Summary of “Death of Salesman”

Willy Loman is a salesman living in New York City in the late 1940's. He lives with
his wife, Linda, in the same house for the last twenty-five years. The house once
sat apart from other homes, now it is surrounded by apartment buildings, which
makes Willy feel closed in.

Willy is having trouble concentrating on driving and often makes mistakes such as
crossing the white line, driving off the road, and running red lights, while stopping
for green lights. He has begun to talk to himself more and more, which causes
concern for Linda. He, at the beginning of the play, has come home from a business
trip because he has had trouble with his driving. He is also concerned, because his
sons are not progressing in the business world the way he had hoped they would.
His son Happy does have a job and lives in his own apartment, but his son, Biff,
rambles from job to job, as a farmhand, never making much money.
Willy has been demoted from a salary employee to a commission employee at his
job. This means he makes less money to support himself and his wife. This
combined with the constant driving and lackluster sales, causes Willy so much
stress, that he begins to hallucinate. He thinks he is living in an earlier time in his
life. He speaks to people who aren't there and he disturbs his friend, Charley, who
comes over to play cards with Willy. During the game Willy thinks his dead brother,
Ben, is in the room with them. He is talking to Ben and Charley at the same time,
which causes Charley and Willy to have a disagreement about the card game.
Charley leaves, but Willy is still talking to Ben asking him how he made his fortune.
Ben had gone to Africa and worked in the diamond mines, this is how he became
rich. Willy also needs Ben to tell him he is proud of Willy and his sons. During this
hallucination the boys are teenagers and Biff is the sports star at his school. Willy
sees a very bright future for his son, but in reality this does not come to pass. Willy
is not as proud of Happy, who does all he can to garner some attention from his
father. He is constantly telling his dad about the weight he has lost, but Willy
instead of praising his son, tells him more ways in which to lose weight.
Biff and Happy are surprised at the turn their father has taken. Happy knew his
father would often talk to himself, but did not know he was so loud about it and
how often it occurred. Biff, meanwhile had no idea his father was behaving in this
manner. Now their mother tells them the car accidents Willy has been having, are
in fact attempts at suicide. The boys agree to try to stay closer to home and start a
business together. Biff decides to ask his former boss for a loan to help start the
new business.

At the beginning of act two, Willy and Linda are full of hope for their family's future.
Willy is going to talk to his boss, Howard, and try to change his job from that of
traveling salesman to floor salesman in the store. They are also hopeful about Biff
and Happy's future business venture. If Biff can receive the loan from his former
employer, than it will mean a bright future for the boys. Biff at age 34, needs to
settle down and make a career for himself, he sees that and so does his parents.
Willy tries to talk to Howard about the job change, but Howard tells him he just
doesn't have a position open for him in the store. He needs Willy to keep selling to
the clients in the New England area. Willy becomes angry with Howard and starts to
yell at him. Howard after trying to calm Willy down, eventually has to fire him.
Biff is left waiting in his former boss, Bill Oliver's office for six hours and he only
sees Bill, as he is leaving for the day. It is clear that Bill either doesn't remember
Biff or doesn't want to speak to him. Biff, after all, did steal some basketballs from
Bill's business. Biff in a pique of anger enters Bill's office and steals his pen. As he is
making his escape from Bill's office he realizes he and Bill never did have a real
relationship and he has made a mess of his life.
Biff and Happy have made plans to meet their father in a restaurant to celebrate
the anticipated good news from the day. Instead, it is all bad news and Willy is not
willing to accept the truth from Biff. The two boys meet some girls and leave Willy
alone in the restaurant, which causes Willy to have another hallucination about a
woman he had used to cheat on Linda.
At home, Linda is furious with the boys for leaving their father behind at the
restaurant. She tells them it would be better if they left and never returned,
because they causes so much stress for their father. Willy and Biff finally tell each
other how they feel, which makes Willy understand that his son loves him. Willy
decides the insurance money of twenty-five thousand dollars would benefit his
family. He talks to Ben and decides to kill himself. Afterward, Linda has a hard time
dealing with Willy's death. She cannot bring herself to cry, because she keeps on
waiting for him to return from another business trip. She is sad, because finally the
house is paid for and now she does not have a husband to share it with.

This play shows how false perceptions of ourselves and others can bring about the
ruin of a person. If a life is based on a lie, then eventually the truth can be too
much to endure.

Themes

Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work.

The American Dream

Willy believes wholeheartedly in what he considers the promise of the American Dream—that a “well
liked” and “personally attractive” man in business will indubitably and deservedly acquire the material
comforts offered by modern American life. Oddly, his fixation with the superficial qualities of
attractiveness and likeability is at odds with a more gritty, more rewarding understanding of the
American Dream that identifies hard work without complaint as the key to success. Willy’s
interpretation of likeability is superficial—he childishly dislikes Bernard because he considers Bernard a
nerd. Willy’s blind faith in his stunted version of the American Dream leads to his rapid psychological
decline when he is unable to accept the disparity between the Dream and his own life.
Family
The play, Death of a Salesman, is the tragedy of a family which could not accept the changing times.
Willy Loman, while trying to materialize his American dream, loses his senses. He knows that he has lost
touch with the modern market. Therefore, he depends on his sons to realize his dreams, but both fail.
Biff does not know what to do in life, while Happy does not have any dream. Charley and Bernard, their
neighbors, have been placed by Miller in contrast to them to show a successful family. Conversely, Willy
Loman and his sons have been implicitly presented as a failed family. Therefore, family and relationships
is another theme of the play.

Personality Cult
Developing a fetish for a figure, or personality cult is another major theme of the play. Willy Loman
constantly repeats lines and advises his sons that they must be well-liked. This is his pet word that he
uses time and again to reflect a culture where a person well-liked becomes an icon in business and
industry. Therefore, business and market are based on the idea of the culture of personality. Miller has
highlighted this belief of Willy Loman that image creates an economy and that people well-liked become
financially successful.