Analysis Of The Characters In Death Of A Sales Man Essay, Research Paper

In this paper I?m going to focus on the themes, and also do an analysis of the main characters in the book. I?m going to focus on the theme of the concept of illusion and reality and the nature of the characters and their impact and contribution to the play.

The main theme in Death of a Salesman is illusion versus reality.

Willy has lived his entire life in a world of illusions. These

illusions include Willy’s belief that being well-liked is the key to

success, as well as the literal illusions that Willy has of his past.

Originally, Biff shared Willy’s illusions of success and greatness,

but by the end of the play he has become completely disillusioned.

Once Biff comes to fully understand his place in life, he says to

Willy, “I’m a dime a dozen, and so are you.” Willy, however, has lived

too long in his dreams and cannot understand what Biff is trying to

say. If Willy had to face reality, he would then be forced to examine

the affair he had in Boston, his philosophy, and all of his illusions.

Instead, he prefers to live in the past. And now Biff, who is trying

to confront the truth about himself, finds that he is completely

unable to commuicate with his father.

Another theme of Death of a Salesman is the old order of agrarian

pride and nobility versus the new order of industrialization. In the

beginning of the play, Willy foreshadows this theme by criticizing the

changes brought about by industrialization. “The street is lined with

cars. There’s not a breath of fresh air in the neighborhood.” It is

this conflict between the old and new orders that brings about Willy’s

downfall. Willy’s father, a pioneer inventor, represents the

traditional values and way of life that Willy was brought up on. So

does Dave Singleman, the eigthy-four year old salesman that inspired

Willy to go into the sales industry. Howard, the young boss of Willy’s

company, represents the impersonal and ruthless nature of capitalistic

enterprise. When Willy goes in to ask Howard if he can be transferred

to a job in New York, Howard refuses to help him even though Willy has

been working for the company for several decades and was good friends

with his father. When Willy asks why he cannot be reassigned, Howard

replies, “?it’s a business, kid, and everybody’s gotta pull his own

weight,” thus demonstrating Howard’s cold indifference to Willy’s

situation.

The main conflict in Death of a Salesman deals with the confusion

and frustration of Willy Lowman. These feelings are caused by his

inability to face the realities of modern society. Willy’s most

prominent delusion is that success is dependant upon being well-liked

and having personal attractiveness. Willy builds his entire life

around this idea and teaches it to his children. When Willy was young,

he had met a man named Dave Singleman who was so well-liked that he

was able to make a living simply by staying in his hotel room and

telephoning buyers. When Dave Singleman died, buyers and salesmen from

all over the country came to his funeral. This is what Willy has been

trying to emulate his entire life.

Willy’s need to feel well-liked is so strong that he often makes

up lies about his popularity and success. At times, Willy even

believes these lies himself. At one point in the play, Willy tells his

family of how well-liked he is in all of his towns and how vital he is

to New England. Later, however, he tells Linda that no one remembers

him and that the people laugh at him behind his back. As this

demonstrates, Willy’s need to feel well-liked also causes him to

become intensely paranoid. When his son, Biff, for example, is trying

to explain why he cannot become successful, Willy believes that Biff

is just trying to spite him. Unfortunately, Willy never realizes that

his values are flawed. As Biff points out at the end of the play, “he

had the wrong dreams.”

In many ways Biff is similar to his father. In the beginning of

the play we see that Biff shares many of the same ideas as Willy.

He values being well-liked above everything else and sees little value

in being smart or honest. One of Biff’s main flaws is his tendency to

steal. Early in the play we learn that he has stolen a football from

the school locker. When Willy finds out about this, instead of

disciplining Biff, he says that the coach will probably congratulate

him on his initiative. We also learn that Biff once stole a box of

basketballs from Bill Oliver. This foreshadows the scene in which Biff

steals Bill Oliver’s fountain pen after trying to get a loan for his

sporting goods business.

The climactic scene in Biff’s life comes when he finds a woman in

Willy’s hotel room. This causes Biff to realize that Willy is a fake.

Biff’s tragedy is that he has accepted Willy’s values all his life,

and now that he finds out they are false, he has no values of his own

to rely upon. Thus, Biff becomes lost and must set out to find his own

values.

Once Biff begins to develop his own beliefs, his opinions about

his father change. Instead of viewing his father as a fake, Biff

comes to realize that his father had some good qualities, but was

simply misguided by inadequate values.

Happy is the younger of the two Lowman brothers and thus is often

overshadowed by Biff. Because of this, Happy is constantly trying to

get attention from Willy. In one of the flashbacks Happy continually

says, “I’m losing weight, you notice, Pop?” This is an attempt by

Happy to get recognition from Willy. When in the present, Happy tries

to get recognition by announcing that he is getting married. In both

instances, however, Happy’s remarks are dismissed as unimportant. Thus

it is no surprise when Happy leaves Willy alone in the restaurant. It

is merely in retaliation for his own rejection.

Another characteristic of Happy is his refusal to recognize

reality. When Biff, Happy, and Willy are in the restaurant, Happy

tries to prevent Willy from learning that Biff did not get the loan.

While Biff is trying to explain that he never actually worked as a

salesman for Oliver, Happy is continually reassuring Willy that the

interview went well. Another example occurs at the end of the play

when Happy insists that Willy “did not die in vain. He had a good

dream.”