The Weakness Of Death Of A Salesman English Literature Essay

Over the course of’ Death of a Salesman’, many different factors can be attributed to Willy’s downfall. The idea of the American dream is prominent. The novel is set in 1949 when the dream was in full swing; and this idea shapes the main character, Willy Loman and brings his downfall. Willy Loman, the protagonist of the play, is under great pressure from the American dream; he feels like he needs to go into business and become a salesman, a job he cannot do well at all, ignoring his real talents which could also earn him success. This eventually leads to his suicide – a clear failing of the dream for him.

The opening description of the Loman household in Act 1, scene 1 highlights that Willy is not a good salesman, as the furniture which Miller describes in the Loman household is of the basic and cheap variety; “there is a kitchen table with tree chairs, and a refrigerator. But no other fixtures are seen …. To the right of a kitchen, there is a bedroom furnished only with a brass bedstead and a straight chair”. The lack of furniture highlights how the Lomans are poorly off financially because of the lack of furniture and the simplicity of the remaining furniture. The ‘brass’ bedstead is also a symbol of humbleness. It is important to notice that the Lomans do not possess a wardrobe in their bedroom, highlighting that they do not own enough clothes to need a wardrobe; possibly because Willy works a great deal and wears the same suit in an attempt to earn more money – yet still fails too. The description of the Loman’s household contrasts with the description of the house of Dave Singleman, a character Willy creates in Act two whilst arguing with his boss Howard Wagner. In Dave Singleman’s home, he had a telephone – which he did all his sales and business on – and wore green, velvet slippers. Velvet is a very expensive material and contrasts with the bare brass, used by the Lomans. The refrigerator is contrasted against the relative simplicity of the rest of the house and is a symbolic of the way that capitalism drives the average person to consumerism, which ultimately takes priority over other basic amenities.

The setting of the Loman household is a incredibly symbolic image in reguards to Willys fight to win the American dream “we are aware of towering angular shapes being it, surrounding it on all sides… The surrounding area shows an angry glow of orange… a solid vault of apartment houses around the small fragile-seeming home … the roof-line of the house is one-dimensional; under and over it we see the apartment buildings.”The towering apartment buildings around the Loman’s house represents how the American Dream will not wait around for anyone and portrays Willy’s struggle to keep up with the fast pace nature of America. Miller describes the Loman’s house as ‘fragile-seeming’ ; this highlights the fact that at any moment Willy will soon fall apart under the pressure; it also represents that he can be easily replaced with something more useful and better. The setting of the Loman home portrays how the American Dream brought Willy’s downfall as it is such a densely populated area, creating a very uninspiring atomosphere to really try and persevere. The angry, orange glow of the streetlights symbolise the anger Willy feels towards the American dream as he struggles to keep up with it. It also represents his family’s anger towards Willy as Willy is just kidding himself thinking he is successful and popular when he is not.

The American dream believes that it’s hard work and merit that will make you succeed; Willy also agrees and belives that if you are well liked enough you will be successful. He encourages this frequently to his children and makes them forget about the academic side of life that helps you get to places as well “He’s gotta study, Uncle Willy. He’s got Regents next week.” Here, Bernard, Willy’s nephew is reminding him that he needs to encourage and allow his son, Biff to study for his exams; Biff is currently assuming that he will get into the University of Virginia with no problem at all as he is on the football team, making him popular – therefore he will easily get into the university as he has status (ironically linking in with the American dream). This point is highlighted further on when Willy asks what people think of Bernard, receiving the response; “He’s liked but he’s not well liked” It is clear throughout the play that Willy drills into his children’s heads that it is not what you know, it is who you know that gets you far in life. This is a key point in the downfall of Willy, due to the fact that he believes that he is well known in all areas of America and that he has connections that will get him far in life – when it is actually the opposite. He is not known (or he is but for the wrong reasons, .i.e. not making any sales). The ideology behind the American Dream plays with Willy’s head and causes his downfall and could potentially infect the minds of his offspring as well.

Contradiction of Willy’s own thoughts show his degrading mental state. During the era, ‘Chevrolet’ was a car manufacturer This car, to Willy, symbolised success; “Chevrolet, Linda, is the greatest car ever built” Willy had once had the car, he believed that by having it, success will come his way and he will be popular and rich, however, things clearly didn’t go to plan and he failed at becoming successful. The cars represent Willy’s age. He owned the Chevy at a time where he had more potential in him, a time when his son could have attended university and a time where he was earning some money. Later on in life, Willy Loman owns another car – a battered Studebaker, which ends up being a burden on his bills; “Well, you had the motor job on the car…” “That goddam Studebaker!” The Studebaker symbolises Willys struggle to keep working and shows how tired, even though he has been nothing but unsuccessful so far. The American dream has warped Willy’s mind into making him think that he can succeed by doing nothing – just having fancy gadgets and being well liked.

Willys job that he felt he had to go in due to the ‘dream’ caused Willy to become desperate for money and forced him to ask for money from his companions – but not tell his wife as he could not handle the shame; “Charley, look… (With difficulty) I got my insurance to pay. If you can manage it – I need a hundred and ten dollars.” This is a significant sign that Willy is struggling to keep up with the ever rising prices of the modern America; it also highlight that Willy wants to pay his insurance before he kills himself, so his family can have the money. The American dream did portray a prominent part in the downfall of Willy Loman; however, there are many other reasons why the protaganist had such a tragic downfall.

Willy’s pride to not accept favours from friends eventually caused him to result into taking his own life as he did not believe that this was the way you reached the top; “I offered you a job. You can make fifty dollars a week. And I won’t send you on the road. /I’ve got a job.” If Willy had taken the job from his friend Charley, a man who noticed Willy’s struggles, he would not have to continue to lie to his wife and pretend that he is earning more than just commission – enabling him to be able to pay his bills and sort his mental state out. But his pride stood in the doorway and disabled him from succeeding. Furthermore, Willy ignored his talents in construction as he did not feel like it could make him successful; “Cause I got so many fine tools, all I’d need would be a little lumber and some piece of mind…” The chance of Willy achieving success was with the fine tools he revealed he owned, but by ignoring them he made it harder to provide for his family. His family noticed this, but it was too late; “There’s more of him in that front stoop than in all the sales he ever made” It is clear that through Willy’s failure to recognise his talents he missed out on a chance to branch out into the world of construction that linked in with business, like becoming an architect or a contractor. Willy went for a job with a mind to succeed and didn’t even receive a promotion; thus bringing his downfall.

Ultimately, a there are a variety of factors that contributed to the downfall of Willy Loman. The American dream had failed him, unlike how it brought happiness and financial stability to his father and brother. Had he gone into a job he was actually good at then things could have potentially been a great deal easier for the salesman, but he felt like he needed to do what his father, brother and piers do – a job that was not made for a man who is more practical and prefers to work with his hands rather than riding on his wit and charisma.