Death of a salesman final p pt

1. The Death of a Salesman
Act I: the Lowman Family &
their American/Capitalist
Dreams

2. Outline
 General Introduction
 Arthur Miller
 The American Dream
 The development of capitalism
 The play and its Style
 Starting Questions and General Questions
 Stage Directions
 Willy Lowman –his Present
 Linda’s Role
 Biff vs. Happy – their Dreams
and Efforts
 Willy Loman’s Dream,
its Sources and Influence
 Other Examples of
Success in Capitalism
 Willy/Biff vs. Charley/Bern
 End of Act I: High
Hope and Inherent
Problems

3. General Introduction --Arthur Miller
 interested in father-son relationships,
 critiques the American Dream;
 his conflicted relationship with his
uncle, Manny Newman, also a salesman.
“Newman imagined a continuous
competition between his son and Miller.”
(source)
 married Marilyn Monroe in 1956; they
divorced in 1961
 Politically active; in support of
Communist party during the time of red
scare.
 Another famous play, The Crucible

4. General Introduction (2) American Dreams
 Americans’ (or immigrants’) dream of success
which “should be” easy and quick “as long as” you
work hard (esp. material success and social
climbing; e.g. “Two Kinds.”)
 Related concepts: self-made man; US as the
New World promised by God; freedom to expand
(to go West and explore new frontiers).
 Related signs of success: car, suburban house
(with a backyard), furniture and machines
 Criticism:
 contradictions between idealism and materialism
 other factors of success ignored (luck, family
background, toughness and even dirty-dealing)
 hiding the reality of inequality.
 Today’s examples: Dot-com boom;
illegal immigration (undocumented workers)

5. General Introduction (3) Development of
Capitalism (Industrial  Electronic/Media)
 19th century 20th century: social mobility or the
rise of the middle class and the fall of aristocracy
(e.g. Pride and Prejudice [Austin] Pygmalion
[G.B. Shaw]);
 Mechanical Reproduction;  alienation of workers
and then everyone (Salesman)
 Improvement in the means of transportation and
mass communication (“The Man in a Case,”
[Chekhov] “In the Station of a Metro” [Ezra Pound])
 Abstraction of money and social values (e.g.
“₤1,000,000 Bank-Note”)
 Continuous Expansion of the capital the
commercial world and increasing desire of the
consumers (“A&P” Supermarket/John Updike)
  buying things on credit and mortgage
(Salesman)

6. General Introduction (3) Development of
Capitalism (Industrial  Electronic/Media)
 buying things on credit (installment plan
or mortgage) e.g. cars and houses
 They owe 120 dollars by the 15th—fridge,
carburetor, washing machine, roof.
 Fridge broken all the time, insurance premium,
car, house mortgage.
 Linda ends the play by mentioning that she’
“made the last payment on the house
today….We’re free …We’re free …”
  Willy's only relief is that after twenty-five
years he has finally paid off his home
mortgage

7. General Introduction (4)
 Death of a Salesman (1949) –considered the
first great American tragedy.
 Setting: New York City and Boston in the late
1940s
 The places mentioned: New England, the West,
Texas, Florida, Africa, Alaska.
 Major Issues:
 American Dream -- What are their dreams?
Where do these dreams come from? And how
are they broken?
 Father-Son Relationships
 “Lowman” – as a tragic hero?
 Styles: Expressionism was a modernist movement,
initially in poetry and painting, originating in Germany
at the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is
to present the world solely from a subjective
perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect
in order to evoke moods or ideas.

8. Expressionism & Stage Direction
 Miller once said that "Any dramatic
form is an artifice, a way of
transforming a subjective feeling
into something that can be
comprehended through public
symbols." (Introduction to
Collected Plays from the Viking
version p. 156)
 Pay attention to
 the expressions of subjective
feelings
 Thru’ public symbols

9. Act I: Plot Summary
 Willy Loman returns to his New York home;
expression of fatigue, he worries over Biff;
 Biff and Happy talk about the past and their present
problems, which ends Biff’s decision to visit Bill Oliver,
and ask the latter for a job.
 Flashbacks:
 1) Willy talks to Biff and Happy when they were in high
school; Biff is popular then, but Bernard warns him that
he may fail his math. Strong father-son bond.
 2) Willy and Linda discuss their financial problems,
which is followed by Willy’s expressions of diffidence,
Linda’s confirmation, the appearance of a woman, and
then Bernard’s searching for Biff.

10. Act I: Plot Summary (2)
 The present flashback: Happy tries to
comfort Willy first, and then Charley appears
and plays cards with Willy, while Willy
imagines talking to Ben.
 Ben gone; Willy goes to the bedroom; Linda
reveals their financial difficulties to her sons;
Linda suspects that Willy uses a tube to
asphyxiate himself with gas.
 Biff promises to stay and try again to work;
as they talk, Willy comes in and the four of
them talk about their plans, argue with each
other while showing their love.

11. Starting Questions
1. the first stage direction  a) the characters Willy
and Linda, b) the central theme of the play (e.g.
"the fragile-seeming house," apartment buildings,
the "one-dimensional" roof, the colors, the flute,
etc.)?
2. The first dialogue between Linda and Willy:
What is Willy like in the "present" of the play?
What is bothering Willy? And the relationship
between Willy and Linda? Willy's views of Biff?
3. The dialogue between Biff and Happy-- the two
brothers are set in contrast in terms of their
working experience, their desire and dream, and
their relationship to their parents. How are they
similar to each other in terms of the ways they use
to achieve their respective dream?

12. Overall Questions on Act I: the
Characters’ Dreams and Efforts
 Where does Willy get his dream? How is
Willy’s dream different from and similar to
Ben’s? And Happy’s and Biff’s?
 How do the parents, Willy and Linda,
educate their sons?
 How do Charley and Bernard serve as foil
to Willy and Biff?
 What social conditions do the characters
exist in?

13. Stage Direction –Symbolic of their
dream and social conditions
 the house with "one-dimensional" roof-line vs. the
angular shapes behind it – apartment buildings &
skyscrapers representing over-population and
power
 Kitchen, refrigerator and 3 chairs – the center of
life for this family
 Elements of dream –silver trophy
 Willy and the flute  “small and fine, telling of
grass and trees and the horizon“ Willy’s
complaints about “this country.”
 The apron as backyard with or without wall-lines
 the colors –blue sky (suggests desire for freedom),
angry orange (of constraint and competition)

14. Willy –What’s bothering him?
 Exhausted, he drives a long way to do business.
 Outdated –
 Not well-treated by the young boss (Howard)
 cannot take American whipped cheese "How can they whip
cheese?"
 Not well-known anymore: business now is "all cut and dried,
and there's no chance for bringing friendship to bear--or
personality. […] They don’t know me anymore” (Act 2)
 Contradictory views on Biff:
 Upset by Biff’s being a farmhand, his not “finding [himself] at
the age of 34.”
 Thinks that Biff is lost, not lazy – “In the greatest country in
the world a young man with such - personal attractiveness,
gets lost.”
 Nostalgic about the past  His mind wanders off, talks to
himself –or to Biff.
 e.g. “What a simonizing job”

15. Linda –Supportive, perceptive and
blind
 Linda: “adores” Willy; “iron
repression of her exceptions to
Willy’s behavior”
 Serves Willy, normalizes the
situations while she is actually
worries about him.
 Gives suggestions – rest, work in
New York;
 speaks for her children and tries to
improve the father-son relationships.

16. Linda –(2) blind and perceptive
 Her speech:
1. sees Willy’s emotional changes re.
Biff without knowing why;
2. Well respected and loved by the
two boys;
3. Defends Willy —love him or don’t
come back.
4. Demands attention to and
sympathy for Willy
5. Reveals his suicidal tendencies,
finds it a shame
6. “a woman” –seems to suspect
something without knowing it.

17. Biff and Happy-(1203--)
& Their Dreams & Efforts
 Similarities: lost, confused
 Nostalgic – old beds,
“dreams and plans”
 Attractive to women when
young;
 Still keeps empty dreams of
success –about having a
ranch; about getting
married to a girl; about
running a company “The
Lowman Brothers” 
without knowing how to do
it.
 “Bill Oliver” as a possible
rescuer  think big; The
Lowman;
 Happy – self-deceiving 
seemingly more content;
controls his bashfulness
now.
 seek revenge against
his superiors by taking
their women out.
 Biff – (now) wears a worn
air; less successful;
unhappy about being a
clerk or a cowboy
 (past) introduces Happy to
women.
 Interested in handiwork or
farm work “we don't belong
in this nuthouse of a city!”

18. Willy vs. Biff/Happy
 Simultaneity –Willy
missing the past and
Biff/Happy talking
about the past.
 Happy defends Willy,
ask Biff to talk to
him, while Biff
criticizes him
"There are no flashbacks in this
play but only a mobile
concurrency of past and present..
." Arthur Miller

19. Willy Loman’s Dream, its
Sources and Influences
Dream – in His Son &
Salesmanship
Source: Ben and the Flute
Influences: Biff and Happy

20. Dream (1): His Son & Salesmanship—
What is he proud of?
 Biff – polishes the car carefully; Adores and is
close to his father; good at playing football
(1209-10); adored by many boys and girls
p. 1228 –”Like a young god. Hercules -- something like
that. […] God Almighty, he'll be great yet. A star like
that, magnificent, can never really fade away!”
 House & car– adding a hammock, work on the
ceiling and the front stoop
 Salesmanship – “well-liked” –
 Self-deceptive – actually he is not making enough
money nor is Biff getting anywhere
 His sense of diffidence and guilt –talks and jokes too
much; like a walrus; has an affair.

21. Willy Loman’s Dream (2): Source --Ben
 Willy Ben: "There was a man started with the
clothes on his back and ended up with diamond
mines" (?)
 Ben --"Why, boys, when I walked into the jungle,
I was seventeen. When I walked out I was
twenty-one. And, by God, I was rich“
 "Never fight fair with a stranger, boy. You'll never
get out of the jungle that way"
 Ben’s – imperialist capitalist (plundering in a
foreign land)
 Loman--"It's Brooklyn, I know, but we hunt too"

22. Willy Loman’s Dream (3) The Flute
 "It is small and fine, telling of grass and trees and the
horizon" 
 Willy’s father
 "great inventor" who would "stop in the towns and sell
the flutes he'd made on the way."
 "With one gadget," Ben tells Willy, "he made more in a
week than a man like you could make in a lifetime"
 Willy’s Father’s – in the age of mercantile capitalism:
an untamed natural man and the westward-bound
pioneer; the artisan, a great inventor, and a
successful traveling merchant; he sold what he made.
 Willy does not remember him except as an image.
 Willy – industrial capitalism, where the role of

23. -Ben, how should I teach
them?
Willy as a Father

24. Willy Loman’s Teaching (1) Jungle Spirit
 His gift : a punching bag with Gene Tunney’s
signature
 Believes in names and reputation:
 Biff expresses his hatred of the business world because
"They've laughed at Dad for years ... “. Willy responds
in a characteristic manner: "Go to Filene's, go to the
Hub, go to Slattery's, Boston. Call out the name Willy
Loman and see what happens! Big shot!"
 "That's just the spirit I want to imbue them with!
To walk into the jungle!"
 Competitiveness
 "Knocked 'em cold in Providence, slaughtered 'em in
Boston"
 His advice to Biff in asking Bill Oliver for a loan, Willy's
advice is "Knock him dead, boy"

25. Willy Loman’s Teaching (2)
 Permissive and not teaching them
practical skills or the spirit of hard work:
 congratulates Biff on his initiative for
borrowing a regulation football to practice with.
 encourages the boys to steal sand from the
apartment house so that he can rebuild the
front stoop.
 advises his sons to be well liked and make a
good appearance in order to get ahead in the
world.
 Expects Bernard to give answers to Biff in
exams; refuses to face Biff’s failures and
problems. (….  more later)

26. Willy’s Ways to Success –
 Human Connections --What he tells his son: “Be liked and
you will never want.”
 proper language and dress -- What is revealed in his talk to
Linda about his weaknesses:
 A man oughta come in with a few words. (But not too many words
—Willy himself talks too much.)
 I gotta overcome it. I know I gotta overcome it. I'm not dressing
to advantage, maybe.
 Proper manners -- Act I, talking about how Biff should
behaves in front of B. Oliver:
 Be quiet, fine, and serious. Everybody likes a kidder, but nobody
lends him money.
 But remember, start big and you'll end up big. Ask for 15.
 Start off with a couple of your good stories to lighten things up.
It's not what you say, it's how you say it--because personality
always wins the day.
 success results from "who you know and the smile on your
face! It's contacts ... being liked“

27. Other examples of American Dream
and its acquisitiveness
 Happy: “[His] own apartment, a car and plenty of
women”
 Happy about his friend:
 He's a good friend of mine, and he just built a terrific
estate on Long Island. And he lived there about two
months and sold it, and now he's building another one.
He can't enjoy it once it's finished. And I know that's
just what I would do. I don't know what the hell I'm
workin' for.
 I tell you ... I'm gonna take my camera, and my
bandsaw, and all my hobbies, and out they go.
This is the most fascinating relaxation I've ever
found (Howard Act 2)

28. Willy/Biff vs. Charles/Bernard
 Charles and Bernard -- Less athletic.
 Bernard – Willy “What an anemic”
 “Between him and his son Bernard they can’t hammer a
nail!” (1219)
 Charley—cannot handle tools  “disgusting” to
Willy.
 Charley—more practical (matter-of-fact),
slow and clumsy in words
 says “Don’t get insulted” three times (more later)
 “There’s no bone in heartburns.” ( Willy’s suggestions
of vitamin is useless.)
 “When a deposit bottle is broken, you don’t get the
nickels back.” (referring to Biff)

29. Willy/Biff vs. Charley/Bernard
 Bernard and Charley –
 Both law-abiding:
 Charley: Listen, if that watchman . . .
 Willy: I gave them[the watchmen] hell, understand. But
I got a couple of fearless characters there.
 Charley: Willy, the jails are full of fearless characters.
 Barnard: The watchman’s chasing Biff!
 Shut up! He’s not stealing anything!
 both loyal to their friends
 “Pity” in whatever he says;
 Charley –plays cards with Willy to help him relax; (Act
2) lends money to Willy
 Bernard – keeps asking Biff to study math with him;
helps Biff pass the exams by cheating.

30. End of Act I: High Hope and Inherent
Problems
 Hope – Willy is going to Howard, and Biff, to Ben
Oliver, in order to change their lives.
 Inherent Problems:
1. In Biff – he steals
2. In Willy– his malfunctioned mind, his high hope
for Biff and reality (the rubber tube and a job
without salary)
3. between Biff and Willy
 Biff defends his mother (Your hair got so gray); (Don’t
yell at her, will ya)
 Against Willy “I know he’s a fake and he doesn’t like
anybody around who knows”
 Something Linda is not aware of (“Willy dear, what has
he got against you?”)