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Desertion: it is exactly what most people fear, for desertion can sometimes lead to insanity. In the play The Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller, Willy Loman, the main character, achieves a professional understanding of his work and himself, while loosing reality and only being able to rely on advice from his dead brother. To a great extent the burden of Willy not ever knowing, or having a father, is reflected upon his treatment of Biff and Happy (his sons), and instigating them to feel forced upon the proposal of accomplishment by whatever means necessary. In Act I, Willy comes home to a tired Linda, telling her the difficulties of being a salesman. Willy’s compulsive irrationality, and the unsuccessful nature of his career, forces him to behave as an animal in the midst of battle; his father’s departure forces him to fell concerned with his image. To Willy joking is no laughing matter: I’m fat. I’m very—foolish to look at, Linda. I didn’t tell you, but Christmas time…I was going to see [a] buyer I heard him say something about—walrus…I cracked him right across the face…they do laugh at me. I know that. (37) Earlier in the story, Willy is intent on trying to get a better job. In Willy’s depression, hard economic situations played a significant role in his “awareness” of his identity. The problem with society, and life for families everywhere, was that times were difficult and often led to poverty. Willy’s father may have left due to economic reasons, and the sudden exodus of Willy’s father led Willy to believe that success is all anyone can really have in this world; otherwise, fiascos of ambitions can lead to privation. Earlier in the story, Willy is intent on trying to improve his job. Therefore, he seeks that goal by going to his boss Howard Wagner. Willy’s ambition for success drowns out the rest of his opinions because he deems that for his father to have recognized him for his son rather than a failure, and in turn reflects this same attitude towards his family. Willy explains how although Wagner was his boss’s son, Wagner should be looking out for Willy, since he was also a big part of Howard’s life. Willy poses a question to Howard Wagner, in Howard’s office. He is discussing how he decided to become a salesman after meeting Dave Singleman, the mythic salesman who died the noble “death of a salesman” that Willy himself idealizes: …And when I saw that, I realized that selling was the greatest career a man could want. ’Cause what could be more satisfying than to be able to go, at the age of eighty-four, into twenty or thirty different cities, and pick up a phone, and be remembered and loved and helped by so many different people?
Approximate Word count = 1785
Approximate Pages = 7.1
(250 words per page double spaced)
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