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4.1 Introduction of the characters
4.1.1 Willy Loman
The main character in the book is Willy Loman, a elderly salesman who is about sixty years old. He is a man who has hopes and illusions in his life, but he does not seem to be able to put them into reality. His hopes are to become welthy and rich because he is an comission worker with low income who can not afford to pay his bills.
Willy has a wife, Linda, and two sons, Biff and Happy, who both are not succesful in their own lives. But Willy does not want to accept that, as he is living in his world of illusions and he thinks that both of them are great persons. He especially wants Biff, who he favours, to succeed in life because he himself never did. A major source of conflict exactly lies exactly in the problem of realizing that the boys both are not successful.
Later in his life, when this play takes place, Willy has problems to distiguish between past and present - for him: between illusion and reality - which puts the reader to the beginning of the familie´s problems by using flashbacks.
The beginning of the mentioned problems is an affair Willy has with a woman he meets on one of his business - trips. One day he is caught by Biff, who does not want to accept this affair and so does not respect his father any more. From now on, Willy and Biff cannot get along with each other any more and Willy commits suicide, so that his vision of his son getting rich becomes true, because Biff gets his father´s life insurance money.
4.1.2 Linda Loman
Linda is the person in the Loman family, who always wants to keep away trouble. Espiacially when Willy and his sons are arguing about their lives she is the one who is calming down the whole situation. She knows about Willy´s problems but stands behind him as she knows that he is tired and sick of life. She also knows that he had tried several times to kill himself and she knows that he will do it again, but she tolerates it because she knows how tired of life her husband is.
4.1.3 Happy Loman
Happy is the younger one of the two Loman sons. Though being the younger one, he is not favoured by his father because he is not very self - confident, which can be proved by the fact that he always changes the women he lives with. He lives in New York, but during the play he is at home to visit his family. He never wants to get in trouble with his dad and so he tries to keep the illusions his father believes in, for example he always says he is going to get married though this is not true at all.
Happy is a boy who is very similar to his dad. He thinks the way his father does, and also he believes that having a dream is enough in an man´s life, instead of fulfilling this dream.
4.1.4 Biff Loman
Biff Loman is Willy\'s son. The story mainly deals with the conflict between them. Biff was a star football player in high school but he failed in math in his senior year and so he was not allowed to graduate. Biff then changed his jobs several times and so was lost for fifteen years. He was even in jail because he stealed but now he has come home and the problems begin.
Willy always wanted Biff to become a business man what he himself never succeeded in. Biff himself, on his side, has the problem of either doing things his father would like him to or doing what he thinks it is right. Biff wants to lead a cattle ranch on his own, and Willy wants him to be a man of respectable business. By seeing the world through his illusions, Willy does not realize that Biff is a nobody in the real world. This conflict between the real world and Willy´s illusions is the main problem in the plot.
At the end of the play, Biff realizes that his father always lived in a illusionary world and he finds out, that it is not his destiny to become very successful in his life.
4.1.5 Other Characters
Charlie: He is the neighbour of the Loman family and he is also the one, who wants Willy to become more realistic and does his best to reach his aim. But he always refuses to listen and so they are not real friends, but they get along with each other.
Bernhard: He is Charlie´s son and a friend of Biff, who always wanted to learn with him because Biff should have been able to graduate High School. Bernhard in his life has studied and now he is a lawyer, a fact Willy has problems with because now Bernhard has reached a higher position in life than his son has.
Uncle Ben: Ben is Willy´s dead brother, who always appears in Willy´s flashbacks. Ben became a rich man in Africa as he had a diamond mine. He offered Willy to join him, but Willy refused and preferred to be a salesman.
4.2 The content of "Death of a salesman"
4.2.1 Act One
The Story starts as Willy Loman, a salesman who works on commission, returns home from a business trip on which he didn´t sell very much. He is tired of life on the road. Biff and Hap, his two sons, returned home to visit.
Biff returned home after 15 years of trying everything but really doing nothing constantly.
Happy, who lives in a appartment in New York, also came home, but just in order to visit his parents and not like Biff, in order to stay.
Willy, when the conflict in the story takes place, cannot understand why Biff has no job and so he is lost in his own world, he thinks. Willy thinks about the past and the reader gets to know for the first time that Willy somehow lives in two different words, the past and the future. Linda, his wife, suggests Willy to eat something and the go to bed and have a rest.
During this, Biff and Happy are talking to each other in the bedroom they once lived in. They discuss about their father and recognize that he has become an old an tired man. They talk how both of them imagine their own lifes and we get to know that Happy has a low moral standard, because he often changes the women on his side. Meanwhile, Willy stands in the kitchen having a monologue. Willy has a flashback, where he is set into another time and sees and hears things which are gone for several years now. Now he sees a scene 15 years ago, when Biff still went to High School and the leader of the football team, which made Willy being very proud of his son.
Biff is in training with a football, which he has borrowed from the team, he says, but he took it without knowledge of the coach.
Willy tells Linda that his look is responsible for the fact, that he doesn´t sell so much any more because Willy thinks he looks in a way foolish. In this flashback we also get to know that Willy had an affair with a younger woman who he met on one of his business trips.
Now, Bernard, the next-door neighbour boy, reaches the scene and tells Willy that Biff should learn math with him. Otherwise Biff would fail in math and so not be able to graduate High School. Willy starts to go around looking for Biff and during this search, the scene comes back to presence and Happy enters the kitchen, finding his dad talking to himself.
Willy now starts talking about his brother Ben who has died several years ago. Ben is a person, Willy admires for his strength in mind, because he became wealthy by going into the jungle of Africa and building up a mine in order to find diamonds. And exactly this strength in mind and the fact that he makes his aims become reality, regards Willy as higher and more important than knowledge in life.
Willy now begins to discuss with his son about Happy´s way of life and that he spends to much money, has to many women and that his car is too expensive.
Charlie, the neighbour, enters to see what\'s wrong because the two have a loud discussion. When they sit down around the table and begin playing cards and Happy goes upstairs again. During this card game, Charlie, who owns a sales firm, offers a job to Willy which he refuses to accept once more. He starts once more to talk of his brother Bernard. Another flashback appears and soon the scenery has changed once more to the year Biff was about to graduate High School. On this day, Ben visited the family. Willy and Ben talk about their father, who has left the family alone. Willy ,although he never got to know his father, regards him as a strong and successful man. Ben tells Willy how he became wealthy and the leaves for his business trip. Ben explains to Willy, that everything you need are two things to get a lot of money: a vision and the strength to make this vision become reality. Now, the scene switches back to presence and Willy is yelling, \"I was right! I was right!\", because he always told his sons exactly what Ben just told him. When Linda, who woke up by Willy´s shouting, enters the kitchen, Willy decides to walk around the house, still crying out "I was right!". Now also Biff enters the kitchen. He wants to know how long his father has been in this strange mood of talking to himself. Linda tells Biff that Willy is just happy, when Biff is at home or writes something to his family. Everything is fine for Willy because he always just wanted his boys to reach a position in the society he never had.
During this conversation the reader gets to know that Biff and Willy haven´t had a good relationship since the year after Biff´s High School any more, because Biff has not respected his father any more after his affair. Willy has not respected his son any more after not having graduated. Now also Happy enters the kitchen and joins the discussion. Linda accuses Biff and Happy of not thinking of the family, especially their dad. She tells them that Willy is tired of life because all he wanted was that his boys could lead a better life than he does. She explains that he has worked for his boys all his life, and they do not even think about their old dad any more. Linda also tells the boys that Willy has been trying to kill himself either by his car accidents or by gas.
Biff now feels sorry for his behaviour and he wants to do something to make his dad happy and proud of him again. Biff and Happy start an conversation about how each other´s life became a failure and Willy comes to the door. Now Biff and Willy begin argueing. As things start to get hot and heavy, Happy tells Willy that Biff will ask Oliver, his former employer, if he will borrow the Loman brothers money to start a business for sporting goods. Happy now has a vision of how to become rich and Willy suddenly is cheered up. Now his boys are talking the way he wanted them to. But Biff is not happy with this suggestion because he always wanted to have his own farm, but he agrees because his dad is pleased by the idea of his sons starting their own business. In the end of the scene, Biff and Happy start argueing again and Willy once more is depressed and goes upstairs in order to sleep. The boys also go upstairs to cheer him up.
4.2.2 Act Two
Act Two starts in the morning at the next day. Willy is totally lucky as his sons are going to start their own business, and nothing can can lessen his happiness. Willy leaves the house together with his boys in order to meet his boss Howard to ask him whether he may work in a store in and not making business trips any more. The boys are going to see Oliver to borrow money from him.
Willy talks to Howard who tells him that he would lose his job as the firm is going to fire him. Willy now really is confused because he never would have Howard, the son of his friend and former boss of the firm expected to fire him. He starts a monologue about sales. During it Howard leaves the room and in Willy´s mind Ben appears and he is set back to Biff´s senior High School year. He is taken to the day the football game took place. At this day, Willy again refuses to accept Ben´s offer to join his business. Still in this flashback, Willy leaves Howard\'s office and he walks down the street to Charlie.
Having arrived there, Willy meets Bernard and they begin to talk about what has happened to Biff after High School. Biff failed in math and so he never
graduated. Bernard also tells Willy that Biff was completely changed after he once visited his dad on a sales trip, but Willy refuses to talk about that theme.
Now, Willy and Charlie have a talk where we get to know that Charlie gives Willy fifty dollars in order to tell at home this was his pay. Willy gets off, nearly crying, and the reader is taken to Frank\'s Chop, a restaurant where Biff and Happy are waiting for their dad.
In the evening of that day, Willy, Happy and Biff meet in that restaurant for dinner. Happy is already there and once more he talks to a woman when Biff comes in. Biff is totally depressed as he does not get the credit and now has to tell this to his dad. Worse than that, he stole Oliver´s pen and when he wants to tell his dad all the truth, Happy interrupts him because he does not want his dad to become unhappy. Willy is falls into another flashback, taking the reader once more in Biff´s Senior Year, while the boys leave the restaurant in company with some women.
He is in hotel with the woman he had an affair with, as Biff comes in in order to talk to his father about his uncomplete High School. This is the moment he finds out, that his dad has an affair with another woman. Short after this, the reader is taken back to the Chop House when Willy leaves the restaurant.
The two, Biff and Happy return home very late and Linda is still awake, argueing with their sons about their behavior to their dad, while Willy is talking to Ben in the garden during another flashback. Willy has an idea how his sons still can start their own business. He thinks about comitting suicide so that Biff gets enough money to start with. As the discussion goes on, Biff enters the garden and wants to tell his dad that he has decided to leave the family so that no trouble will occur any more.
Both are now argueing in such a strong way they never did before. The climax is that Biff leaves this conversation right in the middle, again telling his dad that he will leave forever.
They all go to bed now, except Willy, who talks again to Ben. Ben tells him that this plan, to kill himself would solve two problems of him. First of all Biff would have enough money to start his own business and the next thing would be that Willy could show his son how much he is loved, as hundreds of people actually will visit his funeral, he thinks. Ben and Willy walk out and Willy uses his car to commit suicide.
The last scene, also called "Requiem" by Arthur Miller, takes place right after Willy´s funeral and only Biff, Happy, Linda, Charlie and Bernard are present. Biff gives the most shocking, but also the most true statement in the whole play: "He had the wrong dreams. All, all, wrong."
The play closes with just Linda on stage talking to her dead husband Willy.
4.3 Appearances of the "American Dream" in "Death of a salesman"
Comparing to the definition of the "American Dream", several aspects are fulfilled in this play to say that it is dealing with this theme.
At the name of the protagonist, Willy Loman has to be mentioned.
If you compare the pronounciation to the spelling, there is no difference:
Loman is pronouced the same way as low man, which does not have the meaning of a name any more, but describes a person in a low social position.
And this is what Miller wanted and what is in some aspects is what the "American Dream" is about: to become whealthy and a member of the higher society out of a low position.
This vision dominated Willy Loman´s life in such a strong way that he was ready to die for it, as he wanted his vision to become reality. But he was never able to put it into reality and that is why he always tried to push his sons, espicially Biff in this role of the succeeding business man.
He has choosen Biff because he is a person who is liked by others and who he himself loves more of his two sons. But Biff never wanted to be pushed into this role, he always wanted his own farm and he just played the game of being the son his father always wanted him to be because he knew how tired of life his dad is. So he tried to bring his father´s vision into reality but he also failed like his father did all his life.
This is what Willy gave the idea of being responsible for his son and trying with everything he could affort to make his vision at least in his son become reality. This is what the American Dream also is about: taking care of one´s family and trying to help them whenever possible thorugh the mean of the chance of personal fulfilment.
Willy always had the dream, but not the will and the strenght to put his vision into reality. That is why he tried to push his sons in the role of the successful business men.
But in Willy´s mind the vision of being a member of the higher society is more important than his own life and this is why he regards his death as the only possible chance for his son Biff to build up his own business and to get those things, he himself never had.
So "Miller points out that "even the death, the ultimate negative", can be "an assertion of bravery. "
This was, however, in Miller´s younger years and it is obvious to see that his oppinion has changed through the years. Later in his life, as he wrote "The last Yankee" he changed his own oppinion. This will be shown in the following comparism.
5. Comparism between the appearance of the American Dream in Arthur Miller´s "The last Yankee" and "Death of a salesman"
In order to understand the changing outlook of the American Dream in the two books written by Arthur Miller, you have to see that "Death of a salesman" was written much earlier than "The last Yankee". Between the two books there is a difference of 44 years, ("Death of a salesman" was published in 1949, "The last Yankee" in 1993!) which means a lot in a persons life. So there was a change in Miller´s own attitude towards life and what he expected of it.
These are the facts appearing in "Death of a salesman":
Willy Loman is a worker who has the vision that he can make it to real whealth. But he has just the vision and is not ready to work real hard for it.
He would have had the opportunity to go with his Uncle Ben, who has the same vision, but he was ready to give something for it, so he went to Africa and startet in the mining business, which made him quite rich.
Willy was offered this chance but he denied and so it is obvious that he is not really willing to invest something in his dreams, he just wants them to become reality by doing nothing.
The only thing he was proud of in his life is that he was liked by the shopkeepers he went to in his younger years on his business trips, but also this situation changed during the years. And even as this situation changed, he was not ready to spend something so this would change again. After realizing that he has lost everything he was proud of, he began to live his vision, but just in his mind, which means he put himself back in the times when everything was still okay for him. But as this is no real solution, he always got into conflicts with the reality that surrounded him.
The same thing happend to his son Biff. Willy always sets himself back into the year of Biff´s senior year at High School, and so he forgot that Biff did fail in math and he never finished his High School. But Willy imagines Biff always as his son who is a member of the famous football team and so everybody else does also have to like him, which is quite wrong as Biff stole several things.
After continuing for several years with his life in a vision, he got more and more tired of life. And this is why he commits sucide in the end. This is the only possible chance for his son Biff to get enough money to start his own business.
So we can see what Miller meant by this final solution: It was more important for him to have enough money in life than having a working social backround without money in masses.
This point of view changed completely 44 years later. Miller wrote "The last Yankee" and here there is a totally changed view of what the American Dream can be.
Leroy Hamilton would have had the chance to use his name in order to lead his the live more easily, but he does not. He is someone who wants to stand upon his own legs, build up something by his own work. And this is what his wife can not understand as she comes out of a famous family where every - body was used to have a certain position in the society just because of their roots.
Out of this misunderstanding, she got so worried about her own life so that she had to be treated in a mental hospital, where she gets to know Karen, the wife of a quite rich former business owner.
The reader has the chance to compare both women while they are talking to each other. And then the feeling arises that Patricia is a totally healthy person and just Karen seems to be ill because in all the dialogues she is not able to response to what Patricia has just said.
So it is not understandable for the reader why Patricia is in this hospital, but he can find out in the end.
It was the conflict between what she was used to from her family and the attitude her husband has. She always wanted him to use his name in order to make life for them more comfortable, but he refused to. So she got in a mental conflict about the knowledge and traditions of her past and what happened in the reality. But as this is just a mental problem, she only had to think about Karen´s situation to find out that she is healthy.
Karen can be found in the opposite situation: she has a quite rich, but not a caring husband. He is a person who had success in his life and so he regards his family as not important.
The reader gets to know that Leroy´s view of leading his life is the right one because he had the chance of using his name in order to make life more comfortable for himself and his family, but he refuses. This is why there is to say: he is a man who truely lives the American Dream.
Leroy Hamilton used his own chance of personal fulfillment.
He had the wish to lead a life just doing the things he likes to. And this starts with searching a job you like, and not searching a job others respect you for. This made Leroy a real sympathic man. He always had his own vision of life and he made it come true. Even more, he was so convinced by his idea of leading one´s life that he even made his wife believe in, which is quite difficult because she had a totally controversery pint of view. But as she feels healthy in the end, the reader gets the impression that Leroy´s attitude is right.
Compared to Mr. Loman, there is a little difference you have to see.
Willy Loman never had the chance of using his name in order to achieve a better life. But Arthur Miller gave another solution in "Death of a salesman": this solution appears in form of his dead brother Ben.
He had the same wish, to be rich and whealthy, but he was ready to work for it, which Willy certainly was not. Willy preferred to think that his dreams would become reality by time without doing anything for it. So he escaped in the times when the future seemed still okay.
So you can say that Willy never made it out of his low position because he was no ready to do something for it. And Leroy, who had the chance of making it to a higher social position, did not use this chance because it was not what he wanted in his life.
So Leroy is the only person in these two books by Arthur Miller who really lived the American Dream.
He used his chance of personal fulfilment combined with his equality and dignity to make his life for himself satisfying and worth living for. This is what Willy Loman never managed to and that is also the reason why he commited suicide in the end.
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