*For the first part of this blog, I'm trying something out. The numbers intermittently placed throughout the summary are end notes.*
Analysis End Notes:
(1) - As a child, Arthur Miller's father was a fairly profitable business owner and his family enjoyed many comforts. Due to the Great Depression in 1929, Mr. Miller lost his business and the family suffered much hardship. I believe that Death of a Salesman has much in common with the circumstances of Miller's youth and the struggles he observed in his own home.
(2) - Willy has had no father in his life, so he looked to those he envisioned to be the embodiment of what a father would be: David Singleman was a very popular and successful businessman who inspired Willy into his own career as a businessman; Ben, Willy's older brother, a very successful man.
(3) -Miller distinguishes between Willy's dreams and reality by allowing the characters to pass through gaps in the set walls during dreams, while confining the present-time characters to regular stage physics. The dreams themselves are important because they express Willy's conflict: he's lost because his life isn't going at all the way he planned and he doesn't know why. The memories that he plays back through his mind lead up to the point where his life flipped upside-down (when Biff caught him in an affair), at which point he realizes the pitiful state he's in.
(4) - "When I walked into the jungle, I was seventeen. When I walked out I was twenty-one. And, by God, I was rich!"(p. 35) - Ben's most significant line in the play. Ben had gone off, at the age of seventeen, leaving his mother and infant brother behind in search of his father, who was part of the gold rush in Alaska. By some odd mischance, Ben ended up in Africa, where he went into the jungle (and the diamond market) and gained a fortune. This fortune he did not share with his family that he had left behind. Like his father, he abandoned Willy and his mother, specifically Willy, leaving him without a father-figure to pattern himself after.
(5) - The reason Biff himself gives in explanation for his thievery is that all the praise his dad gave him as a boy made him feel superior to everyone else, so he couldn't take orders from anyone. As a result, he stole what he wanted.
(6) - Happy is a product of his father's making. Whether he knows it or not, Happy follows the patterns his father sets. First off, he sleeps with his coworkers'/ employers' women. This is because he is neglected by his family and feels lonely on the inside, so he looks for other means to feel wanted or loved. Willy had the same reasons to have his affair, except he was married at the time. Secondly, Happy exaggerates his status to seem more important or successful than he actually is. This is a play pulled straight from Willy's book, as we see Willy doing just that throughout the play.
(7) - Death of a Salesman is Arthur Miller's adaption of tragedy. In his essay, Tragedy and the Common Man, he defends his play's status as a tragedy with his own definition of tragedy, "As a general rule, to which there may be exceptions unknown to me, I think the tragic feeling is evoked in us when we are in the presence of a character who is ready to lay down his life, if need be, to secure one thing--his sense of personal dignity." Linda plays at being, in part, a tragic hero by sacrificing common sense to preserve her husband's dignity; Willy himself, at the conclusion of the play, *look at this from Willy's point of view, as odd as that may be* makes the ultimate sacrifice to keep his sense of dignity as being a successful man and the provider of his home by committing suicide so that his family could have the $20,000 from his insurance policy. He also wanted to keep his dream of his son's success alive by providing him with the means to start anew.
(8) - Biff craved nothing more than his father's praise and attention as a boy. After Biff had failed his math class, he went to his dad for help (like any boy should), only to find him involved in an affair. This hit Biff hard, because he loved his mother as much as he loved his father; to see this man, whom he had idolized, being unfaithful to the woman he should love more than anything made Biff question if Willy ever actually was truthful about anything. In the place of every word of praise, every encouragement, was now a festering wound. Biff's dad was a fake in his eyes. Willy was angered and hurt by Biff's reaction, as well as worried that he would tell Linda, so Willy kicked Biff out of the house.
(9) - In the "Tape Recorder" scene where Willy gets fired, there is A LOT that goes down. The gist of it is that Willy's delusional perception on how the world should work (Willy has the idea that words are infallible and connections are the key to everything. This is true, but he missed the memo that ACTIONS speak louder than WORDS. So he doesn't get the concept that hard work is also involved to make one successful.) comes face-to-face with reality. Also, the audience finally understands what Willy is selling - he's selling himself. Not, like, his body, he's selling the essence of Willy Loman. All his ideals, values, dreams, and successes are laid on the line. This is that confrontation mentioned above. When Willy is fired, Howard is rejecting Willy's entire persona, his way of life and who he is. This scene would be the catalyst for the downward spiral leading to Willy's suicide, however, as Willy spouts off about Dave Singleman, "He died the death of a salesman." This is the one time the play the title is mentioned. It can be seen that every action Willy makes after this, he's only going through the motions; this scene is really where Willy's spirit dies, in the end his physical death was inevitable after this experience.
(10) - This argument at the end is what I originally thought was the climax, but after I had an "Aha!" moment with the tape recorder scene during a class discussion, I decided that this just sealed the deal/ closed off any other path that Willy might have taken. The argument consists of Biff plainly stating the truth of his and Willy's identities and his silent plea for his father's love and acceptance, like he was used to growing up; on Willy's side, Willy has already given up and he wants to hide away in his shell, but he's drawn out by Biff's breakdown - when he start crying and begging his dad to let him go - taking this in a completely different way than Biff meant it, Willy is convinced that Biff (despite his previous failings) will end up a great man *if he has Willy's life insurance behind him.* Solidified in his purpose, Willy can now kill himself with a clean conscience, believing that he is sacrificing himself for a noble cause, or rather,dying a "hero."
Quotes:
- Willy: "You can't eat the orange and throw the peel away - man is not a piece of fruit!"(p.55) ...Maybe in Willy's world, but here in reality, everybody "eats the orange" and "throws away the peel." Sorry buddy.
- Biff: "I am not a leader of men, Willy, an neither are you. You were never anything but a hard-working drummer who landed in the ash can with the rest of them!"(p.93) This outburst of Biff's supports the motif of "not every man is a leader," also it drives in the nail that Howard set when he confronted Willy's delusions with reality.
- Ben: "When I walked into the jungle, I was seventeen. When I walked out I was twenty-one. And, by God, I was rich!"(p. 35) Here is the basis and summary of Willy Loman's work ethic, the "All you have to do is walk in" method. Since Willy never knew his father, Ben has assumed the father figure in Willy's eyes, and Willy deifies his older brother, latching on to every word he says.
Theme Statement:
Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman advocates the idea of valuing actions over words by emphasizing the consequences of Willy Loman's puffery; Miller implicates the folly in ignoring responsibility results in one building a house of cards on a sandy foundation (a.k.a. - puffery/ delusional perception) that will lead to inevitable self-destruction.
Biff is content with his dream of "...working out in the open." (p. 11) Despite his troubled youth, he understands the benefit of honest, hard labor. Willy doesn't get this concept, instead, he relies on his words to get the job done:
Willy: "I averaged a hundred and seventy dollars a week in commisions."
Howard (impatiently): "Now, Willy, you never averaged..." (p. 55)
His facade doesn't hold up against the hard facts. But Willy never learned the benefit of hard work. He always went off of Ben's philosophy of just "going into the jungle" and "coming out rich." No one was there to teach him how he was supposed to go about being successful, so he had nothing to go on, and that turned out to be detrimental.
