Death of a Salesman Summary and Analysis

Overview:
Death of a Salesman is written by Arthur Miller, a notable playwright who also wrote The Crucible. Miller classifies Death of a Salesman as a  tragedy, an assertion challenged by critics and defended in Miller's essay "Tragedy and the Common Man". Set in New York City during the late 1940s, Death of a Salesman revolves around a salesman, Willy, who commits suicide after a series of unfortunate events.

Plot:
Willy returns to his house, away on a business trip. He is tired and worn from traveling great distances, and is upset at the lack of financial  progress made by both his son, Biff, and himself. After an argument with Biff, who had returned home after a couple of years being a nomad, Willy decides to ask his boss for a local job while Biff tries to get a job from a former employer the next day. Neither are successful. Willy visits his neighbor, Charlie, to ask for money. Along the way, he bumps into Biff's successful childhood friend, Bernard. Bernard questions Willy as to the cause of Biff's failure despite his potential. Willy evades Bernard's questions and meets his sons in a restaurant, where he learns of Biff's failure to get a job. During a flashback, it is revealed that after Biff flunked math, he visited his father to recruit his help in graduating school. However, Biff discovers his father cheating on his wife, leaving Biff disillusioned. During Willy's flashback, both of his sons, Biff and Happy, abandon him in the restaurant. When they return home, an argument escalates between Biff and Willy, as Willy's dreams for Biff and Biff's own lower expectations for life clash. Eventually, Biff collapses in Willy's arms, tearfully professing his love for his father and asking for his father to let him go. Willy, amazed at Biff's revelations, walks out and commits suicide by car, so that Biff could get the life insurance money that he has been saving. During Willy's funeral, which he had envisioned to be attended by hundreds of other salesmen and buyers from around the country, only Willy's family, Charlie, and Bernard attend.

Characters:
Willy: Willy is a salesman who has large dreams for both himself and his son. He wants to achieve the American Dream, which he models after his successful diamond mine owning older brother Ben. Willy's high hopes and expectations for his son Biff often lead him into arguments.
Biff: Biff was a promising young athlete. However, after seeing his father with another woman, he has become disillusioned with his father and his dreams of greatness.
Linda: Linda is Willy's wife. She is loyal to Willy, and would do anything to make him happy, even if he doesn't treat her very well. She wants wants to keep the family together, and chastises her sons in their lack of empathy for their father.
Happy: Happy is rather aloof, seeming to care little for his father's state of being. A prolific womanizer, he not subject to the attention or demands of his parents like Biff, and not as driven for success as Biff. However, he is content member of the family, even if he admits that he is not very successful.
Charlie: Charlie is a neighbor of Willy. He is realistic and successful. Not as idealistic as Willy, he is the success that Willy wanted to be, along with having the successful son Willy always wanted.
Bernard: Bernard is the son of Charlie, and is a foil to Biff. Successful, smart, and married with two sons, Bernard used to look up to Biff as a child.
Ben: Uncle Ben is Willy's deceased older brother. Willy often has imaginary conversations with him. Ben found a diamond mine in Africa, and often proclaims "when I was seventeen I walked into the jungle, and when I was twenty-one I walked out. And, by God, I was rich!" Ben embodies Willy's aspirations and dreams, as he was financially successful.

Author Style:
Although Death of a Salesman is a play like The American Dream, and thus does not really have a point of view, the author styles for the two are vastly different. The dark, heavy style in Death of a Salesman is not only set up by the dialogue, which is less absurd than The American Dream, but also by the imagery set up by the extensive stage direction from Miller.

Quotes:
"You can't eat the orange and throw the peel away--a man is not a piece of fruit!"
This line is delivered by Willy during the confrontation with his boss. It embodies Willy's pride along with his feeling of having to be worth something.

"I am not a leader of men, Willy, and neither are you."
Biff cries out this line during the climax. Throughout the play, Willy's dreams and ambitions clash with the reality of his humble position. Blinded by pride, Willy believes that Biff is destined for greatness as a salesman, unable to realize that he and Biff are people just like everyone else, not leaders of men.

Theme:
Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman asserts the disaster and failure of relying on mere promises and words rather than tangible investments to achieve one's dream.
Throughout the play, the characters are torn between working in the wilderness, creating something with their own hands, and conquering the urban environment, where money is made through deals made across desktops. Whereas Willy, who lives under the delusion that to be successful is to be "well liked", emphasizes personal connections to get a leg up, the foils to Willy prove otherwise. Charlie tells Willy of J.P Morgan, who was "well liked" because of his deep pockets, and Ben advocates working in Alaska, and the diamond business, where the money is something you can touch and hold. Willy also believes that Howard, his boss, owes him a job, as he named Howard, however, Howard replies "business is business". The core conflict, the conflict between Willy's aspirations of Biff and Biff's nomadic lifestyle, also reflects the contrast between the hand crafted work and the words that Willy cling to for sustenance.