Death Of Salesman
Miller, Arthur Death of a Salesman 20 -Here, Willy has changed attitude on a dime, portraying himself as a salesman, and teaching his son that the most important key to success is to be well liked. Because Biff is and Bernard is not, Bernard's annoying nagging must be ignored, in the best interest of Biff's future success
Bernard: Just because he printed University of Virginia on his sneakers doesn't mean they've got to graduate him, Uncle Willy! Willy: What're you talking about? With scholarships to three universities they're gonna flunk him? Bernard: But I heard Mr. Birnbaum say- Willy: Don't be a pest, Bernard! [To his boys] What an anemic!
Miller Death of a Salesman 75 -The second, and more serious, example of Charley telling Willy to grow up and swallow his pride. Once again, Willy not only does not grow up, but reverts to an adolescent state where he prepares to physically fight Charley over his refusal of Charley's offer.
Charley: I am offering you a job. Willy: I don't want your goddam job! Charley: When the hell are you going to grow up? Willy [furiously]: You big ignoramus, if you say that to me again I'll rap you one! I don't care how big you are! [He's ready to fight]
Miller Salesman 76 -At this point, Willy has become dead set on his death being for the best, and tunes out any attempts to persuade him otherwise. Even though there are people who truly care about him, Willy's stubborn pride has convinced him that death is the only and best way to help his family.
Charley: Take care of yourself. And pay your insurance. Willy: Funny, y'know? After all the highways, and the trains, and the appointments, and the years, you end up worth more dead than alive. Charley: Willy, nobody's worth nothin' dead. [After a slight pause] Did you hear what I said? [Willy stands still, dreaming]
Ardolino, Frank. "'I'm Not a Dime a Dozen! I am Willy Loman! -Willy Loman is so often ignored by others because of this lack of a distinction between what is fact and what Willy has concocted, leading to others isolating him and even Willy's own self imposed isolation from others.
It is hard to determine whether Willy is hallucinating or actually recalling a past event. Although it may be impossible to resolve this problem, it is possible to determine the psychological associative processes which dictate why and how Willy experiences these events.
Miller Arthur Death of a Salesman 7 -Willy's mind is so divided that he honestly does not remember ever saying such a thing, and is incredulous at the possibility that he did.
Linda: And Willy- if it's Sunday we'll drive in the country. And we'll open the windshield, and take lunch. Willy: No, the windshields don't open on the new cars. Linda: But you opened it today. Willy: Me? I didn't. Now isn't that particular! Isn't that a remarkable-
Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman 53 -Linda's words indicate a temporary change in Willy's life, where things will start to look up for him and his family. In fact, this grace period only manages to plunge him deeper into darkness than he's ever been before, ultimately leading to his death.
Linda: It's the grace period now
Miller, Arthur Death of a Salesman 7 -Because of his divided and overactive mind, Willy is incapable of listening to others, instead asserting that he is always right and then instantly changing the topic of the conversation, as if no other conversation had occurred
Linda: Well, after all, people had to move somewhere. Willy: No, there's more people now. Linda: I don't think there's more people. I think- Willy: There's more people! That's what's ruining this country! Population is getting out of control. The competition is maddening! Smell the stink from that apartment house! And another one on the other side... How can they whip cheese?
Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman 52 -Although he appears rested, Willy is in fact doomed to be restless for eternity. His suffering is often unseen and misunderstood by those around him, and only he comes the closest to understanding his own struggle, albeit imperfectly still.
Linda: You look so rested, dear. Willy: I slept like a dead one.
Ardolino, Frank. "Miller's Poetic Use of Demotic English in Death of a Salesman." -Man has a tendency to glorify his own abilities and ignore what they cannot control; this play forces the audience to contend with the possibility that the mind, the thing that ultimately defines who each of us is, may not be as under our control as we would like to think.
Members of the audience respond with pity and fear to Willy's fate, for the psyche, which is ultimately incomprehensible, is a reality in their own lives and Willy's fate might have been theirs
Miller Arthur Death of a Salesman 70 -Willy is uncomfortable with facing his son's failure, and tries to play up Biff's successes so far before changing the topic away from his family and towards Bernard's. This tactic, however, fails, as Bernard is interested in the truth of Willy's life, unlike Willy himself.
Bernard: What's Biff doing? Willy: Well, he's been doing very big things in the West. But he decided to establish himself here. Very big. We're having dinner. Did I hear your wife had a boy? Bernard: That's right. Our second. Willy: Two boys! What do you know! Bernard: What kind of a deal has Biff got?
Miller 87 -Willy's listening skills only return when Biff begins to placate him and tell him what he wants to hear. This selective hearing is one of the many obstacles that Willy struggles with which prevent him from receiving help from others.
Biff [desperately, standing over Willy] Pop, listen! Listen to me! I'm telling you something good. Oliver talked to his partner about the Florida idea. You listening? He-he talked to his partner, and he came to me... I'm going to be all right, you hear? Dad, listen to me, he said it was just a question of the amount! Willy: then you...got it?
Miller 105
Biff: And I never got anywhere because you blew me so full of hot air I could never stand taking orders from anybody! That's whose fault it is.
Miller 89 -In the midst of an intense internal conversation, Willy Loman attempts to leave his sons to answers an imagined door in a Boston hotel. His mental issues are so powerful at this point
Biff: Hey, where are you going? Willy: Open the door. Biff: The door? Willy: The washroom...the door...where's the door?
Miller Death of a Salesman 75 -For his whole life, Willy has been futilely trying to sell himself to win success, and as a result as won no success and has completely lost any semblance of an individual identity. Once again, though, when given advice about how to change his mental state for a better life, Willy rejects this and continues to wallow in self pity.
Charley: Willy, when're you gonna realize that them things don't mean anything? You named him Howard, but you can't sell that. The only thing you got in this world is what you can sell. And the funny thing is that you're a salesman, and you don't know that.
Griffin, Alice. "Death of a Salesman." -Willy Loman, like so many modern people, has fallen into the trap of thinking that by surrendering his identity and selling it as a commodity, rather than developing it and living life for himself, he will win great success in life. One cannot separate oneself from their success and joy in life, but must instead make oneself the reason for living.
Death of a Salesman has been described as "a tragedy of the common man," in which the hero's error in judgment lies in his unquestioning commitment to a career of selling himself.
Ardolino, Frank. "'I'm Not a Dime a Dozen! I am Willy Loman! -Willy is very much separated from the true nature of the world, and he is completely unable to see how his unattainable dreams will be his downfall.
For no apparent reason, Willy's psyche blinds him to the madness of his grandiose dreams of omnipotence and compels him to attempt to replace reality with his own concept of it
Ardolino, Frank. "Miller's Poetic Use of Demotic English in Death of a Salesman." -Willy's problem can be accurately diagnosed, and possibly treated, neither of which any character in the book was truly able to diagnose, most evident in the Requiem. This disorder is the driving force behind his self destructive dreams.
Giles Mitchell points out that Willy suffers from a personality disorder, pathological narcissism, which demands "grandiosity, omnipotence and perfection" (391) rather than normal achievement.
Miller 110 -Even in death, Willy's own family does not understand him. Happy was perhaps the worst, content to just lie to his father and tell him what he wanted to hear. Charley, the only person to make an honest attempt to help Willy, recognizes this, and realizes that there was nothing anybody could have done to help Willy because of the deep rooted mental troubles Willy suffered with.
Happy [deeply angered]: He had no right to do that. There was no necessity for it. We would've helped him. Charley [grunting]: Hmmm
Miller Arthur Death of a Salesman 64 -As soon as he is left alone, Willy goes and consults with his imagined brother as his only source of assistance. Unable to ask for help from others, Willy instead relies on assistance from within, perhaps disguising this as outside help by invoking the name of his brother.
Howard: Pull yourself together, kid, there's people outside. Willy: Oh, Ben, how do you do it? What is the answer? Did you wind up the Alaska deal already?
Miller Arthur Death of a Salesman 63 -Willy is unable to admit the true reality of his life, and instead subsists on his false pride, a tactic that Howard sees right through. If only Willy could admit the truth, his life situation may get better, but he is damned to repeat his futile pride
Howard: Where are your sons? Why don't your sons give you a hand? Willy: They're working on a very big deal. Howard: This is no time for false pride, Willy.
Ardolino, Frank. "'I'm Not a Dime a Dozen! I am Willy Loman! -From his first ideas of the play, Miller was convinced to damn Willy to combine the incompatible, viewing time periods not in their own respective ways but in the others', in order that the audience could better explore the mind of this man and even the potential that this could be our own minds.
Miller has said that he was obsessed with "a mode that would open a man's head for a play to take place inside it, evolving through concurrent rather than consecutive actions," which "turned him [Willy] to see present through past and past through present
Through Willy Loman's fractured mental state, Arthur Miller explores the profound effects of Willy's isolation from the people around him and even reality, and communicates the universal possibility that we may not hold as much control over our own minds as we think, thus making Willy's fate one we may all share. Miller does this through Willy's strained relationship with his family, which Willy sees as both a failure and nearing success that lies just around the corner, and through Willy's house, which is constantly falling apart but is also almost perfectly complete.
THESIS
Miller 91 -Willy has started an affair with The Woman because of his loneliness on the road, and yet this attempt has failed, with Willy still being ignored. The fact that he is concerned with the knocking on the door is derided as being self centered, and his concerns are swept away. Once again, Willy is left alone with nowhere to turn.
The Woman: Whyn't you have another drink, honey, and stop being so damn self-centered? Willy: I'm so lonely. The Woman: You know you ruined me, Willy?
Ardolino, Frank. "'I'm Not a Dime a Dozen! I am Willy Loman! -Willy's illusion of attainable paradise is doomed from the start because of this incompatible pairing. He is incapable of dreaming in even just a semi realistic manner, and as a result is cut off from the world because of his inability to follow its governing rules
Willy ironically incorporated the concept of progress, time's movement, into his changeless paradise.
Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman 54 -Willy pours immense time and effort into maintaining his home, something he is unable to do with his job and his family. Unlike his home, he never buckles down and does what needs to be done, instead contenting himself with impossible dreams of what would make his life better.
Willy: All the cement, the lumber, the reconstruction I put in this house! There ain't a crack to be found in it any more.
Miller Salesman 62 -Again, Willy remembers 1928 as a year of great success, and because of the great value he has placed on his memory of his success, he reacts violently when his success is questioned. With no prospect of success in the present or future, 1928 is the only success Willy can cling to for life.
Willy: in 1928 I had a big year. I averaged a hundred and seventy dollars a week in commissions. Howard [impatiently]: Now, Willy, you never averaged- Willy [banging his hand on the desk] I averaged a hundred and seventy dollars a week in the year of 1928!
Miller Salesman 85 -In a critical moment, Willy's mind leaves the present and escapes to a time long ago when Biff flunked math. However, unlike his other conversations with his imagination that spilled out into the real world, he is talking to real people directly, instead of merely confusing those around him with his conversations to his imagined figures.
Young Bernard: Mrs. Loman, Mrs. Loman! Happy: Tell him what happened! Biff: Shut up and leave me alone! Willy: No, no! You had to go and flunk math! Biff: What math? What are you talking about?
Ardolino, Frank. "'I'm Not a Dime a Dozen! I am Willy Loman! -Willy Loman's mental state creates what is perhaps the most profound type of isolation; he is separated from entirely from his world as it is, which drives him to insanely pursue an unattainable dream to change his reality.
An Eden-like paradise which lies at the center of his neurosis, it is characterized by the paradoxical union of reality and his delusory fulfillment of his grandiose dreams of omnipotence.
Hadomi, Leah. "Fantasy and Reality: Dramatic Rhythm in Death of a Salesman -Willy is so mentally torn that the only way to ease his suffering is to kill himself for his family, to ease their financial struggle in a way he never could. Yet, in the end, Willy just causes more hardship for his family, an unsurprising end for this character who struggled so much with confronting reality.
As the action of the play progresses, the connections between Willy's inner world and external reality--which are tenuous enough to begin with--grow increasingly unstable and volatile until he is driven to kill himself, the ultimate act of self-deception in his struggle to impose his fantasies upon a reality that consistently thwarts his ambitions and will.
Babcock, Granger. "'What's the Secret?': Willy Loman as Desiring Machine." -Willy takes the utmost pride in his ability to work and build with his hands, and derides those who lack his skills. However, he is incapable of building in any other way, whether it be in his job or in his family, and in fact ends up destroying his family and himself as a result of this inability to improve the world around him.
Because of his madness, Willy, who literally rebuilds his house, destroys it in the metaphorical sense of progeny or line of descent.
Centola, Steven R. "Family Values in Death of a Salesman." -Even at the age of 60, Willy still has internal conversations admitting that he does not know what he is doing and relies on his memories of his older brother to guide him, in order that he can attain the masculine success of those like his father, Ben, and Dave Singleman
A look at the memory scenes also helps to explain why Willy values his family more than anything else in his life. Abandoned at an early age by his father, Willy has tried all his life to compensate for this painful loss. When Willy also suffers the sudden disappearance of his older brother, he nearly completely loses his self-confidence and a sense of his own identity as a male
Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman 36 -Willy has no sense of a personal identity, and still relies on his father and brother, among others, to define it for him. Without any independent identity, Willy's hopes of making a name for himself are all for naught.
Ben: I'll stop on my way back to Africa. Willy [longingly]: Can't you stay a few days? You're what I need, Ben, because I-I have a fine position here, but I-well, Dad left when I was such a baby and I never had a chance to talk to him and I still feel—kind of temporary about myself.
Miller 100 -Throughout the play, Ben had tended to be a voice leading Willy away from reason, but in Willy's final moments Ben is trying to keep Willy alive. Although he does make concessions to Willy, Ben does predict accurately that Biff will resent Willy for his suicide. Willy's fractured mind is trying to save his life, but at this point, it is too late for Willy
Ben: You don't want to make a fool of yourself. They might not honor the policy. Willy: How can they dare refuse? Didn't I work like a coolie to meet every premium on the nose? And now they don't pay it off? Impossible! Ben: It's called a cowardly thing, William.
Miller, Arthur Death of a Salesman 20 -In Willy's recollection of the past, he tells Biff to go off and study so that Biff does not flunk school. In this moment, he is portraying himself as a responsible father caring for his son.
Bernard: Biff! Listen, Biff, I heard Mr. Birnbaum say that if you don't start studyin' math he's gonna flunk you, and you won't graduate. I heard him! Willy: You better study with him, Biff. Go ahead now.
Miller Death of a Salesman 71 -Although he asked for earnest insight into Biff's failures, Willy continues to fight this insight and deny the truth that Biff's life has been lived halfheartedly at best, resulting in his present state.
Bernard: He never trained himself for anything. Willy: But he did, he did. After high school he took so many correspondence courses. Radio mechanics; television; God knows what, and never made the slightest mark.
Miller Death of a Salesman 72 -Willy blames Biff for giving up and flunking math, which he claims was the start of Biff's downward spiral. Yet, although specifically requested by Willy, when Bernard gives the truth Willy closes up and begins to deny reality once again. He retreats into his concocted world where Biff gave up, running from the truth Bernard is getting at.
Bernard: He wasn't beaten by it at all. But then, Willy, he disappeared from the block for almost a month. And I got the idea that he'd gone up to New England to see you. Did he have a talk with you then? [Willy stares in silence] Bernard: Willy? Willy: [with a strong edge of resentment in his voice] Yeah, he came to Boston. What about it?
Centola, Steven R. "Family Values in Death of a Salesman." -Willy's division forces him to pour resources into all these warring powers inside him, disabling him from actively seeking and achieving success, a feat he may accomplish if only he was able to choose one path and one voice to follow to completion.
The characters' contrasting views, in essence, externalize warring factions within Willy's fractured psyche. Each character represents a different aspect of Willy's personality: Linda most often takes the part of his conscience; Charley generally expresses the voice of reason; and Ben seems to personify Willy's drive toward self-assertion and personal fulfillment. These forces compete against each other, struggling for dominance, but although one might temporarily gain an advantage over the others, no one maintains control indefinitely. All remain active in Willy, leaving him divided, disturbed, and confused.
Centola, Steven R. "Family Values in Death of a Salesman." -The constant repetition of these meaningless platitudes in earnest represents Willy's proximate cause for his failures; he does not understand what work really needs to be done to improve his life, and is stuck in the rut of mindlessly repeating these words in the vain hope that they will make things better
The disparity between the hollowness of Willy's words and the passion with which he utters them underscore the tremendous variance between his deep feelings about and inadequate understanding of fatherhood, salesmanship, and success in one's personal life as well as in the business world in American society.
Cardullo, Bert. "Death of a Salesman, life of a Jew: -For professionals, Willy Loman is so troubled that he, a fictitious character, can be accurately diagnosed with his ailment. With a diagnosis being this able to create, the failure to help Willy Loman lies squarely on those around him, who refused to seek help out of their flawed belief that they knew best for him.
The evidence in the play for Willy's psychopathy is plentiful, so much so that it has led to his being diagnosed as manic-depressive before the age of anti-depressant drugs
Cardullo, Bert. "Death of a Salesman, life of a Jew: -Although it may be easy to blame Willy's failures on such things as no longer being well liked, fat, and old, as Willy himself does, instead it must be recognized that the issues facing Willy are much more intrinsic to his character and have been lying dormant for years, only surfacing and wreaking havoc in his final days.
The figure that comes through this play, in fact, is not of a man brought down by various failures but of a mentally unstable man in whom the fissures have only increased.
Ardolino, Frank. "Miller's Poetic Use of Demotic English in Death of a Salesman." -Willy Loman has been living in a metaphorical night ever since the end of 1928, his great selling year. When his boundless darkness seems to be ending, with his mortgage being paid off and his sons preparing to make their futures, Willy begins to come out of the darkness only to be thrown back in, into what becomes the eternal darkness of death.
The play's three-part temporal setting--night, the next day, and the following night--indicates the progression of chronological time. But on another level, the temporal setting is an image of containment and stasis which alludes to the play's primary subject, Willy's imprisonment in neurosis and his consequent death.
Babcock, Granger. "'What's the Secret?': Willy Loman as Desiring Machine." -Willy is incapable of thinking critically about his problems and taking action to change his life. Instead, he isolates himself from his own humanity and its great gift of thought, and accepts merely going through the motions of complaining and desiring impossibilities that would improve his life.
The play, in fact, suggests just the opposite--that Willy is not autonomous, self-generated, or self-made (even in "failure"), but that he is completely other to himself; he is more puppet than person, more machine than man, and as such he announces the death, or disappearance, of the subject, the death of the tragic hero, and the birth of "the desiring machine."
Ardolino, Frank. "'I'm Not a Dime a Dozen! I am Willy Loman! -Although many of the manifestations of Willy's madness are very explicit, the subtle repetition of numbers especially reinforce the point that Willy's mental problems are incredibly deeply rooted.
The repetition of the names and numbers produce an echo chamber of mockery indicative of Willy's failure to achieve his dreams.
Centola, Steven R. "Family Values in Death of a Salesman." -Willy desires success for himself and his sons more than anything in the world, and when they all end up without the success of his dreams, Willy explores the moments where success seemed just within grasp, and consults with Ben especially about where he went wrong and how to fix everything.
This feeling of futility makes him wonder whether he has failed as a father and impels him to explore his past
Centola, Steven R. "Family Values in Death of a Salesman." -Consistently, Willy contradicts his own words, often within the span of just a few lines, as if he were two distinct people, leaving others unsure of which Willy Loman they were interacting with, or even if they were interacting with Willy at all.
Through Willy's incongruous behavior, Miller makes us sharply aware of the subterranean tensions dividing Willy.
Babcock, Granger. "'What's the Secret?': Willy Loman as Desiring Machine." -Miller hints at many of Willy's problems in seemingly innocuous ways, in such a way that the audience shrugs them off as ordinary. However, they in fact represent Willy's deepest struggles, highlighting other's inability to understand him.
Through his system of associated meanings and dual temporal schemes, Miller infuse the commonplace with tragic significance which mirrors Willy's madness and fate.
Babcock, Granger. "'What's the Secret?': Willy Loman as Desiring Machine." -The audience cannot help but pity Willy Loman, as he is so seemingly unlike other tragic heros because of his lack of the defining human characteristic of comprehensive thought.
Unlike Oedipus, Hamlet, or Lear, Willy is incapable of self-knowledge and is, therefore, not tragic but pathetic:
Miller Arthur Death of a Salesman 71 -Willy is envious of the life Bernard has, because it is the life Biff was supposed to have while the not-well-liked Bernard was supposed to flounder. Even now, Willy is still looking for others to teach him how to live his own life and to improve it.
Willy [small and alone]: What-what's the secret? Bernard: What secret? Willy: How-how did you? Why didn't he ever catch on? Bernard: I wouldn't know that, Willy.
Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman 2 -Even from the very beginning of the play, Willy is preoccupied with death, but shows it in such a subtle and normally innocuous way that this fascination is not picked up until another reading of the play.
Willy [with casual irritation]: I said nothing happened. Didn't you hear me? Linda: Don't you feel well? Willy: I'm tired to death.
Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman 36 -Willy is proud and amazed to hear from Ben that his sons are truly men, but cannot fathom how they got that way because of his lack confidence in his knowledge and teaching abilities on manliness. Hoping for inspiration, Willy looks within and asks another, surrendering his own autonomy to have his brother turn his boys into men.
Willy: Ben, my boys--can't we talk? They'd go into the jaws of hell for me, see, but I-- Ben: William, you're being first-rate with your boys. Outstanding, manly chaps! Willy: (hanging onto his words) Oh, Ben, that's good to hear! Because sometimes I'm afraid that I'm not teaching them the right kind of--Ben, how should I teach them?
Miller Arthur Death of a Salesman 48 -Willy's advice is useless, because it is based on the assumption that Biff is superbly qualified for the job he is interviewing for and his success or failure depends exclusively on how he carries himself. And yet, he firmly and honestly believes that his advice is the key to all success in the world, which tears his mind in two opposite directions
Willy: Don't be so modest. You always started too low. Walk in with a big laugh. Don't look worried. Start off with a couple of your good stories to lighten things up. It's not what you say, it's how you say it-because personality always wins the day.
Miller Salesman 84 -Although Willy reacts angrily in order to listen to Biff better, he in fact refuses to listen, instead adding useless commentary and asking excessive questions, preventing Biff from answering. Willy either does not know what he truly wants, or is incapable of achieving it, or both.
Willy: Don't interrupt. [To Biff] How'd he react to the Florida idea? Biff: Dad, will you give me a minute to explain? Willy: I've been waiting for you to explain since I sat down here! What happened? He took you into his office and what? Biff: Well-I talked. And-and he listened, see. Willy: Famous for the way he listens, y'know. What was his answer?
Miller 18 -From early on in the play and his sons' lives, Willy has been teaching that to be well liked is they only key to success, and that because Charley isn't well liked, Willy will become more successful than Charley. Herein lies jealousy that extends to Bernard as well, and explains part of the reason why Willy cannot take a job from Charley.
Willy: Don't say? Tell you a secret, boys. Don't breathe it to a soul. Someday I'll have my own business, and I'll never have to leave home any more. Happy: Like Uncle Charley, heh? Willy: Bigger than Uncle Charley! Because Charley is not-liked. He's liked, but he's not-well liked.
Miller 44 -Willy is entirely blind to the ironies he speaks. He cannot comprehend that to be a carpenter is not a lowly profession, especially because there are people like himself who find working with their hands to be incredibly rewarding and enjoyable. He cannot comprehend that he is indeed viewed by most others as crazy, and denies a fact as simple as his habit of whistling in an elevator.
Willy: Even your grandfather was better than a carpenter. You never grew up. Bernard does not whistle in the elevator, I assure you. Biff: Yeah, but you do, Pop. Willy: I never in my life have whistled in an elevator! And who in the business world thinks I'm crazy?
Miller Arthur Death of a Salesman 68 -The first instance where Charley says this phrase to Willy, meant in a lighthearted way but indicative of one of the many issues plaguing Willy.
Willy: I don't think that was funny, Charley. This is the greatest day of his life. Charley: Willy, when are you going to grow up?
Miller, Arthur Death of a Salesman 23 -Perhaps the most striking change in attitude from Willy, within his two consecutive lines he changes his thoughts based on the input of his wife. Willy has a deep tendency to change his outlook based on the situation, often based solely on the thoughts and words of others.
Willy: I hope we didn't get stuck on that machine. Linda: They got the biggest ads of any of them! Willy: I know, it's a fine machine. What else?
Miller Death of a Salesman 74 -This exchange is one of the few explicit acknowledgements that something is wrong with Willy's mental state. Willy is too proud to accept a job from a perceived inferior, despite the fact that this job was better than his final plea for $40 a week from Howard.
Willy: I want you to know I appreciate... Charley: Willy, what're you doin'? What the hell is goin' on in your head? Willy: Why? I simply... Charley: I offered you a job. You can make fifty dollars a week. And I won't send you on the road. Willy: I've got a job. Charley: Without pay?
Miller Death of a Salesman 8 -Willy remembers 1928 as his best, most successful year, and looks back at it with nostalgia. This remembrance is only detrimental, however, as Willy is incapable of looking towards success in the present and future, and only sets himself up for failure when he is unable to match the joy of this year long past.
Willy: I was thinking of the Chevvy. Nineteen twenty eight...when I had that red Chevvy- That funny? I coulda sworn I was driving that Chevvy today.
Miller Arthur Death of a Salesman 58 -Although Willy strongly believes that being well-liked is the key to success, he even fails at the basics of being well liked. Instead of being genuine, he attempts to placate Howard, who shuts down these attempts in order to better focus on the task at hand.
Willy: It certainly is a- Howard: Sh, for God's sake! His son: "It's nine o'clock, Bulova watch time. So I have to go to sleep." Willy: That really is- Howard: Wait a minute!
Miller Arthur Death of a Salesman 65 -Willy is currently split between three people, and the voice of Willy is entirely dependent on the imagined words of Ben and Linda. Willy is a prisoner inside his own mind, prohibited from thinking on his own.
Willy: Sure, Sure. I am building something with this firm, Ben, and if a man is building something he must be on the right track, mustn't he? Ben: What are you building? Lay your hand on it. Where is it? Willy [hesitantly]: That's true Linda, there's nothing
Miller Death of a Salesman 74 -In one line, Charlie describes the reason for the Loman's failures. The entire play, Biff, Happy, and Willy have been talking up their past achievements and their future prospects of success, instead of just admitting the reality of the situation and acting in such a manner to create their own success. The Lomans are stuck in this trap of talking big and never acting.
Willy: The Supreme Court! And he didn't even mention it! Charley: He don't have to-he's gonna do it.
Centola, Steven R. "Family Values in Death of a Salesman." -Willy's human concerns are entirely thrown by the wayside by himself and many others, simply because of the importance placed on hard work and success. Even when people offer to help him, Willy turns it away to preserve his pride and feed his delusion that his actions are for the best
an analysis of Willy's values even helps to explain why Death of a Salesman is a tragedy, for in Willy Loman's drama of frustration, anguish, and alienation, we see a human struggle that is rooted in metaphysical as well as social and psychological concerns.
Griffin, Alice. "Death of a Salesman." -Willy's struggle is unfortunately commonplace in the modern world, with many struggling with overwhelming forces apathetically, simply because they are incapable of giving meaning to the struggles in their lives.
because the central matrix of this play is ... what most people are up against in their lives. ... They were seeing themselves, not because Willy is a salesman, but the situation in which he stood and to which he was reacting, and which was reacting against him, was probably the central situation of contemporary civilization. It is that we are struggling with forces that are far greater than we can handle, with no equipment to make anything mean anything."
