essay about american dream in death of salesman

The American Dream in 'Death of a Salesman'

What is the American Dream? It depends on which character you ask

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Some may argue that the appeal of Arthur Miller 's play "Death of a Salesman" is the struggle each character encounters as they try to pursue and define their American Dream.

The "rags to riches" idea—where hard work and persistence, coupled with high hopes and inner and outer struggles that often accompany it, should lead to success—seems timelessly relatable and represents one of the central themes of the story.

Miller fabricated the character of a salesman without an identified product, and the audience connects with him that much more.

Creating a worker broken by a vague, unfeeling industry stems from the playwright’s socialist leanings, and it has often been said that " Death of a Salesman " is a harsh criticism of the American Dream. However, according to Miller, the play is not necessarily a critique of the American Dream as our forefathers thought of it.

Rather, what it condemns is the confusion that enters when people take the material success for the end-all-be-all and elevate it above spirituality, connection with nature, and, most importantly, relationships with others.

Willy Loman’s American Dream

To the protagonist of "Death of a Salesman," the American Dream is the ability to become prosperous by mere charisma.

Willy believes that charming personality, and not necessarily hard work and innovation, is the key to success. Time and again, he wants to make sure his boys are well-liked and popular. For example, when his son Biff confesses to making fun of his math teacher’s lisp, Willy is more concerned with how Biff’s classmates react than with the morality of Biff's action:

BIFF: I Crossed my eyes and talked with a lithp.​​

WILLY [laughing]: You did? The kids like it?

BIFF: They nearly died laughing!

Of course, Willy’s version of the American Dream never pans out:

• Despite his son’s popularity in high school, Biff grows up to be a drifter and a ranch-hand.
• Willy’s own career falters as his sales ability flat-lines.
• When he tries to use “personality” to ask his boss for a raise, he gets fired instead.

Willy is very much concerned with being somebody and paying off his mortgage, which in themselves aren't necessarily bad goals. His tragic flaw is that he fails to recognize the love and devotion that surround him and elevates the goals prescribed by society above all else.

Ben’s American Dream

One person Willy really admires and wishes he was more like is his older brother Ben. In a way, Ben embodies the original American Dream—the ability to start with nothing and somehow make a fortune:

BEN [ giving great weight to each word, and with a certain vicious audacity ]: William, when I walked into the jungle, I was seventeen. When I walked out I was twenty-one. And, by God, I was rich!

Willy is envious of his brother’s success and machismo. But Willy’s wife Linda , one of the characters who can actually distinguish from true and superficial values, is frightened and concerned when Ben stops by for a brief visit. To her, he represents wildness and danger.

This is displayed when Ben horses around with his nephew Biff. Just as Biff starts to win their sparring match, Ben trips the boy and stands over him with the “point of his umbrella poised at Biff’s eye.”

Ben’s character signifies that a few people can achieve the “rags to riches” version of the American Dream. Yet, Miller’s play also suggests that one must be ruthless (or at least a bit wild) in order to achieve it.

Happy's American Dream

When it comes to Willy's sons, they each appear to have inherited a different side of Willy. Happy, despite being a more static and one-sided character, is following in Willy's footsteps of self-delusion and pretenses. He is a shallow character who is content with going from job to job, as long as he has some income and can devote himself to his female interests.

Charley's and Bernard's American Dream

Willy's neighbor Charley and his son Bernard stand in opposition to Loman's family's ideals. The protagonist frequently puts both of them down, promising his sons that they will do better in life than their neighbors because they look better and are more liked.

Willy: That’s just what I mean, Bernard can get the best marks in school, y’understand, but when he gets out in the business world, y’understand, you are going to be five times ahead of him. That’s why I thank Almighty God you’re both built like Adonises. Because the man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead. Be liked and you will never want. You take me, for instance. I never have to wait in line to see a buyer.

Yet, it is Charley who has his own business and not Willy. And it is Bernard's seriousness about school that ensured his future success, which is in stark contrast with the paths of the Loman brothers. Instead, Charley and Bernard are both honest, caring, and hard-working without the unnecessary bravado. They demonstrate that with the right attitude, the American Dream is indeed achievable.

Biff’s American Dream

Biff is one of the most complex characters in this play . Although he has felt confused and angry since discovering his father’s infidelity, Biff Loman does have the potential to pursue the “right” dream—if only he could resolve his inner conflict.

Biff is pulled by two different dreams. One is that of his father’s world of business, sales, and capitalism. Biff is captured by his love and admiration for his father and struggles to decide what is the right way to live. On the other hand, he also inherited his father's sense of poetry and love for the natural life that Willy didn't allow to fully develop. And so Biff dreams of nature, the great outdoors, and working with his hands.

Biff explains this tension to his brother when he talks about both the appeal and the angst of working on a ranch:

BIFF: There’s nothing more inspiring or—beautiful than the sight of a mare and a new colt. And it’s cool there now, see? Texas is cool now, and it’s spring. And whenever spring comes to where I am, I suddenly get the feeling, my God, I’m not getting anywhere! What the hell am I doing, playing around with horses, twenty-eight dollars a week! I’m thirty-four years old. I oughta be makin’ my future. That’s when I come running home.

By the end of the play, Biff realizes that his father had the “wrong” dream. He knows that Willy was great with his hands (he built their garage and put up a new ceiling), and Biff believes that Willy should have been a carpenter or should have lived in another, more rustic part of the country.

But instead, Willy pursued an empty life. He sold nameless, unidentified products, and watched his American Dream fall apart.

During the funeral of his father, Biff decides that he will not allow the same thing to happen to himself. He turns away from Willy’s dream and, presumably, returns to the countryside, where good, old-fashioned manual labor will ultimately make his restless soul content.

• Matthew C. Roudane, Conversations with Arthur Miller. Jackson, Mississippi, 1987, p. 15.
• Bigsby, Christopher. Introduction. Death of a Salesman: Certain Private Conversations in Two Acts and a Requiem by Arthur Miller, Penguin Books, 1999, pp. vii-xxvii.
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American Dream in Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” Essay

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The play Death of a salesman is indeed an anatomy of the American dream especially because the plot of the story revolves around some of the basic material gains that individuals in the American society yearn for. This is evident from the onset of the play when the lead character Willy Loman arrives home after a failed work mission and immediately embarks on blaming some of his woes on his under-achieving son Biff.

From the flashback Willy is disappointed that Biff was a representation of a bright future when he was much younger but turned out completely different on growing up (Miller 1-3). This is definitely what happens to most families in the American society where individuals get into life hoping to have all the best in terms of material wealth as well as have families that would be the envy of most of their neighbors (G.Perkins, B. Perkins and Phelan 1928).

Fathers and mothers have dreams of how their children would be even more successful and they (the parents) tend to bend their children towards growing up in this direction which is sometime informed by the parents’ failure to achieve certain goals in their own childhoods. Unfortunately, in most cases, the children tend to have their own wishes and aims and in the process of trying to fulfill the desires of their hearts they end up disappointing their parents.

The rant by Willy about not taking the opportunity to accompany his brother on his mission to Alaska and Africa, and therefore missing on the chance to become as wealthy as Ben is a complete revelation of how individuals in the American society fail to appreciate the little blessings they have in their wish to have everything. This desire for all the best of things in the world is the guiding principle of the American dream and figuratively speaking it is the primary fuel that keeps the fire burning.

In society most people would not appreciate the fact that they are lucky to have three square meals a day and even the potential to bear children just because they can see other individuals living better than them. If the sons that Willy found a failure were to be taken out of his life by him not being given the ability for procreation, it is definitely predictable that Willy would start complaining about his inadequacy as a man.

It is Willy’s inability to attain most of his heart’s desires that leads him to committing suicide. His son, Biff, also responds to his own inability to achieving the American dream by resorting to theft. He regards his kleptomaniac state as a way of rebelling against the corporate world which he could not penetrate. In the American society, most individuals would resort to inappropriate ways of dealing with their frustrations and Biff’s case is not unusual.

The American dream leads individuals to always want appreciation from other people in society. Almost everybody would do anything to become popular and when they fail to do so, they enter into a realm of self-pity. This is evident by Linda’s disappointment at the small attendance of Willy’s funeral. Ideally Linda should be saddened by the loss of a life partner to notice such a small thing as they number of people at the funeral.

It should actually not matter whether it is only the direct family members who show up at the burial but as a person wishing to achieve significance in society, Linda’s hope is that her social network is big enough for people to appreciate her pain.

Works Cited

Miller, Arthur. Death of a salesman: A play in two acts. New York City: Dramatists Play Service, 1952. Print.

Perkins, George, Barbara Perkins & James Phelan. The American Tradition in Literature, Volume II. 2 nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2007. Print.

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Bibliography

IvyPanda . "American Dream in Miller's "Death of a Salesman"." January 29, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/american-dream-in-millers-death-of-a-salesman/.

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The American Dream in Death of a Salesman

Death of a salesman american dream: essay introduction, willy’s american dream, miller’s characterization of the american dream: death of a salesman, how to realize ‘american dream’, loman family’s hopes and american dream: death of a salesman, death of a salesman american dream: essay conclusion.

One of the main themes in the play Death of a Salesman is the American Dream. The philosophy of the American Dream originated in the early twentieth century when many immigrants came to America in search of economic opportunities and a better life. The protagonist, Willy, thinks that to achieve the American Dream, one needs to be likable and have a good personality. In reality, the keys to success in America are hard work and diligence. Willy, however, cannot see this, thus leading him to fail in his business endeavors.

The American Dream is characterized by the materialistic and idealistic values of society. To fulfill the American Dream, one has to live a perfect life as a hardworking and successful citizen. Throughout the novel, Willy strives to fulfill the American Dream but never achieves his goal because he does not understand what is required.

The “American Dream,” in Willy’s eyes, is the accomplishments and attainments of a successful career. Being the dreamer he is, Willy attempts to make his mark as a salesman because “selling [is] the greatest career a man [can] want” (Act 2). Unfortunately for Willy, he falls short of his goal of succeeding in his career as a salesman. Willy blames the superficiality of the business world. This conviction is seen in his thoughts about Bernard:

“Bernard can get the best marks in school, y’understand, but when he gets out in the business world, y’understand, you’re going to be five times ahead of him. That’s why I thank Almighty God you’re both built like agonizes. Because the man, who makes an appearance in the business world, creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead. Be liked and you will never want” (Act 1).

Willy has ingrained his distorted views in his sons as well. His sons are Biff and Happy. Because of these thoughts and views being fed to his sons, this ultimately condemned them to failure as well. Happy complains, “I mean, I can outbox, outrun, and outlift anybody in that store, and I have to take orders from those common, pretty sons-of-bitches till I can’t stand it anymore” (Act 1). Happy thinks that just because he is stronger than those who give him orders, he should be the one to give the orders. His father taught him that that was the way to success, and it is obviously failing for Happy. The same goes for Biff. Just because he has a dashing smile, good looks, and people like him – that does not mean he will succeed in the business world. He is also lacking hard work, persistence, and work ethic, which makes him a failure. Willy does not see it that way in any case. He is seeing both of his sons from “the clouds.” He looks down on them like they are the successes that he has made out to be in his head. This belief, unfortunately, does not help them in life. The Loman boys are not the only ones Willy views as poisons but also his wife, Linda.

Miller has created Willy’s wife, Linda so that it is difficult to confirm whether she is a positive or destructive force upon him. It is hard to understand why she allows this deception to rise to the level that it does. The love Linda holds for Willy is persistent. She sees herself as his protector. Linda allows Willy to laps into his illusions to feel contentment. However, in her love for her husband, she ironically can also be seen as his destroyer. In her admiration for Willy, Linda also accepts his dream, which turns out fatal. She allows him to kill himself, never letting on that she knows about the attempted suicides. Although Linda was affected by Willy’s illusions of success, Biff was most affected.

The character most harmfully affected by Willy’s pursuit of the “American Dream” is his eldest son Biff. Like his father, they are both impractical. Biff has the consequences of disillusionment to deal with, and Willy the illusions themselves. Still looking for his purpose in life, Biff persists due to Willy. While still in high school, Biff’s future was assured. He was well-liked, but it all came down soon afterward, discovering his father shattered the vision he held of him, “just because he printed University of Virginia on his sneakers doesn’t mean their going to graduate him” (Act 1). Biff, paralyzed by reality, realizes that, in fact, there is more to life than being a well-liked football star. Now after searching, Biff comes to terms with exactly who and what he is:

“… I stopped in the middle of that building and I saw – the sky. I saw the things I love in this world… and I looked at the pen and said to myself, what the hell am I grabbing this for? Why am I trying to become what I don’t want to be…I am not a leader of men… Pop I’m a dime a dozen, and so are you” (Act 2).

Willy also soon discovers that his life is not the perfect one he has conjured up in his head. Willy realizes that he has lived his life in vain. He has concluded that he has never achieved nor succeeded but remained a shadow of his ambition. This sudden insight urges him into a fantasy, afraid to face the future. It is only through Willy’s failure as a salesman that his innate desire for the outdoors is exposed. At the end of the play, Charley mentions, “… He was a happy man with a batch of cement… so wonderful with his hands… he had the wrong dreams, all wrong” (Act 2). The play emphasizes that the path not taken may have been right. Willy holds this assumption as the inability to see who and what he is, which leads to the tragic ending. (Stanton, 103)

Suicide is the answer Willy comes up with. It is the end of a life spent futilely chasing the “American Dream.” (Ferguson, 94) Willy has been unsuccessful in achieving the success he so desperately craves because his perception of the formula for success is fatally flawed. Willy believes the American dream is only attainable for the popular and attractive few. He does not believe he belongs to this elite group. Unfortunately, Willy never sees the error of his ways. To the very end, he is a firm believer in the ideology that the attractive and well-spoken finish first. This conviction is the very thing that destroys him because he now finds out, in his mind, he is not on top. Death of a Salesman is an outstanding play that challenges the “American Dream.” We can learn from Willy Loman. We all have the urge to attain our own “American Dreams,” but we must live in reality, work hard, and persist in our efforts to attain them. (Scanlan, 233)

In believing that Willy only has his personality and appearance to sell himself, Willy is seen as heroic. Even after he fails as a salesman, Will feels compelled to persist because a salesman’s only way of survival is to dream. After Willy’s death, Charley says of Willy, “he’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they stop smiling back, – that’s an earthquake…. A salesman is got to dream boy. It comes with the territory.” (138). Charley knows that a salesman’s job is hard and that after much time and failure, his smile and shoeshine fade. The American Dream is seen as the antagonist in this play because it leads to Willy’s deterioration, insanity, and destruction. (Jacobson, 255)

The death of Willy at the end of the play is caused by the flaws of the American dream, the one that killed Willy is the one that says that some people will work hard all their life and end up with nothing, which happened to Willy. The American Dream sucks people in and does not let them leave. It is a lose-lose situation. Willy made the American Dream his culture, and the American Dream made Willy its victim. All of this is proof that living out this ‘American Dream,’ will never be a reality. It will just be an unobtainable fantasy.

Needless to say, the American Dream fails for many individuals. It is not the American system’s fault; it is due to the pursuers’ lack of hard work and dedication. The American system offers an opportunity to all people to live their American Dream; some might blame the system for their troubles when it is their own fault. (Helterman, 103) There is no quick or easy way through life, as achieving goals involves countless hard work and dedication to reaching dreams. The system is primarily understood by unfortunate people born into complicated lives, and they seem to truly understand how the system works and succeeds through hard work. We can learn from Willy Loman that we all have the urge to attain our own American Dreams, but we must live in reality, work hard, and persist in our efforts to attain them. So, Miller is one of the playwrights who show that the American Dream is just an ideology people can pursue and meet its requirements. It is not a magician that enables those with blind faith to become wealthy and successful.

The American Dream, as an essential theme in the play, also explains all of the male members of the Loman family’s pressure to succeed. All the Loman men desperately strive to succeed in areas that would never make them happy. Willy Loman shows a need for excellence in all aspects of his life. This desperation is shown in his constant over-exaggeration of his and his son’s achievements and skills. Willy is constantly contradicting himself throughout Death of a Salesman. For example, during one of Willy’s frequent flashbacks, he returns home to his eager wife and talks of his “five hundred gross in Providence and seven hundred gross in Boston.” He later contradicts himself when questioned repeatedly about his sales. Ultimately, he admits his actual “two hundred gross on the whole trip.” Willy exaggerates his figures in this part of the play to fulfill his self-given role as a successful salesman. (Lawrence, 548)

The Loman family members’ hopes and dreams are all generally similar. Male members of the Loman family wish to become successful in their jobs and live a comfortable lifestyle. In the present time of Death of a Salesman, Biff and Happy share a dream of going into business together as “The Loman brothers.” They believe they can create a million-dollar business, and their money worries will disappear. Willy dreams of earning two hundred dollars a week, repaying his mortgage, and seeing his sons become successful salesmen. He is again disillusioning himself. Biff is going to try and get some money from Bill Oliver, but already Willy is boating off Biff’s work on a huge deal. At the end of the play, Biff says that Willy “had the wrong dreams. All, all, wrong.” This statement implies that Biff thought his father had chosen a career that was very unsuited to him. It entails that Willy had set his self-expectations too high and would have only been able to be a mediocre salesman his whole life. In the play, Happy, like his father, is also disillusioned by the life they pretended to lead instead of the harsh reality that they exist in. (Shockley, 50)

Dreams are important in the play as they seem to be Willy Loman’s world. His life has become so unbearable for him. Miller is trying to say that a society that solely bases itself on hopes and ambitions beyond the reach of the vast majority of its members is using them. He is trying to say that the American Dream is a way of getting the lower members of society to work hard their entire life, striving for a dream that is promised to them but always seems to be just out of their reach. Miller says that the dream can eventually take over lives and destroy the grasp of reality that those who have envisaged the dream once had.

Arthur Miller: Death of a Salesman: “The Norton introduction to literature Ed J Paul Hunter Alison Booth, Kelly Mays. 8th Ed New York: Norton, 2002.

Ferguson, Alfred R. “The Tragedy of the American Dream in Death of a Salesman.” Thought 53 (1998): 81-98.

Helterman, Jeffrey. Dictionary of Literary Biography: Twentieth-Century American Dramatists Part 2: K-Z. Ed. John Mac Nicholas, Volume 7. Detroit: Gale Research Co., 1991. 86-111

Jacobson, Irving. “Family Dreams in Death of a Salesman.” American Literature 47 (1995): 247-58.

Lawrence, Stephen A. “The Right Dream in Miller’s Death of a Salesman.” College English 25 (2001): 547-49.

Scanlan, Tom. “Reactions I: Family and Society in Arthur Miller.” Family, Drama, and American Dreams. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998, pp. 126-35.

Shockley John S. “Death of a Salesman and American Leadership: Life Imitates Art.” Journal of American Culture 17 (Summer 1994): 49-56.

Stanton Kay. “Women and the American Dream of Death of a Salesman.” In Feminist Rereadings of Modern American Drama. Ed. June Schlueter. Rutherford, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1989. p103.

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Death of a Salesman

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The American Dream that anyone can achieve financial success and material comfort lies at the heart of Death of a Salesman . Various secondary characters achieve the Dream in different ways: Ben goes off into the wilderness of Alaska and Africa and lucks into wealth by discovering a diamond mine; Howard Wagner inherits his Dream through his father's company; while Bernard , who seemed a studious bore as a child, becomes a successful lawyer through hard work. Willy Loman 's version of the Dream, which has been influenced by his brother Ben's success, is that any man who is manly, good looking, charismatic, and well-liked deserves success and will naturally achieve it.

Over the course of his lifetime, Willy and his sons fall short of the impossible standards of this dream. But the real tragedy of the play is not that Willy fails to achieve the financial success promised in his American dream, but rather that he buys into the dream so thoroughly that he ignores the tangible things around him, such as the love of his family, while pursuing the success he hopes will bring his family security. By sacrificing himself at the end of the play in order to get his family the money from his life insurance policy, Willy literally kills himself for money. In the process, he demonstrates that the American dream, while a powerful vehicle of aspiration, can also turn a human being into a product or commodity whose sole value is his financial worth.

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Death of a Salesman

By arthur miller, death of a salesman death of a salesman and the american dream.

Death of a Salesman is considered by many to be the quintessential modern literary work on the American dream, a term created by James Truslow Adams in his 1931 book, The Epic of America. This is somewhat ironic, given that it is such a dark and frustrated play. The idea of the American dream is as old as America itself: the country has often been seen as an empty frontier to be explored and conquered. Unlike the Old World, the New World had no social hierarchies, so a man could be whatever he wanted, rather than merely having the option of doing what his father did.

The American Dream is closely tied up with the literary works of another author, Horatio Alger. This author grew famous through his allegorical tales which were always based on the rags-to-riches model. He illustrated how through hard work and determination, penniless boys could make a lot of money and gain respect in America. The most famous of his books is the Ragged Dick series (1867). Many historical figures in America were considered Alger figures and compared to his model, notably including Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller.

But the Horatio Alger model of the American dream is not what's represented in Death of a Salesman. Rather than being a direct representation of the concept, or even a direct critique of it, Salesman challenges the effects of the American dream. This myth exists in our society - how does the prevalence of this myth change the way in which we live our lives?

Miller had an uncertain relationship with the idea of the American dream. On one hand, Bernard 's success is a demonstration of the idea in its purist and most optimistic form. Through his own hard work and academic success, Bernard has become a well-respected lawyer. It is ironic, however, that the character most obviously connected to the American dream, who boasts that he entered the jungle at age seventeen and came out at twenty-one a rich man, actually created this success in Africa, rather than America. There is the possibility that Ben created his own success through brute force rather than ingenuity. The other doubt cast on the American dream in Death of a Salesman is that the Loman men, despite their charm and good intentions, have not managed to succeed at all. Miller demonstrates that the American dream leaves those who need a bit more community support, who cannot advocate for themselves as strongly, in the dust.

Death of a Salesman Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Death of a Salesman is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Significant of the tittle in 600 words.

I think the title refers to both the death of Willy the salesmen and the death of his dreams. Willy's dreams of success turn to disillusionment when he cannot compete in the capitalist world. An extended metaphor might also involve Capitalism and...

death of a salesman

Charley visits because he is worried about Willy.He knows Willy is a proud man and he wants to help him, though Willy isn't really willing to take his help.

Please submit your questions one at a time.

How have biff and happy responded to their father’s condition

Biff denies responsibility for his father's condition, but he is forced to acknowledge that he is linked to his father's guilt and irrational actions. I think happy is just stressed about it.

Study Guide for Death of a Salesman

Death of a Salesman study guide contains a biography of Arthur Miller, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Death of a Salesman
• Death of a Salesman Summary
• Character List

Essays for Death of a Salesman

Death of a Salesman essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of the play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller.

• Shattered Dream - The Delusion of Willy Loman
• Perceptions of Self Worth and Prominence: Spaces and Settings in Death of a Salesman
• Sales and Dreams
• Musical Motifs
• Death of A Salesman: Shifting of the American Dream

Lesson Plan for Death of a Salesman

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Introduction to Death of a Salesman
• Relationship to Other Books
• Notes to the Teacher

Wikipedia Entries for Death of a Salesman

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Literary Theory and Criticism

Home › Drama Criticism › Analysis of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman

Analysis of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman

By NASRULLAH MAMBROL on July 30, 2020 • ( 0 )

Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman is, perhaps, to this time, the most mature example of a myth of Contemporary life. The chief value of this drama is its attempt to reveal those ultimate meanings which are resident in modern experience. Perhaps the most significant comment on this play is not its literary achievement, as such, but is, rather, the impact which it has had on spectators, both in America and abroad. The influence of this drama, first performed in 1949, continues to grow in World Theatre. For it articulates, in language which can be appreciated by popular audiences, certain new dimensions of the human dilemma.

—Esther Merle Jackson, “ Death of a Salesman : Tragic Myth in the Modern Theatre”

It can be argued that the Great American Novel—that always elusive imaginative summation of the American experience—became the Great American Drama in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman . Along with Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey into Night , Miller’s masterpiece forms the defining myth of the American family and the American dream. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is the play’s only rival in American literature in expressing the tragic side of the American myth of success and the ill-fated American dreamers. A landmark and cornerstone 20th-century drama, Death of a Salesman is crucial in the history of American theater in presenting on stage an archetypal family drama that is simultaneously intimate and representative, social and psychological, realistic and expressionistic. Critic Lois Gordon has called it “the major American drama of the 1940s” that “remains unequalled in its brilliant and original fusion of realistic and poetic techniques, its richness of visual and verbal texture, and its wide range of emotional impact.” Miller’s play, perhaps more than any other, established American drama as the decisive arena for addressing the key questions of American identity and social and moral values, while pioneering methods of expression that liberated American theater. The drama about the life and death of salesman Willy Loman is both thoroughly local in capturing a particular time and place and universal, one of the most popular and adapted American plays worldwide. Willy Loman has become the contemporary Everyman, prompting widespread identification and sympathy. By centering his tragedy on a lower middle-class protagonist—insisting, as he argued in “Tragedy and the Common Man,” that “the common man is as apt a subject for tragedy in its highest sense as kings were”—Miller completed the democratization of drama that had begun in the 19th century while setting the terms for a key debate over dramatic genres that has persisted since Death of a Salesman opened in 1949.

Miller’s subjects, themes, and dramatic mission reflect his life experiences, informed by the Great Depression, which he regarded as a “moral catastrophe,” rivaled, in his view, only by the Civil War in its profound impact on American life. Miller was born in 1915, in New York City. His father, who had emigrated from Austria at the age of six, was a successful coat manufacturer, prosperous enough to afford a chauffeur and a large apartment over-looking Central Park. For Miller’s family, an embodiment of the American dream that hard work and drive are rewarded, the stock market crash of 1929 changed everything. The business was lost, and the family was forced to move to considerably reduced circumstances in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn in a small frame house that served as the model for the Lomans’ residence. Miller’s father never fully recovered from his business failure, and his mother was often depressed and embittered by the family’s poverty, though both continued to live in hope of an economic recovery to come. For Miller the depression exposed the hollowness and fragility of the American dream of material success and the social injustice inherent in an economic system that created so many blameless casualties. The paradoxes of American success—its stimulation of both dreams and guilt when lost or unrealized, as well as the conflict it created between self-interest and social responsibility—would become dominant themes in Miller’s work. As a high school student Miller was more interested in sports than studies. “Until the age of seventeen I can safely say that I never read a book weightier than Tom Swift , and Rover Boys, ” Miller recalled, “and only verged on literature with some of Dickens. . . . I passed through the public school system unscathed.” After graduating from high school in 1932 Miller went to work in an auto parts warehouse in Manhattan. It was during his subway commute to and from his job that Miller began reading, discovering both the power of serious literature to change the way one sees the world and his vocation: “A book that changed my life was The Brothers Karamazov which I picked up, I don’t know how or why, and all at once believed I was born to be a writer.”

In 1934 Miller was accepted as a journalism student at the University of Michigan. There he found a campus engaged by the social issues of the day: “The place was full of speeches, meetings and leaflets. It was jumping with Issues. . . . It was, in short, the testing ground for all my prejudices, my beliefs and my ignorance, and it helped to lay out the boundaries of my life.” At Michigan Miller wrote his first play, despite having seen only two plays years before, to compete for prize money he needed for tuition. Failing in his first attempt he would eventually twice win the Avery Hopwood Award. Winning “made me confident I could go ahead from there. It left me with the belief that the ability to write plays is born into one, and that it is a kind of sport of the mind.” Miller became convinced that “with the exception of a doctor saving a life, writing a worthy play was the most important thing a human could do.” He would embrace the role of the playwright as social conscience and reformer who could help change America, by, as he put it “grabbing people and shaking them by the back of the neck.” Two years after graduating in 1938, having moved back to Brooklyn and married his college sweetheart, Miller had completed six plays, all but one of them rejected by producers. The Man Who Had All the Luck, a play examining the ambiguities of success and the money ethic, managed a run of only four performances on Broadway in 1944. Miller went to work at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, tried his hand at radio scripts, and attempted one more play. “I laid myself a wager,” he wrote in his autobiography. “I would hold back this play until I was as sure as I could be that every page was integral to the whole and would work; then, if my judgment of it proved wrong, I would leave the theater behind and write in other forms.” The play was All My Sons, about a successful manufacturer who sells defective aircraft parts and is made to face the consequences of his crime and his responsibilities. It is Miller’s version of a Henrik Ibsen problem play, linking a family drama to wider social issues. Named one of the top-10 plays of 1947, All My Sons won the Tony Award and the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award over Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh. The play’s success allowed Miller to buy property in rural Connecticut where he built a small studio and began work on Death of a Salesman .

This play, subtitled “Certain Private Conversations in Two Acts and a Requiem,” about the last 24 hours of an aging and failing traveling salesman misguided by the American dream, began, as the playwright recounts in his introduction to his Collected Plays , with an initial image

of an enormous face the height of the proscenium arch which would appear and then open up, and we would see the inside of a man’s head. In fact, The Inside of His Head was the first title. . . . The image was in direct opposition to the method of All My Sons —a method one might call linear or eventual in that one fact or incident creates the necessity for the next. The Salesman image was from the beginning absorbed with the concept that nothing in life comes “next” but that everything exists together and at the same time within us; that there is no past to be “brought forward” in a human being, but that he is his past at every moment. . . . I wished to create a form which, in itself as a form, would literally be the process of Willy Loman’s way of mind.

The play took shape by staging the past in the present, not through flashbacks of Willy’s life but by what the playwright called “mobile concurrency of past and present.” Miller recalled beginning

with only one firm piece of knowledge and this was that Loman was to destroy himself. How it would wander before it got to that point I did not know and resolved not to care. I was convinced only that if I could make him remember enough he would kill himself, and the structure of the play was determined by what was needed to draw up his memories like a mass of tangled roots without ends or beginning.

At once realistic in its documentation of American family life and expressionistic in its embodiment of consciousness on stage, Death of a Salesman opens with the 63-year-old Willy Loman’s return to his Brooklyn home, revealing to his worried wife, Linda, that he kept losing control of his car on a selling trip to Boston. Increasingly at the mercy of his memories Willy, in Miller’s analysis, “is literally at that terrible moment when the voice of the past is no longer distant but quite as loud as the voice of the present.” Reflecting its protagonist, “The way of telling the tale . . . is as mad as Willy and as abrupt and as suddenly lyrical.” The family’s present—Willy’s increasing mental instability, his failure to earn the commissions he needs to survive, and his disappointment that his sons, Biff and Happy, have failed to live up to expectations—intersects with scenes from the past in which both their dreams and the basis for their disillusionment are exposed. In the present Biff, the onetime star high school athlete with seeming unlimited prospects in his doting father’s estimation, is 34, having returned home from another failed job out west and harboring an unidentified resentment of his father. As Biff confesses, “everytime I come back here I know that all I’ve done is to waste my life.” His brother, Happy, is a deceitful womanizer trapped in a dead-end job who confesses that despite having his own apartment, “a car, and plenty of women . . . still, goddammit, I’m lonely.” The present frustrations of father and sons collide with Willy’s memory when all was youthful promise and family harmony. In a scene in which Biff with the prospect of a college scholarship seems on the brink of attaining all Willy has expected of him, both boys hang on their father’s every word as he exults in his triumphs as a successful salesman:

America is full of beautiful towns and fine, upstanding people. And they know me, boys, they know me up and down New England. The finest people. And when I bring you fellas up, there’ll be open sesame for all of us, ’cause one thing, boys: I have friends. I can park my car in any street in New England, and the cops protect it like their own.

Triumphantly, Willy passes on his secret of success: “Be liked and you will never want.” His advice exposes the fatal fl aw in his life view that defines success by exterior rather than interior values, by appearance and possessions rather than core morals. Even in his confident memory, however, evidence of the undermining of his self-confidence and aspirations occurs as Biff plays with a football he has stolen and father and son ignore the warning of the grind Bernard (who “is liked, but he’s not well liked”) that Biff risks graduating by not studying. Willy’s popularity and prowess as a salesman are undermined by Linda’s calculation of her husband’s declining commissions, prompting Willy to confess that “people don’t seem to take to me.” Invading Willy’s memory is the realization that he is far from the respected and resourceful salesman he has boasted being to his sons as he struggles to meet the payments on the modern appliances that equip the American dream of success. Moreover, to boost his sagging spirits on the road he has been unfaithful to his loving and supportive wife. To protect himself from these hurtful memories Willy is plunged back into the present for a card game with Bernard’s father, Charley. Again the past intrudes in the form of a memory of a rare visit by Willy’s older brother, Ben, who has become rich and whose secrets for success elude Willy. Back in the present Willy is hopeful at Biff’s plan to go see an old employer, Bill Oliver, for the money to start up a Loman Brothers sporting goods line. The act ends with Willy’s memory of Biff’s greatest moment—the high school football championship:

Like a young god. Hercules—something like that. And the sun, the sun all around him. Remember how he waved to me? Right up from the field, with the representatives of three colleges standing by? And the buyers I brought, and the cheers when he came out—Loman, Loman, Loman! God Almighty, he’ll be great yet. A star like that, magnificent, can never really fade away!

The second act shatters all prospects, revealing the full truth that Willy has long evaded about himself and his family in a series of crushing blows. Expecting to trade on his 34 years of loyal service to his employer for a nontraveling, salaried position in New York, Willy is forced to beg for a smaller and smaller salary before he is fired outright, prompting one of the great lines of the play: “You can’t eat the orange and throw the peel away—a man is not a piece of fruit.” Rejecting out of pride a job offer from Charley, Willy meets his son for dinner where Biff reveals that his get-rich scheme has collapsed. Bill Oliver did not remember who he was, kept him waiting for hours, and resentfully Biff has stolen his fountain pen from his desk. Biff now insists that Willy face the truth—that Biff was only a shipping clerk and that Oliver owes him nothing—but Willy refuses to listen, with his need to believe in his son and the future forcing Biff to manufacture a happier version of his meeting and its outcome. Biff’s anger and resentment over the old family lies about his prospects, however, cause Willy to relive the impetus of Biff’s loss of faith in him in one of the tour de force scenes in modern drama. Biff and Happy’s attempt to pick up two women at the restaurant interconnects with Willy’s memory of Biff’s arrival at Willy’s Boston hotel unannounced. There he discovers a partially dressed woman in his father’s room. Having failed his math class and jeopardized his scholarship, Biff has come to his father for help. Willy’s betrayal of Linda, however, exposes the hollowness of Willy’s moral authority and the disjunction between the dreams Willy sells and its reality:

Willy: She’s nothing to me, Biff. I was lonely, I was terribly lonely.

Biff: You—you gave her Mama’s stockings!

Willy: I gave you an order!

Biff: Don’t touch me, you—liar!

Willy: Apologize for that!

Biff: You fake! You phony little fake! You fake!

Willy’s guilt over the collapse of his son’s belief in him leads him to a final redemptive dream. Returning home, symbolically outside planting seeds, he discusses with Ben his scheme to kill himself for the insurance money as a legacy to his family and a final proof of his worth as a provider of his sons’ success. Before realizing this dream Willy must endure a final assault of truth from Biff who confesses to being nothing more than a thief and a bum, incapable of holding down a job—someone who is, like Willy, a “dime a dozen,” no better than any other hopeless striver: “I am not a leader of men, Willy, and neither are you. You were never anything but a hard-working drummer who landed in the ash can like all the rest of them!” Biff’s fury explodes into a tearful embrace of his father. After Biff departs upstairs the significance of his words and actions are both realized and lost by the chronic dreamer:

Willy, after a long pause, astonished, elevated Isn’t that—isn’t that remarkable? Biff—he likes me!

Linda: He loves you, Willy!

Happy ,deeply moved Always did, Pop.

Willy: Oh. Biff! Staring wildly: He cried! Cried to me. He is choking with his love, and now cries out his promise: That boy—that boy is going to be magnificent!

Analysis of Arthur Miller’s Plays

Doggedly holding onto the dream of his son’s prospects, sustained by his son’s love, Willy finally sets out in his car to carry out his plan, while the scene shifts to his funeral in which Linda tries to understand her husband’s death, and Charley provides the eulogy:

Nobody dast blame this man. You don’t understand: Willy was a salesman. And for a salesman, there is no rock bottom to the life. He don’t put a bolt to a nut, he don’t tell you the law or give you medicine. He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back—that’s an earthquake. And then you get a couple of spots on your hat, and you’re finished. Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory.

Linda delivers the final, heartbreaking lines over her husband’s grave: “Willy. I made the last payment on the house today. Today, dear. And there’ll be nobody home. We’re free and clear. We’re free. We’re free . . . We’re free. . . .”

The power and persistence of Death of a Salesman derives from its remarkably intimate view of the dynamic of a family driven by their collective dreams. Critical debate over whether Willy lacks the stature or self-knowledge to qualify as a tragic hero seems beside the point in performance. Few other modern dramas have so powerfully elicited pity and terror in their audiences. Whether Willy is a tragic hero or Death of a Salesman is a modern tragedy in any Aristotelian sense, he and his story have become core American myths. Few critics worry over whether Jay Gatsby is a tragic hero, but Gatsby shares with Willy Loman the essential American capacity to dream and to be destroyed by what he dreams. The concluding lines of The Great Gatsby equally serve as a requiem for both men:

Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eludes us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther . . . And one fine morning—

So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.

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Discuss the theme of the American Dream in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman

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Arthur Miller’s play “Death of a Salesman” is a thought-provoking exploration of the American Dream and its disillusionment. Set in the late 1940s, the play portrays the life of Willy Loman, a struggling salesman who firmly believes in the promise of the American Dream. 

The theme of American Dream in Death of a Salesman:- However, as the story unfolds, it becomes evident that the pursuit of success and material wealth can lead to despair and personal downfall. This essay aims to delve into the theme of the American Dream in “Death of a Salesman” and analyze how Miller challenges the idealized notion of success in post-war America.

1. Illusion vs. Reality: The central conflict in “Death of a Salesman” revolves around the dichotomy between illusion and reality. Willy Loman epitomizes the American Dream, driven by the belief that charisma and likeability are enough to achieve success. He idolizes the idea of being “well-liked,” equating it with prosperity and popularity. However, the play exposes the hollowness of these illusions. Willy’s relentless pursuit of the American Dream blinds him to the harsh realities of his life, leaving him trapped in a cycle of self-deception and disillusionment.

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2. The Pursuit of Success: Willy Loman embodies the relentless pursuit of success that characterizes the American Dream. He is convinced that financial success and popularity are the ultimate measures of a person’s worth. Willy’s fixation on the material trappings of success leads him to prioritize appearance over substance, valuing superficial charm over hard work. 

The theme of American Dream in Death of a Salesman:- However, Miller challenges this notion, showing that the American Dream is an unattainable goal for most individuals and can ultimately lead to emotional and psychological ruin.

3. The Corrupting Influence of Capitalism: In “Death of a Salesman,” Miller critiques the capitalist system and its impact on individuals’ lives. The play highlights how the commodification of human relationships and the relentless pursuit of profit erode human values and personal integrity. Willy Loman’s constant need to sell and make money reduces his relationships to transactions, leaving him emotionally detached from his family and friends. 

The theme of American Dream in Death of a Salesman:- Miller suggests that the American Dream, as promoted by capitalism, fosters a dehumanizing environment where individuals are reduced to mere commodities.

4. The Allure of the Past: One of the prominent themes in the play is the allure of the past and the failure to adapt to changing times. Willy clings to memories of past success, desperately trying to relive his glory days. He constantly reminisces about his earlier achievements, such as his encounters with the renowned salesman Dave Singleman. However, as the world changes and Willy’s career declines, his reliance on the past becomes a burden. Miller critiques the notion that past accomplishments alone can ensure a successful future, emphasizing the importance of adapting to the present.

5. The Demise of the Family Unit: Another significant aspect of the American Dream in “Death of a Salesman” is the disintegration of the family unit. The Loman family is portrayed as fractured and dysfunctional, with strained relationships and constant tension. Willy’s obsession with success drives a wedge between him and his sons, Biff and Happy, who struggle to meet their father’s expectations. The play suggests that the pursuit of the American Dream often comes at the cost of personal relationships and family bonds, leading to isolation and unhappiness.

Death of a Salesman “Summary”

“Death of a Salesman” is a renowned play written by Arthur Miller, first performed in 1949. It delves into the life of Willy Loman, a struggling salesman in post-war America, and explores themes of the American Dream, disillusionment, and the human condition. 

The theme of American Dream in Death of a Salesman:- The play presents a critique of the capitalist society and examines the destructive effects of blind ambition, societal expectations, and the pursuit of material success. Through the tragic story of Willy Loman, Miller provides a thought-provoking portrayal of the complexities and shortcomings of the American Dream and the human desire for recognition and validation.

The American Dream is a central theme in “Death of a Salesman.” Willy Loman, a dedicated but unsuccessful salesman, believes in the myth that anyone can achieve success and prosperity through hard work and charisma. He spends his life chasing the illusion of the American Dream, convinced that wealth and popularity will lead to happiness and fulfillment. 

The theme of American Dream in Death of a Salesman:- However, as the play unfolds, it becomes clear that the American Dream is unattainable for Willy and his family. The play challenges the notion of the American Dream as a one-size-fits-all concept, highlighting its flaws and the pitfalls of blindly pursuing material success.

Disillusionment is another prominent theme in the play. As Willy struggles with financial instability and a deteriorating mental state, he becomes increasingly disillusioned with his life. He realizes that his efforts have not led to the success he had envisioned and that his dreams are shattered. 

The theme of American Dream in Death of a Salesman:- This disillusionment not only affects Willy but also permeates the lives of his sons, Happy and Biff. The play explores the consequences of shattered dreams, the emptiness that follows, and the struggle to find meaning in a society that places excessive value on material wealth.

The play also delves into the human condition and the complexities of the individual’s relationship with society. Willy Loman grapples with feelings of inadequacy and a desperate need for validation and recognition. He measures his self-worth based on societal expectations and the opinions of others. 

The theme of American Dream in Death of a Salesman:- Miller critiques the pressure placed on individuals to conform to societal norms and ideals, highlighting the damaging effects it can have on mental health and personal well-being. Willy’s internal struggle represents the universal human desire for acceptance and the profound impact it can have on one’s identity and sense of self.

Additionally, “Death of a Salesman” examines the dynamics of family relationships and the strains caused by unfulfilled dreams and societal pressures. The strained relationship between Willy and his sons, Biff and Happy, reflects the complexities of generational expectations and the tension between the pursuit of personal dreams and the desire to live up to societal standards. The play explores themes of familial loyalty, forgiveness, and the consequences of unmet expectations within the family unit.

Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” delves into the theme of the American Dream and challenges the idealized notion of success in post-war America. Through the character of Willy Loman, Miller presents a critique of the relentless pursuit of material wealth, the illusory nature of success, and the detrimental effects of capitalism on personal relationships. Willy’s belief in the American Dream blinds him to the realities of his life, leading to a cycle of self-deception and disillusionment.

The theme of American Dream in Death of a Salesman:- The play highlights the tension between illusion and reality, demonstrating that the pursuit of success does not guarantee happiness or fulfillment. Willy’s fixation on appearance and likeability undermines the value of hard work and authenticity. Miller suggests that the American Dream, as promoted by capitalist society, reduces individuals to commodities and erodes human values.

Moreover, “Death of a Salesman” explores the allure of the past and the failure to adapt to changing times. Willy’s inability to let go of past achievements impedes his ability to navigate the present, ultimately leading to his downfall. Miller critiques the notion that past accomplishments alone can ensure a successful future, emphasizing the importance of adaptation and growth.

The theme of American Dream in Death of a Salesman:- Additionally, the play portrays the disintegration of the family unit as a consequence of the pursuit of the American Dream. Willy’s obsession with success drives a wedge between him and his sons, highlighting the sacrifices made in the name of personal ambition. The play suggests that the pursuit of material wealth often comes at the cost of personal relationships and family bonds, leading to isolation and unhappiness.

In “Death of a Salesman,” Miller presents a thought-provoking examination of the American Dream, challenging its ideals and exposing its flaws. The play serves as a cautionary tale, reminding us of the importance of authenticity, human connection, and the need to redefine success beyond material wealth. Miller’s exploration of these themes continues to resonate, inviting audiences to question the true meaning and value of the American Dream in the pursuit of a meaningful and fulfilling life.

Q: Who is the author of “Death of a Salesman”? 

A: The author of “Death of a Salesman” is Arthur Miller.

Q: When was “Death of a Salesman” first performed? 

A: “Death of a Salesman” premiered on Broadway on February 10, 1949.

Q: Is “Death of a Salesman” based on a true story? 

A: “Death of a Salesman” is not based on a specific true story, but it reflects the struggles and disillusionment experienced by many individuals in post-war America.

Q: What is the American Dream?

 A: The American Dream is a concept that suggests that every individual in the United States has the opportunity to achieve success, prosperity, and upward social mobility through hard work, determination, and self-motivation.

Q: How does “Death of a Salesman” critique the American Dream? 

A: “Death of a Salesman” critiques the American Dream by highlighting the illusory nature of success, the corrupting influence of capitalism, the allure of the past, and the impact of the pursuit of success on personal relationships and family dynamics. The play challenges the idealized notion of the American Dream and suggests that it can lead to disillusionment and personal downfall.

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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Death of a Salesman — American Dream In Death Of A Salesman By Arthur Miller

American Dream in Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

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Published: May 19, 2020

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Death of a Salesman: Themes

This Custom-Writing.org article explains the key themes in Death of a Salesman . The American dream , family , betrayal and abandonment are the core issues represented in the play by Arthur Miller.

• 🗽 The American Dream

🔗 References

🗽 death of a salesman: american dream.

One of the main themes in Death of a Salesman is the American dream . Willy Loman believed that being “well-liked” is the secret to being a successful businessman. Sadly, he misunderstands the rules of this world.

The American dream in Death of the Salesman resembles the traditional representation of this belief, that is, being a successful self-made man. However, Willy doesn’t realize that being liked and attractive as a person is not enough . Hard work and sacrifice is what can really lead any American to succeed.

Willy’s disbelief in the fundamental nature of business is reflected in his attitude towards Bernard. He thinks that his friend’s son can never achieve anything in this life. Despite being intelligent and hardworking, he is not well-liked.

However, later, we see that Bernard is the one who finds his place in life and settles well. In contrast, Biff, just like his father, feels lost and is far from being successful.

We can see that both Willy and Biff are blinded by false beliefs and refuse to see the harsh truth of the capitalist world. Deep inside, they enjoy the hard physical work but still want to go the easy way.

Death of a Salesman: American Dream Quotes

Biff Loman is lost. In the greatest country in the world a young man with such—personal attractiveness, gets lost. And such a hard worker. There’s one thing about Biff—he’s not lazy. Death of a Salesman , act 1

America is full of beautiful towns and fine, upstanding people. And they know me, boys, they know me up and down New England. The finest people. Death of a Salesman , act 1

It’s who you know and the smile on your face! It’s contacts, Ben, contacts! The whole wealth of Alaska passes over the lunch table at the Commodore Hotel, and that’s the wonder, the wonder of this country, that a man can end with diamonds here on the basis of being liked! Death of a Salesman , act 2

👪 Death of a Salesman: Family

The never-ending conflict between fathers and sons appears as one of the play’s central themes. Willy is disappointed in Biff, his elder son, who used to be such a promising football player, but then lost himself and became a thief. The same happens with the younger son, Happy. Even though he has a stable job, he neglects moral values and shows no respect or loyalty to anyone.

When thinking about money and success, Willy chose a more comfortable strategy. Luck instead of hard work and likability instead of skills have become his recipe for a wealthy life. By teaching his sons this philosophy, he destroys his family and their lives.

Loman put this burden of high expectations that can never be achieved on his sons. With Willy’s death , Biff realizes that nothing is holding them anymore, and they can chase their own dreams. However, Happy doesn’t get it and decides to stay in the illusion created by his father.

That’s why, despite all of Willy’s efforts, his family can never be perfect (not to mention his cheating, which we’ll be discussing in the next section.) Moreover, we can conclude that it has never really been about family since the only aim the salesman chases is money and social acceptance.

Death of a Salesman: Quotes on Family

You can’t just come to see me, because I love him. He’s the dearest man in the world to me, and I won’t have anyone making him feel unwanted and low and blue. You’ve got to make up your mind now, darling, there’s no leeway any more. Either he’s your father and you pay him that respect, or else you’re not to come here. Death of a Salesman , act 1

It sounds so old-fashioned and silly, but I tell you he put his whole life into you and you’ve turned your backs on him. Biff, I swear to God! Biff, his life is in your hands! Death of a Salesman , act 1

Where are your sons? Why don’t your sons give you a hand? Death of a Salesman , act 2

🐀 Death of a Salesman: Betrayal & Abandonment

The last theme concerns another tragic issue presented in the play. Willy’s cheating on Linda is only a minor example of the broad topic of abandonment and betrayal. And the stockings serve as the symbol of his affair.

Biff’s betrayal of his father’s hopes and ambitions is the central issue in the play. Willy thinks that since Biff is his son, he owns him. Therefore, as a father, he has every right to expect his son to obey his will. You can see that Biff feels betrayed as well when he finds out about Willy’s mistress .

Moreover, the trace of abandonment follows Willy’s character through the whole play. His father and then brother, Ben, leave him, and he develops unrealistic expectations from his own family.

If we go deeper into the analysis, it becomes clear that Linda and the rest of the family also abandon Willy in the sense that they refuse to help him. Loman is lost and suffers from some psychological issues, but his wife and kids ignore it. They even feed his illusions, as evident in the restaurant when Biff gives his father false hope. Willy stays trapped in his dreams, which slowly pushes him towards the end.

Death of a Salesman: Quotes on Abandonment & Betrayal

Because I know he’s a fake and he doesn’t like anybody around who knows! Death of a Salesman , act 1

You fake! You phony little fake! You fake! Death of a Salesman , act 2

The man don’t know who we are! The man is gonna know! We never told the truth for ten minutes in this house! Death of a Salesman , act 2

We hope that the above information on Death of a Salesman themes was helpful to you. If you’re looking for exciting essay ideas on the play, check out our list of topics .

• ‘Death of a Salesman’ Themes and Symbols – ThoughtCo
• The American Dream Theme in Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman”
• Death of a Salesman Research Papers – Academia.edu
• FAMILY VALUES IN “DEATH OF A SALESMAN” – JStor
• Father-Son Relationships in Death of a Salesman
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