Wow. That was such an awesome play! I had an interesting plot and it's amazing how Arthur Miller managed to go back and forth between the past and present in the play. I just needed to really pay attention to those shifts because they were never indicated, but easy to tell through the diction and the subject. It was interesting how Miller brought suspense or left the audience wondering what happened in Boston that ruined Biff, and then be able to reveal it in one of the shifts to the past. Ben, Willy's brother, was a confusing character for me because they mentioned he was dead, but yet when he appears, there is a rapid shift to the past. At times, Ben is like a ghost, he represents a type of hope, goal, future, aspiration for Willy because he continues to use him as an example for his sons and himself of the things that can be achieved. I am still puzzled on why Willy killed himself when he had become hopeful after Biff cried for him... I think he truly believed that Biff would finally become something and so he decided to leave knowing he had accomplished his duty. Willy Loman was a man who focused way too much on the past and reminisces on how "it used to be," and it reminds me of the times of the Great Depression where everyone just went miserable and missed the prospering 20s. Additionally, I was very disappointed when no one else showed up at Willy's funeral--it definitely reminded me of Jay Gatsby's funeral in The Great Gatsby. There are a few similarities between Gatsby and Loman on how they were both presumed to be great people and well-known by many, but once they both came to their downfall, no one else seemed to be around.Oh, and one more thing, I didn't understand why Willy hated it when Linda mended stockings but it makes sense as I look back: in the incident in Boston where Biff caught Willy with The Woman, he gave her Linda's stockings! But overall, great play, I would LOVE to go see this live in a theater.
In Arthur Miller's play Death of a Salesman (1949), Miller writes about the life of 63 year-old salesman Willy Loman who struggles with his job as he is becoming older. The play opens with Willy returning from a long drive from selling and discussing his sons with his wife, Linda. As the play progresses, more is revealed about Willy's life and the failure of his oldest son, Biff, who was destined to go to the University of Virginia. The debate lies on whether it is Willy's own fault that his son didn't succeed or if it was Biff's denial to go to summer school. Willy is revealed to be a man with many dreams, who refuses to be beaten down, aspires only for the best, and looks to his brother Ben, for inspiration. After a failed attempt at business, Biff breaks down to Willy, who refuses to believe him. The play yends with Willy killing himself by crashing his car, after he believed that Biff really did love him because he wept to him. This play was written in the post-World War II era, when the economy began to become prosperous once again due to a boost in productivity; furthermore, the play well represents the pursuance of the 'American Dream' for Willy Loman and Biff, it demonstrates the "failure in society that held out the promise of 'success' to all." (The American Pageant, AP US History book) Possible audiences for this play are young adults and parents because it demonstrates two distinct point of views: those of Biff and Happy and their disappointment with their father and their own goals, and Willy and Linda as parents, disappointed with their sons for not being able to support them as adults.
Vocabulary
- audacity: (n.) boldness or courage; daring.
- imbue: (v.) to fill or inspire, as with emotions, ideals, or opinions.
- evasively: (adv.) to avoid, as by trickery or cunning; elude.
- surlily: (adv.) ill-tempered or rude; sullen and unfriendly.
- enthused: (v.) to show enthusiasm.
Tone: gloomy, reflective, and concerned.
Rhetorical Strategies
- Allusion: "That's why I thank Almighty God you're both built like Adonises." (Act I, pg. 33)
- Idiom: "Ah, you're counting your chickens again." (Act I, pg. 63)
- Rhetorical Questions: "Why shouldn't he talk to himself? Why?...How long can that go on? How long?..." (Act I, pg. 57)
- Simile: "He flunked the subject, and laid down and died like a hammer hit him!" (Act II, pg. 93)
- Metaphor: "Boy, there was a pig!" (Act I, pg. 21)
Discussion Questions:
- Whenever Linda comes in or anything at all, the italicized always say something like "Linda enters, as of old, a...." What does "as of old" mean??
- Is it a characteristic of modern plays to not have scenes? And only two acts?
- Could this play possibly represent the same situation now in the 21st century?
"The world is an oyster, but you don't crack it open on a mattress!" (Act I, pg. 41) ;)
"CHARLEY: Wait a minute, didn't you hear the news?
WILLY: What?
CHARLEY: Don't you listen to the radio? Ebbets Field just blew up.
WILLY: You go to hell! Charley laughs. " (Act II, pg. 89)
"Death of a Salesman" was written by Arthur Miller and published in 1949. The play tells the story of Willy Loman, a salesman in New England, and his life aspirations for himself and his family. In the opening in the play, Willy has just returned from work and was almost in a car crash. Willy is 60 years old and still works as a salesman, but is becoming more and more weaker and beginning to have hallucinations. The play alternates between the present and past, which are Willy's hallucinations of his past memories. So far, it has been interesting read about Loman's life, and I was surprised to know that he is 60 years old! I would understand why he's becoming so irritable: he travels a lot, has a son who's 35 years old and can't figure himself out yet, and Loman beginning to daydream a lot more than before. It's been an easy read so far, but I just need to pay attention to parts where Willy begins to 'live' in the past again. But overall, it's O.K., a bit gloomy, but O.K. Thanks to the research, I know that Loman kills himself! Yay!
Miller's "Death of a Salesman" is a tragedy, he looked to the Greeks for inspiration for tragedies, particularly Sophocles. Miller saw the underlying struggle in the tragedies as an individual trying to gain his rightful position in society. Miller was born in 1915, in New York City. His father lost his business in the Great Depression and moved their family to Brooklyn. As a young adult, Miller had a string-load of jobs and was married three times throughout his lifetime, his second marriage to Marilyn Monroe! His play "Death of a Salesman" brought him international fame and has been performed multiple times at multiple theaters.
"The Crucible" was another famous book written by Miller that expressed the anti-communist sentiment of the time period, but "Death of a Salesman" was written in the post-World War II era and reflects the pursuance of the 'American Dream' after a time of war. The post-World War II period was full of conformity, "Death of a Salesman" demonstrates the "failure in a society that held out the promise of 'success' to all." Additionally, Miller lived through the Great Depression, serving as another occasion for this play, as the depression destroyed the idea of the 'American Dream' for many.
