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“Death of a Salesman”

Introduction

“Death of a Salesman” is a play that was written by Arthur Miller 1949. It was awarded The Tony Award for Best Play and Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It uses Willy, a disillusioned salesman, his conscious and caring wife, Linda and their two sons Happy and Biff as the protagonists. They help us to understand the turbulent life in this family which is involved in a constant disagreement. Willy does not get happiness from his job as a salesman, a job he gets sacked from even after serving for a very long time.

He is not pleased with his sons whom he blames for not making him proud. Biff, his older son, fails the math class and drops out of college. His father’s efforts to lure him to venture into business later fail when he instead opts for farming. On the other hand, his younger brother, Happy, a womanizer, is loathed by Linda for his cheap lifestyle is a family arbiter. As events unfold, such a scenario, places Willy into a constant rivalry within and out of his household. Eventually, he opts to commit suicide at least to make his older son happier. However, this does not happen since Biff turns down the insurance compensation.

Conflict

The above synopsis indicates that conflict is one of the major themes of this play. In deed, there is a constant rivalry. Willy, the “weak, low” man, disagrees with all the people within his reach: his wife, Linda; sons, Biff and Happy; neighbor, Charlie and his boss, Howard.

To begin with, Willy and Linda disagree in many occasions. First, Willy is unfaithful in his marriage. He is involved in an extra marital love affair with Ms. Francis, whom he had been with, in a hotel, during the time, when his son was still a promising student in the Summer School. In fact, this is the reason why Biff loses hopes in studies and finally drops out of school as was narrated by Bernard. He says, “I am a failure!” Meaning there was a misunderstanding. Moreover, Willy turns down Linda’s offer of pleading to his boss to transfer him to their home town. Willy refused to buy this idea, however, good it was. Whereas Linda believed that it would prevent him from travelling that might cause him a tragic road accident.

Besides, there is a disagreement between Willy and his two sons. First, he is not happy with Biff’s decision to drop out of school. Later, he refuses to pursue a business career proposed by his father. Instead, he opts to try his hand in farming because that is what he likes most. The failing to fulfill Willy’s expectations of him, constantly puts them in a rivalry. In his opinion, Biff would have to be as successful just like his friend Bernard who has become a lawyer and a responsible husband. On the other hand, Biff blames his father’s promiscuity to be the sole cause for his failure. While in the restaurant Willy gets annoyed with his sons when they decide to abandon him. Instead, they enjoy the company of prostitutes. This incident infuriates Linda to the extent that she rebukes her two sons. She felt that it was so stupid of the boys to show such an irresponsible conduct.

Finally, Willy is in a disagreement with his neighbor and employer. Even though Charlie is a good friend who often helps him in case of difficulty, Willy frequently turns down his offers. In fact, he even refused to be employed by Charlie when he lost his job. This is because, he is jealous of his son, Bernard’s success. He is threatened at his success because he was expecting him to be equal to his sons. When he goes to Howard to discuss better working terms, Willy gets sacked when he is told, “You will no longer represent this company!” This is so unfair because his long time dedicated service finally gets unrewarded. This enmity continued even after his death. Otherwise, he would be accorded a colorful burial.