1.

Character of Willy Loman

Despite his desperate searching through his past, Willy does not achieve the self-
realization or self-knowledge typical of the tragic hero. The quasi-resolution that his
suicide offers him represents only a partial discovery of the truth. While he achieves a
professional understanding of himself and the fundamental nature of the sales
profession, Willy fails to realize his personal failure and betrayal of his soul and
family through the meticulously constructed artifice of his life. He cannot grasp the
true personal, emotional, spiritual understanding of himself as a literal “loman” or
“low man.” Willy is too driven by his own “willy”-ness or perverse “willfulness” to
recognize the slanted reality that his desperate mind has forged. Still, many critics,
focusing on Willy’s entrenchment in a quagmire of lies, delusions, and self-
deceptions, ignore the significant accomplishment of his partial self-realization.
Willy’s failure to recognize the anguished love offered to him by his family is crucial
to the climax of his torturous day, and the play presents this incapacity as the real
tragedy. Despite this failure, Willy makes the most extreme sacrifice in his attempt to
leave an inheritance that will allow Biff to fulfill the American Dream.

Ben’s final mantra—“The jungle is dark, but full of diamonds”—turns Willy’s suicide
into a metaphorical moral struggle, a final skewed ambition to realize his full
commercial and material capacity. His final act, according to Ben, is “not like an
appointment at all” but like a “diamond . . . rough and hard to the touch.” In the
absence of any real degree of self-knowledge or truth, Willy is able to achieve a
tangible result. In some respect, Willy does experience a sort of revelation, as he
finally comes to understand that the product he sells is himself. Through the
imaginary advice of Ben, Willy ends up fully believing his earlier assertion to Charley
that “after all the highways, and the trains, and the appointments, and the years, you
end up worth more dead than alive.”
Failure of American dream

2. The Failure of American Dream in Death of a Salesman

Topic: Death of a Salesman Words: 1226 Pages: 4 Nov 7th, 2021
‘Death of a salesman, written by Arthur Miller portrays the real life of a typical American
middle-class man who dedicates most part of his life to a private company. The central
character in the play, Willy Loman, and his wife fail to understand the real pulse of
society. He is a total failure in his personal life and the same failure leads to his tragic
death at the end of the play. Miller portrays the female character Linda Loman not as a
strong character but as a measurement for checking the plight of subjugated life of
contemporary American women. Even though Miller gives more emphasis on the male
characters, the female characters play an inevitable role in the play. Analyzing Arthur
Miller’s play ‘Death of a Salesman’ one can see that the female characters are significant
ones and they raise questions against the subjugated life of middle-class American
women. Arthur Miller portrays the character of Linda Loman as the most inscrutable and
complex one in the play Death of a Salesman. Analyzing the whole play one can easily
find, like Willy Loman, Linda plays a significant role and she also represents the
emotional hub of the play Death of a Salesman. Linda plays the role of a lovable and
responsible wife who tries to conceal the truth for the protection of her husband. It is easy
to understand that the female characters are marginalized in Miller’s masterpiece ‘Death
of a Salesman’. Linda embraces the family together by supporting her husband. She never
tries criticizing her husband and her personality subjugates the shadows of Willy
Loman’s character. Through the character of Linda, Miller characterizes the plight of the
American middle-class women. In the new era of the capitalist economy, American
women are forced to lead a submissive life and the character of Linda in Miller’s play
becomes passive and earns the pathetic status of victim in the capitalist society which is
covered with broken American success myth. Eric J. Sterling remarks; “Linda has been
described as a flawed, even sinister, character in her own right.” (Sterling, 12).

Arthur Miller’s ‘Death of a Salesman’ reveals the failure of American success myth
through the fall of the protagonist Willy Loman and his family. Unlike the character of
Ann in Miller’s ‘All My Sons’, Linda is not so self-reliant and self-governed. Linda shows
her willingness to be a devoted and hardworking wife who always tries to hold her family
together through suffering and desire. After a detailed evaluation of the play, a reader can
find that Miller presents female characters in two ways, one is the role of a dutiful and
faithful servant and the other one is a prostitute. Willy Loman’s weaknesses and mistakes
stop Linda as a mother and wife. There is little doubt that the female characters in Miller’s
‘Death of a Salesman’, including Linda, are contaminated by the same exposed value
system that followed a patriarchal society. Linda and other female characters in the play
become visible to acquire limited vision and they are sheltered in the domestic role of
resourceful wife and faithful supporter of the male dominating culture. It is crystal clear
that Miller marginalized his female characters and they express their faith and emotions in
the American way which is bounded with modern consumer culture. The character of
Linda always wishes for “American-type cheese.” (Sterling, 14) She is an exception of the
modern American women who demand special financial advice and financial corner.
Linda, in Death of a Salesman, has often been regarded as the spokesperson of Miller
through whom the author expresses his own inner feelings. It is clear with the words of
Linda when she asks “why must everyone conquer the world.” She has a clear view of the
state of affairs which enables her to comment or analyzing the real incidents occurring
around her. It is this ability that makes her capable of keeping the bond of familial
relations, though she is well aware of the real issues haunting her husband and son.
Though Linda is presented as a minor character, she plays a fundamental role and
contributes much to the dramatic action of the play in different ways. It is through her
character the plot of the play gets unfolded by significantly affecting Will, the protagonist
of the play. A detailed analysis of the relationship between Linda and the protagonist
Willy categorizes her as a loving wife and Willy in turn considers her as caring and
wonderful. Willy acknowledges the world how he regards his wife when he says: ‘You’re
my foundation and support Linda’. Linda selflessly subordinates herself to serve to assist
her husband and sons in their problems and thus proves herself as a reconciliation factor in
the familial tie-up. One can say that she is a panacea and great support for Willy and it is
clear from her own words as she says: “you are the most handsome man in the world.”
More often, she sheds a positive light on Willy’s accomplishment and proves herself as a
great consoling factor; and the reader witnesses the real effect of her consolation on Willy
on the occasion when he complains about having an empty, run-down house; Linda
consoles him, telling that paying off the house is an accomplishment. Linda’s words like,
“You are so sweet, and such a kidder” give evidence to show how she inflates his ego and
consoles him. These motherly roles make Linda a prominent character in the play. As
usual, Miller uses the female characters to disclose the real nature of the male characters in
this play as well. It is through the character of Linda, the readers get a clear-cut picture of
the real nature of the protagonist Willy. Though Linda’s role is very vital in this play,
Miller presents her as a dependent on her husband in all the senses. It is evident that not
only Linda, but almost all the women characters of the play also are only secondary to
men, and in fact, they exist primarily for the development of the male characters. The
various roles that are provided to women are for the purpose of rendering comfort,
consolation, and sustaining them on the track of optimism. Sometimes they act as judges
as they help the male characters to select the right path on a critical juncture into which
they are trapped too. Moreover, they have much to do with the achievements of their male
supporters, setting new goals and encouraging them physically and mentally to head on
their channel. In short, they are a motivating factor and scoring aids. But, on the other
hand, with her over-supporting nature, she proves herself as a destructive force in Willy
Loman’s life. Although Linda knows that her husband is distressed, she persuades him to
believe he is flourishing and admired. She conceals the truth in order to hold the family
together and protect its master from heartbreak. But in fact, she is giving him a false notion
that he is more successful than he really is. Thus, she plays a significant role in the
downfall of her husband and ultimately leads him to his death. So, Linda’s character is
minor but crucial. Thus, the study leads to the conclusion that the female characters in
Death of a Salesman are significant and they raise questions against the subjugated life of
middle-class American women.

3. Nostalgia and Daydreaming

Nostalgia / regret
The dominant emotion throughout this play is nostalgia, tinged
with regret. All of the Lomans feel that they have made mistakes
or wrong choices. The technical aspects of the play feed this
emotion by making seamless transitions back and forth from
happier, earlier times in the play. Youth is more suited to the
American dream, and Willy's business ideas do not seem as sad
or as bankrupt when he has an entire lifetime ahead of him to
prove their merit. Biff looks back nostalgic for a time that he was
a high school athletic hero, and, more importantly, for a time
when he did not know that his father was a fake and a cheat, and
still idolized him.

There are many important things about his daydreaming

and self-talks.
First is the element of sadness and nostalgia that it
provokes in the reader, making the protagonist be a sort of
antihero, or tragic hero.

Second, he always reminisces and goes back to better times

when his sons were younger, successful, popular, and when
he was closer to them, had a big career, and even bigger
plans.

Third, his reactions are foreshadowing of things to only get

worse, which is evident with his suicide attempts, and him
eventually taking his own life.

It is mostly how the worsening of his condition seems to be

a train wreck in the making, and how it affects the overall
essence of the story.

Cruelty of modern world

on only one aspect of the human condition, the material; thus, when he

begins to lose his grip on his job, he has nothing to fill the void and is

confronted with his own emptiness. Under the guise of helping Biff to

realize his potential in business, Willy attempts to mold Biff into the

American success story, but at the end of his career, he becomes des-

perate for Biff to redeem his (Willy’s) disappointments in business.

In an interview in 1998, Miller admitted that Death of a Salesman

was intended as a criticism of capitalism: “You wouldn’t be writing

such straightforward critical work about America after 1950. Indeed,

I don’t recall a single play that analyzed American capitalism as

severely” (Kullman 71). Miller realized that after the Great Depression,

America enjoyed one of the largest boom periods in the history of the

United States, but while Miller wrote Death of a Salesman, the nation
was not sure of the success of a long-term recovery. In 1998, Miller

conceded that “when considering the income of Willy Loman, we’re

talking about a world that already was disappearing” (Kullman 70). At

the time of the Depression, people had no idea that American capital-

ism would be a dynamic system that could adjust for its mistakes with

the help of government-imposed controls and safeguards. In an inter-

view with Christopher Bigsby, Miller recognized the changed nature

of today’s capitalistic system by conceding that during the recession

in the 1980s, the stock market was able to make adjustments to avoid

a crash with the help of government safeguards implemented during

Franklin Roosevelt’s presidency (Bigsby, Arthur Miller and Company 20).

But during the debut of Miller’s Death of a Salesman, Miller and some

critics, stuck in the Depression mentality, saw capitalism as integral

to Willy’s failure. In examining Death of a Salesman fifty-eight years

later and from the perspective of a generation that never experienced

the Great Depression, it is not capitalism that defeats Willy; rather it

is Willy’s insecurities that feed his lack of trust in his own ability to

know and define himself.

The capitalism of today is not the system that caused the Great

Depression, but Willy’s defeat is still relevant because capitalism is

merely the tableau of Willy’s life and not the source of Willy’s down-

fall. Our thinking today has expanded beyond simply career choices to

“life passions.” Satisfaction of the “whole” person, not merely fulfilling

the material needs of a person, is the goal. Self-actualization is the

objective and is ultimately Willy’s desire, but the protagonist is never

Modern tragedy
Arthur Miller is a great modern American dramatist who keenly observes
the ambitions and ideals of an individual as well as the internal and
external forces which are responsible for the tragic failure of these ideals. “Death
of a Salesman” is a beautiful example in this regard in which the protagonist of
the play, Willy Loman, intensely desires an outstanding success for himself and
for his sons but this desire is thwarted by powerful social and commercial
forces which causes a tragic defeat of Willy Loman’s dreams.

“Death of a Salesman” is one of those great pieces of art which have been the
subject of hotly debated controversy. Arthur Miller calls it a tragedy and there are
several critics who see eye to eye with him but these are sources of highly
learned critics who bring certain allegations to prove that it falls far short of
having the status of tragedy. First of all they reject it on the basis of Aristotelian
concept of tragedy and tragic hero and assert that, instead of being a king or
prince, Willy Loman is a common man who remains unable to arise
required tragic feelings. Therefore, it cannot be placed among great Sophoclean
and Shakespearean tragedies.

There are certain critic like Eric Bentley and Eleaner Clark who regard Miller’s
socio-political philosophy. They think that the play cannot attain the stature of
a guanine tragedy because of its extreme awareness, not it can be a social drama
because it is inflated by its tragic aspirations. They say that the theme of “Death
of a Salesman” is the little, man as victim and protagonist is too passive and too
little to play the tragic hero.

Now we consider the other side where Miller himself and certain other critics are
clarifying all these charges. First of all, they scrutinize Aristotle’s concept of
tragedy and tragic hero and says that in modern world royal system is finished
and kings, queens and princes etc. are not present with ancient pomp and show.
So their modern presentation with ancient glorification will make the
plays unrealistic. Furthermore, a common man can also be the hero of a tragedy
because common people also suffer like royal figures. So the concept that royal
figures are necessary for tragedies should be changed according to the demands
of time and age.

Bentley says this play evokes pity but not terror and if we watch it carefully we
notice that it arises both pity and fear because the play shows individual against
“the seemingly stable cosmos surrounding us”. From this total examination of the
“unchangeable environment comes the error and fear that is classically associated
with tragedy”. Miller shows the position of an ordinary man, his passions, feelings
and dreams against machines and flat system where all relations have cost their
meanings and importance.

Traditional subjects for tragedy were royal environment and war of achieving

throne but now these subjects have no attraction for us. Now these subjects look
to us alien however today we have fear to lose position in society and to cause
our ownself in the ocean of machines. So, now with the course of time subjects of
tragedy should be changed.

The play has a tragic end too. Willy dies and gives up his life but does not give up
his dream, does not leave his values and his past. Some critics say that
Willy's sacrifice is useless and all his values, ideas and spirit dies within him but
when we think that the same may happen with us we feel pity and fear. In our
society anyone of us can become Willy Loman anytime. Miller says:

“Willy Loman has broken a law, without whose protection, life is

insupportable and incomprehensible
to him and to many it is the law which says that a failure in society and
business has no right to live.”

To conclude we may says that arguments of both sides are strong. No doubt,

“Death of a Salesman” is not a typically traditional tragic play like Shakespearean
tragedies and Aristotelian Tragedies but it has tragic theme, tragic character and
tragic end that arouse pity and fear. We can call it a modern tragic play or to be
more exact, a modern social tragic play.