Amanda Pisarski

Death of a Salesman Review

Tragedy of the Common Man

The play, Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller is rather depressing to read. Watching the
unavoidable demise of a man, mentally and physically, as his family struggles hopelessly by his
side is not a “first date” kind of thing. All this said, I still love this play. Miller creates, in this
story of Willy Loman, a gripping example of how the “American Dream” can cause great ruin
along with inspiration. His play discusses what it means to be a human being, with faults and
strengths, emotions and aspirations, in a world that only few can rise to the top. He also discusses
family dynamics and how influential the father-son relationship is, as well as the role of the
mother. All in all, Death of a Salesman is quite the read.
As Miller introduces the characters to us, I almost immediately disliked Willy. And when
the play is finished, I still disliked him. I empathize with the pressure he felt to be successful and
rich but I want to criticize him for not realizing money is not the only determining factor of
wealth. Willy’s preoccupation with financial success, which he says is won by a good personality
and being well liked, pisses me off. I want to shake him and tell him there is more to life then
that. Willy, clearly, is blinded by his desire to be like his brother Ben that he fails to appreciate
the life he has with his wife and kids. Instead, he pushes his children to put faith in their
masculine traits and likable personalities to be successful. He doesn’t teach his kids about hard
work and the value in being honest. Willy creates in his mind a dream world ( an altered
reality)where he is a successful salesman, his kids are top notch and the best, and his life is the
best there is, when in reality none of those things are true. Also, the occupation of Willy as a
salesman is ironic and a symbol in itself. Willy is constantly having to not only sell his product
but also sell himself to gain success. He has to be well liked and admired, but as his life nears end
Willy is slowly faced with the reality that he isn’t the salesman (or man for that matter) he
imagines himself to be. He is financially struggling though too proud to admit it and his two
children lack any sense of a moral compass; Biff impulsively steals from jobs and stores and
Happy is a man-whore.
Biff is just as disillusioned as his father, but in a different sense. Willy is caught up in
trying to attain the idealized “American Dream” whereas Biff is struggling to grasp onto life
since all of his understanding of it was destroyed when he caught his father having an affair. His
impulsive stealing, to me, is due to him not being taught the difference between right and wrong
by Willy, but instead he was told that its ok to steal as long as it helps you in the long run. Biff
rejects the “American Dream” and instead wants to go out west to a place uncorrupted with
financial success. I like Biff a whole lot more then I like Willy, though his character is greatly
flawed. I relate to Biff in the sense that he is disappointed with is father, yet at the same time
cares for him deeply. Biff, wounded as a child, has been unable to heal himself from the pain of
realizing his father is not the man he had disillusioned himself to be.
Happy, in my opinion, and his womanizing ways are a result of Willy raising him to
believe that success can be measured in a man’s luck with the ladies. Also, he has very little
respect for his job and is willing to take bribes and sleep with the bosses girlfriends. He mingles
with prostitutes and fast women in hopes to fill the void which I imagine is there due to him
being second to his brother in his father’s eyes. Happy struggles to get Willy’s attention, also
Amanda Pisarski
Death of a Salesman Review
English 180
Tu/Th 2:00pm
throwing out random things to gain his affection, such as when he tells Willy he has lost some
weight. Happy, also, is willing to lie to himself like Willy does into believing he is living a
successful life.
One of the biggest things that kills me in this play, is the non-stop lying each character in
the Loman family is willing to do in order to make believe everything is alright. And every time
one of them, mainly Biff, comes close to exclaiming the truth they are immediately hushed up or
scorned or ignored. The fault is not all Willy’s for the families disillusionment and failure, all of
them are instigators. My favorite parts of the play took place in the middle and in the end. The
first one is when Linda tells Biff and Happy that they need to respect their father and find
compassion for him and for what he is going through. Her line; “I don’t say he is a great man...
But he’s a human being, and a terrible thing is happening to him. So attention must be paid”(Act
1) is probably the best line in the play in my opinion. Linda is scolding her boys for dismissing
Willy’s mental breakdown. What she means is that a man’s success in the world should not
determine the care he receives nor should it determine his worth as a person. In her eyes Willy is
a human being and deserves as much attention and consideration as the next man. I love this
quotes so much because in its few lines Linda breaks down all characteristics (such as wealth,
popularity, beauty) that people judge one another by and says that is is the mere fact this man is
alive that entitles him to equal treatment and equal respect.
In my mind, Linda is the glue that holds this family together. She is Willy’s rock and the
boys buffer to their father. She puts her family before herself and her love for them above
acknowledging how much truly her family is crumbling. She also delivers my second favorite line
at the end of the play at Willy’s grave side; “we’re free”. I love the irony in that line. That with
Willy’s insurance money they are finally out of debt and own their home. A home in which a
family is broken. I love the question this play brings to my mind, is it Willy’s fault (due to his
obsession with success and character flaws) that his sons are lousy in the business world and that
his wife can’t afford new stockings? Or is fault of the pressure of the “American Dream” which
Willy was hopelessly brought into and drowned in? I believe Biff is right when he say’s Willy
had “all the wrong dreams” but I can’t place fault solely on Willy or on the influential american
ideas of success. I believe it is a combination of the two. Willy is just a regular guy trying to
make it in a world where only few rise and become legends; and that is the tragedy of the
common man.