Death of a Salesman
The work of literature that I decided to read for this current Independent Reading assignment is Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller. My decision came mostly from having read The Crucible by the same author last year and having surprisingly really enjoyed it. Due to some serious procrastination, The Crucible ended up being a one-night mission, and instead of giving up and resorting to Sparknotes like a sane person, I read the entire thing. So, I decided to stick with the same author. So far, I've been pretty happy with my decision. The play deals with Willy Loman, an aging salesman with a wife and two grown sons who is starting to lose it a little. The play is relatively short, so I decided to start this post at page 40. At his point, Willy has gotten home from a sales trip to both of his grown boys, Biff and Happy. Biff, the older of the two, has drifted from job to job, unable to stay in one place and find a career, mostly preferring to be outside and doing something active. Happy, the younger of the two, has secured a position in a department store, where he sleeps around with his co-workers girlfriends. They come home to find Willy somewhat mentally unstable, and the play features scenes that mix the present action and flashbacks, which in Willy's mind seem to be happening at the same time.
Willy is obviously the crux of this story, being the salesman in question in the title Death of a Salesman. As soon as we're introduced to the character, there are already implications that something is "off" with Mr. Loman. When returning from a sales trip, he describes a moment driving home where, "Suddenly I realize I'm going sixty miles an hour and I don't remember the last five minutes" (3). Already, Willy is frazzled to say the least. Another key characteristic we see early on is the tension between Willy and his older son, Biff. Willy is a firm believer in the American Dream, and it seems to pain him that Biff doesn't want to hold down a job and settle. The two don't have any direct interactions this far in the play, but both of them are vocal about their grudge, such as when Biff says, "He's got no character...spewing out that vomit from his mind" (40). What seems to be the most important characteristic so far though is Willy's inability to keep the past and present separate in his mind. He has three separate occurrences of the present being interrupted by the past, one featuring Biff and Happy as younger children greeting Willy after his return from a business trip. A completely different relationship between Biff and Willy is shown here, one where Biff idolizes his father and Willy is incredibly proud of Biff. Another occurs with the appearance of a character only named "The Woman" that Willy gives some of Linda's stockings to. My first thought was that The Woman was a younger Linda, but it became clear pretty early on that The Woman was most likely a mistress of Willy's. The final one introduces Willy's older brother Ben, who went searching for Willy's father in Alaska and somehow ended up in Africa, where he became rich when he entered the diamond business. This is an interesting way to separate the action of the story, and it creates suspense since we know something happens that causes a schism between Biff and Willy that certainly wasn't there in Willy's flashback. I'm eager to continue reading and find out exactly what it is that happens, and it doesn't hurt that the play is well-written and engaging to prevent this assignment from becoming a chore.
Willy is obviously the crux of this story, being the salesman in question in the title Death of a Salesman. As soon as we're introduced to the character, there are already implications that something is "off" with Mr. Loman. When returning from a sales trip, he describes a moment driving home where, "Suddenly I realize I'm going sixty miles an hour and I don't remember the last five minutes" (3). Already, Willy is frazzled to say the least. Another key characteristic we see early on is the tension between Willy and his older son, Biff. Willy is a firm believer in the American Dream, and it seems to pain him that Biff doesn't want to hold down a job and settle. The two don't have any direct interactions this far in the play, but both of them are vocal about their grudge, such as when Biff says, "He's got no character...spewing out that vomit from his mind" (40). What seems to be the most important characteristic so far though is Willy's inability to keep the past and present separate in his mind. He has three separate occurrences of the present being interrupted by the past, one featuring Biff and Happy as younger children greeting Willy after his return from a business trip. A completely different relationship between Biff and Willy is shown here, one where Biff idolizes his father and Willy is incredibly proud of Biff. Another occurs with the appearance of a character only named "The Woman" that Willy gives some of Linda's stockings to. My first thought was that The Woman was a younger Linda, but it became clear pretty early on that The Woman was most likely a mistress of Willy's. The final one introduces Willy's older brother Ben, who went searching for Willy's father in Alaska and somehow ended up in Africa, where he became rich when he entered the diamond business. This is an interesting way to separate the action of the story, and it creates suspense since we know something happens that causes a schism between Biff and Willy that certainly wasn't there in Willy's flashback. I'm eager to continue reading and find out exactly what it is that happens, and it doesn't hurt that the play is well-written and engaging to prevent this assignment from becoming a chore.
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