Summary 2: Death of a Salesman

In Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, we follow the sad career of main character Willie Loman and his numerous life struggles. He is married to Linda, who seems to be more of a mother than a wife, and has two kids Biff and Willie. At this point in his life, he is old and not as good of a salesman as his young self; he struggles to bring home consistent paychecks to pay off all the appliances and the mortgage. The play begins with him coming home from another failed sales trip, and then him ending up in the kitchen reminiscing about the past. The plot jumps back and forth, often contrasting significantly with the current situation. Sometimes the flashback is happy, like this one in the kitchen where he goes back to when Biff and Happy were younger and times were better. In this same flashback, there is a lot of love and affection in their father-son relationships.  Additionally, they make fun of their neighbor Charley's son Bernard, who is smart but not "well-liked"so therefore unsuccessful. Other times, the flashback introduces a new tension, such as when Biff stumbles upon Willie and the secretary in Boston in the hotel room. Miller's use of flashbacks is extremely important for his plot development, as it gives us a very complete image of the Loman family's life without the actual entirety of their tale.

Biff and Happy are currently visiting home, and they talk about Willy's deteriorating mental state. Willy then walks in and scolds them for accomplishing nothing and they then promise their father they will make some sort of business deal. The following day Willy tries to find a job in town and Biff goes to try and sells his business deal. Though they both fail, all three Loman boys go out to dinner that night. Biff tries to tell his dad about his failure, but Willy doesn't really want to here it. Here is where Willy flashes back to the woman in Boston and Biff walking in on them. Frustrated, Biff then leaves with Happy. When Willy comes back to reality, he also leaves and then goes to buy plant seeds.

After they all get home, Linda berates her two sons for just leaving their poor father at the restaurant. Biff goes outside to talk to his father, but they just get into another argument. At this point, Biff gets extremely emotional as he forces his dad to realize that the dream of his is fake. He gets his dad to accept him for who he is and tells him how much he loves him. Willy here realizes Biff has forgiven him, and goes and kills himself so Biff can use his insurance money as a start up fund. The play ends with Willy's funeral, where Linda sadly states how she has just paid off the rest of their entire mortgage.

Miller incorporates very powerful symbolism that all somehow convey failure or false hope. For example, the stockings demonstrate Willie's failure as the family breadwinner and overall the family man: Willie gives stockings to the woman in his adulterous affair, and Linda has to mend her old ones because Willie doesn't provide enough for her to get new ones. There are many other striking symbols, such as the seeds Willie plants towards the end of the play, that illustrate how dire the entire situation is.

The tone throughout this is one of false optimism. Willie will have lapses where he goes on and on about the good old days, and Biff will appease his father by talking about a potential business deal. Though these all sound like great ideas, no one ultimately achieves anything.

Arthur Miller's overall message is clear through Willie's failures as a salesman, husband, and father: trying to achieve the American dream will not guarantee happiness and prosperity. Willie has everything the American dream outlines: a family, a house, a job, and a car. Yet Arthur exposes faults in each of these as the story progresses. Willie's two sons are two homeless low-lifes who still are living at home. His house is shabby and for most of the play they're still struggling to pay off the mortgage. He's laid off at work because he's not as cost effective as the younger salesmen. And ultimately, he kills himself with his car. Even though Willie repeatedly asserts how being "well-liked" will solve everything, his life really is a failure.

Some quotes to pass along:

"Willie, when are you going to grow up?" Charlie, his neighbor, is one of the voices of reason in this play. Though Willie is rude and inconsiderate towards him, Charlie still loans him money and even offers him a job. This quote captures how naive Willie is in his pursuit for success. Willie's considering all the wrong things in life and dwelling too much on being "well-liked".

"Will you let me go for Christ’s sake? Will you take that phony dream and burn it before something happens?" In an emotional episode between Biff and Willie, Biff breaks down the artificial dream his father has had for his entire life. Willie finally realizes how superficial his ideals, which then leads him to kill himself.