Death of a Salesman revolves around the life of Willy Loman, who lives with his wife and two sons, and works as a salesman (Miller 2). His career has been very successful, and he is one of the trusted salesmen in his company. The play starts with a tired Loman heading home from a business trip. He informs his wife that he has returned home earlier than expected as he had canceled his trip. He offers no reason as to why he canceled the trip.
Loman is disappointed to still find his son, Biff, at home. He had many expectations for Biff, who, however, failed mathematics in high school and, in turn, missed placement in college. Loman believes that Biff has wasted time and money, and is throwing his life away. He dreams that Biff becomes a successful salesman like himself. Biff, on the other hand, has an unclear hatred towards his father. Loman challenges him in front of his brother, Happy, accusing Biff of being lazy. To defend himself, Biff lies to his father that he has a potential business meeting the very next day. As they are talking, Loman drifts off daydreaming. His sons believe that he must be losing his mind.
The next day, Loman and Biff both leave home at the same time. Loman heads to his workplace while Biff goes to a former employer to look for work. Loman ends up getting fired from his job as a salesman as his bosses believe he can no longer represent the company well (Miller 72). He is informed that he is not focused and has become very indecisive, characteristics that have affected his ability to sell any product from the company. Loman is disillusioned. He always thought he would be the best salesman of all time, but his dream was shattered when he got fired. At the same time, his son fails to secure a business loan and partner.
Loman decides to visit his neighbor, Charlie, who helps him get life insurance. Loman openly admits that being dead is worth more than being alive. Charlie is shocked by the revelation but does not inquire further. As he speaks with Charlie, he realizes that it is his past mistakes that encouraged Biff to become a failure. Charlie reminds him that Biff found him having sex with his assistant back when Biff was in high school. Loman had lied to his family that he would be away for a business meeting. The trauma made Biff hate his father. He did not want to turn into his father, so, he failed in high school so that he could not go to college and be a salesman like his father.
In the evening, Loman, Biff and Happy meet for dinner, where an argument between Biff and Loman ensues (BookCaps Study Guides Staff 1). Biff and Happy leave Loman and return home with two girls. At home, their mother is angry that they left their father alone. When Loman arrives, he and Biff decide to talk things through. By the end of the talk, Loman believes that Biff has forgiven him. He feels terrible that he ruined his son’s life and made the decision to kill himself, and direct his life insurance money to Biff. The last scene of the play is Loman’s funeral. He committed suicide, and the life insurance money was given to Biff.
Works Cited
BookCaps Study Guides Staff. Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman. BookCaps, 2011.
Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. Dramatists Play Service, 1980.