Published for the first time in 1949, “Death of a Salesman” is a play by Arthur Miller. The play is a tragedy involving the life of a middle-income American family composed of Willy Loman, his wife, Linda Loman, and their 2 grown-up sons, Biff and Happy Loman. The play depicts the largely unfulfilled dreams of the lead character, Willy Loman, who as a traveling salesperson at sixty-four years feels that the “pursuit of happiness” he desired and hoped to fulfill in America might have eluded him. As aforementioned, Willy has two grown-up sons whom he feels have not lived up to their – or his – potential and expectations, and he reaches a state where he exaggerates the social worth of his job and his sons to appease himself.
Willy Loman’s dishonesty and his lack of morality have contributed to his state of dissatisfaction with life, and his eventual suicide is a result of disappointments in his actions: the affair with the Boston woman, an unsatisfying job, and his regret on his poor upbringing of his two sons. This essay will discuss how the element of dishonesty throughout Willy’s life and work functions has created his current state of disillusionment and dissatisfaction with life. The essay will also examine how his affair with the Boston woman exemplifies his dishonesty, and finally how his failed parenting, insofar as his two sons are concerned, leads him to his eventual suicide.
Willy Loman’s dishonesty and lies permeate the entire play. Willy gets to such a level that he lies even to himself by exaggerating his self-worth and the worth of his job. When his wife, Linda, suggests to him that he should ask his employer to station him in New York so that he would not have to travel so much, he answers: “They do not need me in New York, I’m the New England man, I am vital in New England” (Miller, Act 1, Part 1). Willy retorts that he is vital for the company in New England yet he is soon fired for insubordination. Willy thus keeps putting upfronts to impress other people – his wife, his sons, and Uncle Ben, yet they would have been content with simple honesty. He again states how he is well-liked in Hartford (Act 1, Part 3), yet this is not necessarily the case. Willy is unnecessarily concerned with making false impressions on people.
Willy’s affair with the woman in a Boston hotel, while on a sales trip with his son Biff, exemplifies his dishonesty and lack of appreciation of the impact of his actions on his sons and family. After he finds out that his father was having extra-marital relations, Biff loses interest in making something out of his life. Biff describes his father as “A fine troubled Prince… An unappreciated hardworking prince… always for his boys” (Act 2, Part 5), indicating that at one point in his life, he feels that his father’s defense of their unbecoming behavior as kids was good. By stating that his father was always there for his boys, he confesses an earlier misplaced appreciation for his father’s actions, which he now totally regrets.
The act of engaging in extra-marital affairs also proves Willy’s lack of respect and appreciation for Linda, who is a devoted and committed homemaker and mother. He states that “I’ve always made a point of not wasting my life, and every time I come back here I know all I have done is wasted my life” (Act 1, Part 2). Willy’s dissatisfaction with life stems only from the choices he makes; he has the temerity to make this statement yet he has a dedicated wife in Linda, and all the failures in his sons are attributable to him. He chooses to have an extra-marital affair, and he chooses to condone the ill behaviors of his sons, therefore he cannot blame others for his sense of dissatisfaction with life.
In the latter parts of the play, as Willy prepares for his suicide, Biff confronts him and states that “We have never spoken the truth for 10 minutes in this house” (Act 2, Part 7). The statement by the son testifies to the continuous and unending lies that the family has had to live with, all because Willy, as the father and leader of the house, could not teach his kids better. For instance, when Willy first arrives home from his supposed business sales trip, he tells his wife Linda that he had accomplished his sales mission and that is why he is back early, yet the truth of the matter is that he has almost knocked down a kid with his car and decides to go back home.
Biff laments that he has never amounted to anything because his father has puffed up his sense of worth to an extent that makes him refuse to take orders from another person, further showing the damage that Willy’s continuous lying and dishonesty has on his kids. In various flashback scenes, whenever young Biff and Happy are accused of stealing something, their father would deflect the blame from them. When Biff is accused of stealing a football in school, Willy praises him and states that the coach would have been proud of him because he allegedly stole the ball for extra practice. Later, also in a flashback, when the two boys come home accompanied by Charley and he reports them for stealing something from a construction site, Willy praises their fearlessness.
Willy’s realization that he has failed to raise his sons to their highest capabilities leads him to his resolution to commit suicide. Willy states that “Ben, that funeral will be massive! They will come from Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire! All the old-timers with the strange license plates — that boy will be thunderstruck, Ben, because he never realized — I am known!” (Act two, Part 7), indicating his ill-conceived idea to cement his fame in the eyes of his sons via his own funeral’s attendance numbers.
Willy feels dissatisfied with his life, his failed career as a salesperson, and his parenting. He, therefore, feels that his death, and particularly the number of people who will probably come to his funeral, will bring about his ultimate redemption. Unfortunately, his prediction does not materialize because only his family and one guest attend his funeral. This encapsulates the wholesome nature of the failed dreams and desires of Willy, which follow him even unto death.
In conclusion, as discussed in the paper, Willy Loman’s dishonesty and immorality are the root cause of his disappointments and eventual dissatisfaction with life. He commits suicide due to the haunting regrets about his failed career, inadequate parenting, and his involvement in extramarital affairs. To him, death is the ultimate solution to his earthly problems’ his sole redemption.
Works Cited
Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. New York: Viking Press, 1949. Print.