic > living in a lie.  This could be Miller's way of trying to tell us the same thing.

One-sentence Statement of Theme: While it is alright to dream, at some point reality must be faced in order for us to survive.

How these elements support this Theme: 

        Setting: The characters are in a very normal, slightly run-down place, living out their normal, run-down lives.  Willy often complains about all the work and bills that must be paid, but in his dreams he is always positive about the future, never mind the expenses.

        Plot: The plot circles around Willy and his inability to face the truth.  Because of this, the reader is able to understand how the truth is needed, and hiding from reality will get you no where. 
        Title: Death of a Salesman = Death.  Willy DIED.  There is no more Willy.  His dream is gone, if it ever even existed.