Arthur Miller’s Dramatic Play “Death of a Salesman”

Death ofa Salesman is a dramatic play written by Arthur Miller, it was the third play that he wrote after graduating from the University of Michigan. Death ofa Salesman tells the story of a salesman named Willie who is forced to realize that the American dream is not as easy to achieve as he once believed, and that he has failed. After a struggle both with his shattered dreams and with his family that has to deal with him, Willie commits suicide Considering Willie‘s constant rejection of reality and substitution of his own, his suicide at the end of the play comes as no surprise Arthur Miller has prepared the reader for this moment well by showing how unstable Willie has been under immense stress from this realization. Throughout the entire play, Willie has been emotionally unstable and delusional due to the stress in his life; his suicide makes sense in light of this situation. His job is the main contributor to his stress because he works on commission, and does not make any sales.

Therefore he rarely makes any money of his own to pay the bills and live off of. Willie’s constantly daydreams about what his life would be like if he were successful and happy, as his brother Ben is During one of Willie‘s many daydreams Ben comments “I must make a train, Williami There are several properties I’m looking at in Alaska” Willie replies “Sure, sure! if I’d gone with him to Alaska that time, everything would‘ve been totally different.” (1496) Willie knows that he would be rich and successful if he would have gone with his brother to Alaska, and it stresses him out and haunts him to this day, even in his daydreams. What became the nail in Willie’s coffin was that he was fired from his Job as a salesman because his boss, Howard, could clearly see that he was not fit to represent the business Howard says to Willie “I don’t want you to represent as I have been meaning to tell you for a long time now“ when you feel better, come back, and we’ll see if we can work something out" (1519) which essentially ends Willie’s career, Due to these events in his life, Willie has become delusional, and daydreams constantly.

When he comes back to reality from his daydreams he seems to be confused about where he is, a sure sign of mental instabilityt After Stanley the waiter snaps him out of his daydream about the woman and Biff, he asks him “Do I- I look all right?” (1543) He seems to be losing his grip on reality. Willie’s suicide at the end of the play comes as no surprise to the reader, it has been hinted at throughout the play. Willie feels that he has nothing to live for, he can‘t support his family, he was fired, both he and his sons are not successful at all, and he says that Charley is his only friend. Willie says on the verge of tears “Charley, you’re the only friend I got. Isn’t that a remarkable thing?“ (1528) this is an especially important thing that Willie admits, because Charley isn’t much of a friend to him.

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Charleyjust feels bad for him and gives him money all the time so he can continue with his life Charley even goes as far as to offer Willie a job when he finds out that he has been fired as a salesman. When Willie returns from within his mind, he is often angry and irritable because he does not like his reality. He fights with his sons constantly because of this and it makes his situation worse because he fully realizes that they have failed at living “the dream”. Feeling like he has nothing to live for leads Willie to attempt suicide on a regular basis by trying to kill himself by asphyxiation, whether these attempts are conscious or not, they demonstrate his lack of willpower. These previous attempts at suicide by Willy, his lack of motivation to live, and his recent termination of his job prepare the reader well for his suicide in the end.

His stress makes his life miserable and he is constantly touchy about even the slightest things, When Biff tells him he will try to become a salesman he gets angry with Linda and scares her, Biff, and Happy by yelling at her for no good reason. When Linda takes Biff’s side he screams at her “Don’t take his side all the time, goddammit!" (1509) and because of this she talks in a “subdued voice” once she is allowed to talk again. Willy was not satisfied with reality, he was disappointed in his sons and himself for not being successful while having to deal with his only “friend” Charley being a successful lawyer and his brother Ben finding success in Alaska, success Willy could have been a part of if he would have gone with him at the times Miller clearly portrays that Willy does not have any will to live anymore because life has become too much for him to bear.

Willie’s suicide in Death ofo Salesman is to be expected; he has tried to kill himself before by asphyxiation and has failed to achieve success in anyway in his life, even at suicide. Arthur Miller wrote the play in such a way that it demonstrates the struggles of Willie’s life, and shows why Willie would consider suicide. The amounting stress of his brother’s success, his “friend’s” success, Biff’s kleptomania and inability to hold a job, Happy‘s cockiness and self— importance leaves him absolutely miserable every day and he feels that he has nothing left to live for, Willie’s failure to achieve his view of the American dream has left him with too much guilt and stress to bear and this is what leads to his suicide.

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