Dear class,
Please post below on any aspect of Death of a Salesman. You might want to continue to think about themes of accountability, fantasy, self-inflation, suicide, masculinity, modern life, and the importance of meaningful work.
As I said on Tuesday, we need to talk more about the role of Willy's infidelity in the play. How is Willy's infidelity to his wife related to the other issues in the play? Was that infidelity to blame for Biff’s aimlessness?
We will also need to discuss the context within the play for the expression "death of a salesman." Who is Dave Singleman? What is the significance of his name? What is Willy's attitude toward him? What does he find admirable in him? Does Willy idealize the past when he remembers Dave Singleman? Can figures like him still exist in the modern world?
What commentary on modern commerce do you think Arthur Miller means to create with his play? What is the "business world" like?
Finally, look carefully at the final scene of the play: What is the meaning of Happy's comments at Willy's funeral? How about Linda's final words? ("We're free ... We're free ...) Why is the flute music the last sound to be heard?
We touched on this in class yesterday, but I’d like to talk more about the play’s opening scene and how intensely Willy’s discomfort with change, age, and the encroaching modern world is portrayed. Placing Willy in a house on a street with less and less grass each year and more and more cars allows the audience to see how awkwardly he fits into his environment. (Which is not to say that age necessitates displeasure with a modernized world, only that in Willy’s particular case, this reading seems to fit.) When Linda says, “I just thought you’d like a change,” referring to her branching out and buying a can of whipped American cheese, Willy is dismayed (2330). His world – economic, efficient, and increasingly catered to upcoming generations – has left him with “not a breath of fresh air”; not only is he hard-pressed to find “a carrot in the backyard” or “two beautiful elms” that have since been chopped down, he can’t even find cheese in his own refrigerator that doesn’t come squirting out of an aerosol can (2331). This background of Willy’s “What’s the world coming to?” attitude makes his conflict with Biff pretty easy to anticipate and understand. His son is part of a new wave of American living that touts choice and opportunity above all; working hard and reaping one’s success is just as valid a choice as working less and reaping less, and neither choice guarantees a man’s “greatness.”
ReplyDeleteBiff lives in an America where the luxury to feel “lost” exists. Willy is incredulous: “Biff Loman is lost. In the greatest country in the world a young man with such – personal attractiveness, gets lost” (2330). It is inconceivable to Willy that he has concocted a personal and professional blueprint designed to surpass a mediocre existence, and it’s just waiting for Biff to be built and lived. The one factor Willy did not account for is that Biff might not want that life plan, nor perhaps any plan at all.
^ Margaret Green.
ReplyDeleteWillie's affair does have a lot do do with some other issues of the play. I think it has a lot to do with this dream world he has created for himself and his family. Going off on what was said Tuesday in class, this affair gives Willie the reality of a bad husband, and the fact that Biff caught him makes him out to be a bad father as well, in addition to the other things Biff consideres "bad father" out of Willie. this makes Willie want to project himself into his dream life even more. Because in this life he can be the perfect man and have the perfect like that he wants. In this life, he is the man his wife believes him to be and the father his boys want him to be.
ReplyDeleteAs for the flure music playing at the end, I think it serves a lot to tie the the overall story together and to tie Willie's dream and reality together. We see the flute playing a lot during flashbacks when it shows many of his rtegrets in life, the "what if's?" of his life. By playting that music at the end, it's showing Willie's sad realistic outcome with the tone of his dreamworld.
previous post was Kristanya McKimmey
ReplyDeleteDave Singleman is the father figure Willy always wanted. We hear nothing of Willy and Ben's father except that he is was in Alaska during the gold strikes. Significantly, we are told this information at the introduction of Dave Singleman. Willy only briefly speaks of him, before he reveals that a relative stranger has led him into ,making one of the most important decisions of his life.
ReplyDeleteBased on this, it would seem that Willy has allowed his father to become Ben's father only. He realizes that he cannot become his father, or Ben, so he sets out to do what he can, with Dave Singleman as his role model. He then, in turn, passes this mindset on to his sons, with Biff filling the role of Ben and Hap playing the part of Willy the salesman.
This is a part of the way Miller plays with the idea of the ideal nuclear family that is ingrained in American minds. Again, it seems he is tearing down the ideal and forcing the play-goer to face the reality.
At the end Happy is still not getting it; he is continues to resist what has lead to his father's downfall and stays in a sort of delusional world. About his father, Happy says, "We would've helped him," but really we know this is a lie he tells himself in order to repress some major guilt. He didn't help his father in the restaurant and only fanned the fires of his father's delusions by making up stories about himself and even Biff. All he ever did was try to placate his father; never tried to help him.
ReplyDeleteLater he says ,"It's the only dream you can have - to come out number-one man." He says he doesn't want his father's death to be in vain and he wants to prove everyone wrong by conquering the world. All he is doing is buying into what lead to his father's death - extreme capitalism and materialism. He can't come out on top; it's too late. A good dream to Hap is one filled with money. He doesn't see how the pursuit of money and the inevitable inflation of one's self to try to achieve status along with money has contributed to his father's suicide. He died for his foolish dream and Happy may too.
Biff's hopeless glance at Happy at the end after the "I'm gonna be a rich man" speech tells alot about how these characters have progressed and separated. Biff has changed and sees now what reality is and what lies and money can do to people.
Also, Linda's statement at the end about being "free" doesn't only seem to mean financially free, she almost seems to be saying they are now free from Willy and his lies, mythmaking and obsession with being liked and the constant pursuit of money. By all means she isn't glad he is gone, but rather I think she feels a sense of weight gone from her life.
Willy's admirationof Dave Singleman seemed to me as the culmination of his outdated expectations which, everyday, create a more and more disjointed relationship between Willy and his place in the business world, Willy and his family, and, most importantly, between Willy and his real, true self. Dave is the manifestation of Willy's perception of success; however, Miller keenly emphasizes the descriptions of Dave's age. Not only are we told his exact age at the time of his death and subsequent disappearance from the business world (84) but the details which Willy seems so envious of (the velvet slippers, his ability to conduct business solely from his hotel room) paint an extremely fragile image of Willy's would-be hero. Rather than recognizing the apparent disappearance from the MODERN business world altogether of characters such as Dave, Willy further elaborates his discordant, delusional expectations by longing to usurp Dave's vacant throne. He absolutely refuses to acknowledge the enroaching impersonality and sterility upon the business world.
ReplyDeleteI posted, but on day 2 instead of day 3.
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ReplyDeleteWell, I just read Death of a Salesman from start to finish today (apologies for my tardiness), and I think it goes without saying that it would be wise to NOT save this play for a rainy day. Dreary days are not the ones for plays of this sort. If I learned anything from this reading, it is definitely the importance of honesty, and, quite candidly - this play broke my heart. While Frost's "Mending Wall" comments on the silence of masculinity (granted, this is my own interpretation, but alas - this is a blog! The False World! The World of the Self!) in subtle shades of setting, dialogue, and plot, Death of a Salesman strips the calm and collected "cool" of masculine silence down to the bone, exposing it as a cheap defense mechanism and a terribly efficient killer. Biff and Willy's inability to communicate honestly with themselves, and thus, with each other, kills their relationship and, in Willy's case, kills the individual.
ReplyDeleteAs discussed yesterday in class, the pivotal moment occurs in Boston, when Biff discovers Willy in the midst of an illicit rendezvous. When a circumstance of stark truth thrusts itself into the spotlight of Biff and Willy's relationship, a choice is suddenly offered up: acknowledge the truth to each character's potential redemptive benefit, or continue to "look forward" at the good things to come. While neither Biff nor Willy ever forget that moment, they choose to continue looking forward, but without having ever honestly addressed the past wrongs and hurts inflicted on one another. Pride, hope, expectations, and regret fill Biff and Willy's minds to such an extent that true, productive communication with one another becomes impossible - their relationship withers like a desert quieted by night, and Willy exits the stage before the coming of a possible dawn.
I see happy as the last man still clinging to the fantasy world. He'll continue to live in much the same way that Willy lived. Biff has clearly seen the light is much better off for it. Happy has learned nothing from this experience. Linda's reaction to Willy's death gave me chills. She still has a dreamy worldview when she talks about the past. "He only needed a little salary." "We were just about free and clear." She's still sugar-coating things but in the last monologue she seems to have been lying to herself for so long that she can't acknowledge Willy's death. Her last lines are hopeful as she seems to acknowledge that the lie is over and that they're free to live in the real world. Or perhaps that interpretation is too optimistic?
ReplyDeleteI understand that arthur Mille wants you to see the bending and breaking of a "American Family" in the play. I want to focus on Biff. I think the entire reason for him wanting to steal is simply because that was what was instilled in him from high school. I personally saw it at my high school everyday. There was always the "perfect" person and the perfect circle. Ours was the atheletes at my high school. I personally was an athelete. But, I did what I was supposed to do. There was always a group of us that didn't feel like the rules applied to them. Thats how I imagined Biff. Their parents would make excuses. Their problems and antics were swept under the rug, just Like Willy did that for Biff. I think in the end Biff saw the errors of both his and Willy's excuses and Biff saw that he could finally quite lying to himself and be true, and that was the straw that broke willy's back.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Scram that this is not the best play to read during a rainy season, it broke my heart also. That said, it seems that the confrontation between Willy and Biff had severe implications on Biff's life. During this scene, Biff is forced to see that Willy is not a perfect father or husband. After this night Biff loses all desire to be the man that he has presumably been groomed to be. It makes sense that the confrontation would negatively affect the father-son relationship, but I wondered how Biff felt when his mother chided him for how he interacted with his dad. Why didn't Biff say something to her when she was praising Willy and condemning the boys? Biff most likely did not want to say something that would profoundly hurt her. When Linda was happy Biff probably did not want to bring her down. When they were arguing he surely would not want to say it out of anger. Facing his father's dishonesty was problematic for Biff. After all, if his father was a phony about his marriage, how could Biff trust anything else that he said?
ReplyDeleteI still can't get over the end of scene two, it seems to end so nonchalantly and optimistically compared to the previous arguments and conversations that had just happened. I think it was Biff that said "Gee" and Willy tells him not to say that again, yet willy says "Gee" as the scene ends. This exaggerates the fact that willy isn't "all there." To say the least.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering what everyone thought about how willy cuts off linda so much? This really bothered me when reading the play, is there something happening within willy that makes him suppress all women because of his guilt? Or I may be looking too far into that..
Elizabeth-
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ReplyDeleteWillly's fear of abandonment plays a important role in his life. His obsession of the American Dream and the conformity of his family to this idea seems to be rooted in the emotional trauma caused by the abandonment of his father and brother. His father and brother left him with nothing, so he feels the need to provide for and direct his sons on the "right path". His fear of abandonment is also responsible for his obsession with being well liked. He is always seeking approval and any perceived hint of dislike is followed by a tantrum or a retreat into self-pity. Willy proudly shows his sons to Ben, practically begging for a word of approval and when Ben notes that he must leave, Willy begs him to stay longer. Willy's relationship with Ben is still, even in it's adult stage, full of a fear of abandonment. I think it is this fear that has created and influenced the character he is and that ultimately leads to his suicide.
ReplyDeleteA salesman dies when he is unable to sell anymore. Willy's "death" occured before the play's event when he was no longer able to provide for his family through his sales.
ReplyDeleteAs Charley says, "The only thing you got in this world is what you can sell" (pg 2371). The greatest thing a salesman can sell is himself. It's his charisma that sells the products. Willy has lost his charisma, and therefore can no longer sell.
Kind of going off of Scram's comment on masculinity as a cheap defense mechanism--I enjoy looking up the literal meanings of names when reading a text. Sometimes it can be quite revealing. Take the name "Willy," for instance. It and its variants all mean "will helmet" or "protection." The name was very common around the time when Willy was young (this is where I got this information: http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/1/Willy). I think this is revealing in a very ironic way. Willy desires to be the ideal patriarch of an ideal American nuclear family. He wants to protect his family mostly in a monetary way. One could also look at it a different way--that he uses his delusions and ideals to protect himself from the truth which Biff brings him at the end--that they're not extraordinary, they're just average, and always will be. Willy's name is also very common--one could either see that as a reinforcement of Biff's truth, or one could see it in terms of Willy's desire to be well-liked by many. The meaning of Biff's name ("to hit") isn't very revealing, but its rarity is. Never at any point has this name been a common American name (here's the website where I got this: http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/1/Biffhttp://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/1/Biff). Biff doesn't desire to be part of the well-liked, successful delusion that comprised the "American Dream." Biff just wants to be Biff--a free spirit.
ReplyDeleteOn a different note (and I did mention this in class), I absolutely hate that the children of Willy's contemporaries call him "kid." Howard and Bernard both do it. In this word, one senses pity, but one also senses a certain disdain and feelings of superiority. This is highlighted by the fact that it's not people his own age calling him "kid"--it's people the age of his children. Willy cannot gain the respect and love that he wants so badly from everyone even from his children and others of the younger generation--it highlights his utter failure and helplessness.
By the way, I would like to add that I LOVE Dustin Hoffman--my older brother is actually named after him--and I really could not think of a more perfect actor for the role of Willy Loman. I think his height really works, too--Dustin Hoffman is larger than life without having to be tall, but in this case, his average height is used to highlight the averageness of the character he's portraying. I could go on and on about how wonderful he was in that role (and any other role), but really--such a great choice.