Death of a Salesman Summary and Analysis

Author: Arthur Miller, a playwright famous for works such as The Crucible.  He is well-known for being politically active.

Setting: The play takes place throughout the American Northeast in places such as Boston, New York, and the Loman's residence in Brooklyn.  The urban location of the Loman's house in Brooklyn plays a major role in the play.  When the Loman's built there home there was a lot of sunlight and a big backyard with a garden.  Over time there were many homes built surrounding the Loman's home that blocked the sun from shining on their yard, killed their garden, and constrained them.  This is very representative of the change in the mood and well-being of the characters.  When they had a big garden they were all fairly successful and had a lot of hope for a bright future.  As the house was surrounded on all sides the garden died and the soil became infertile.  This represents the infertility in the Loman's life as well during this time and their lack of hope.  The play takes place in the "present" when this book was published in 1949 or when it was written.  Thus it is fairly safe to say that it take place in the late 1940s, however Willy has many flashbacks to the past that would be around the late 1920s or early 1930s.  Although this book does have a time period, there is not much that could not be applied to modern society.  

Narrative: As Death of a Salesman is a play there is no narrator.

Plot: Willy is a business man who is confused about life, not knowing where he stands in society as a salesman as his son Biff is a high school graduate and a failure in life. Linda is an all knowing character who serves as a mother like figure to Willy and takes care of the family in times of need.  Happy is a character who is successful but neglected. Willy recognizes Biff’s failure as one of his own faults and considers it to be the biggest mistake in his own life. When Happy suggests to Biff that they could both work at a company together and that they should go achieve their “american dream”, the family suddenly becomes closer; the idea of achieving the American dream brings the family closer. However, Biff and Happy never get the job.  Willy’s past successes were attributed to his charming good looks. These looks allowed him to sleep with the receptionists of big businesses but as time passed, his charming features diminished. His depression then spurs, and his attempts of suicide with a rubber hose were later discovered by Linda. Although Linda became very concerned for Willy and cares for him, he does not seemingly feel the same way. He even cheated on Linda and when Biff found out, he was highly disappointed in his father. Betrayal is a common theme in this novel and is not only prevalent here, but also when Biff does not become successful it betrays Willy’s ambitions. Towards the end of the novel, Willy is driving subconsciously and gets in a car accident and dies. The family then morns the loss of Willy, who in the end was alleviated by all the stresses of life by dying. He achieved his American dream; to be free. 

Tone: The tone of this play is sincere and at times brutally honest.  The author does not include any sort of comic relief in the play as the author of The American Dream did.  He has a very serious message that he is trying to deliver through this play and he does so in a rather dark way.  As a result many would find this book rather depressing, yet it is very entertaining and very true.  Many of the character's emotions pour out in this play and the way the dialogue is written the reader will generally get fed up with the characters' actions.  This play is a great representation of capitalist society in America and the chase for the "American Dream".  

Themes: 

• The American Dream- The American Dream is unattainable yet extremely desirable to Willy. The chase of the American Dream leads to his unhappiness, and his Death.
• The Evil of Capitalism- 
• Betrayal: Willy betrays Linda by having an affair with another woman. Biff betrays Willy by not achieving the success that he once promised his father.

Symbols: 

• Seeds: The seeds that will was trying to plant represent hope.
• Rubber hose: The rubber hose that Willy kept trying to remove from his car to kill himself represents the fragility of life. 
• Stockings: Stockings during the time period the book was written in were viewed as a luxury.  They represent femininity.  

Quotes:  “Nothing’s planted. I don’t have a thing in the ground.”  The plant symbolizes a new beginning for Willy once he realizes that this is his last ditch substitute for all of his failures in his son and in his work.

“He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine . . . A salesman is got to dream, boy.” This quote discusses the rough nature of the capitalistic market in which Willy is competing in.