Additions to the Character Chart

The chart that Logan posted looks great, especially the lists of adjectives.

There are just a few things I might add.

1. I like that you noted Willy’s plain attire, and I think it is also important to note Willy’s age, despite his often childish irritability and attitude. Miller makes a point of saying that Willy is “dressed tiredly.” Also, Willy is reluctant to get new glasses, so he is wearing old ones. Willy is past sixty years of age and has been worn down over the years.

2. Happy is described as “well-built” and he is also ambitious, but living in delusion, just like his father. Happy is also self-centered, vain, and hedonistic.
Thanks!

-Mary Beth

Willy’s Religion

Adam B. Ferguson

Even though direct religion is never openly discussed in this book an almost “different” kind of religious outlook is prevalent.  Willy’s strive for success no matter what the cost and his views of the American dream almost become of a type of a religion to him.  The idea remains “holy” to him.  Willy also comes from another “religious” approach by referring to Greek mythological gods or over exaggerating things.  He has the tendency to make people mythological and godly which leads to his overall delusional state of mind.  He speaks of Dave Singleman as a legend and imagines that his death must have been beautifully noble. Willy compares Biff and Happy to the mythic Greek figures Adonis and Hercules. He believes his sons are the epitome of "personal attractiveness" and power through "well liked"-ness and to him they seem to be the very incarnation of the American Dream.  It is these jaded visions and over exaggerated stories that cause Willy to view the world in a godly manner.  Through his jaded glasses, Willy fails to realize the hopelessness of Singleman’s lonely, on-the-job, on-the-road death. By trying to reach what he considers to be Singleman’s heroic status, Willy commits himself to a pathetic death and meaningless legacy Similarly, neither Biff nor Happy ends up leading an ideal, godlike life; while Happy does believe in the American Dream, it seems likely that he will end up no better off than the decidedly ungodlike Willy.  So although religion of an organized, westernized, or even any religion, is not necessarily mentioned, the ideas of many religions and beliefs are scattered throughout.  Willy also appears to create a religion of his own where he actively seeks the American Dream as if on a pilgrimage to the (un)holy land.

Societal American Dream

Adam B. Ferguson

Willy becomes so enthralled in the American Dream that he is willing to sacrifice most everything to get what he wants.  This sacrifice includes his son Biff.  Willy believes that he has every right to expect Biff to want the same dream as him.  Like father like son? However, when Biff walks out on Willy’s ambitions for him, Willy takes this rejection very personally and sees it as vengful and spiteful. Since Willy is a salesman, he is distraught when he cannot even sell his son the idea of the societal American Dream.  Biff’s rejection is like a rejection of society to Willy.  The American dream is like a disease that cannot be cured in Willy.  Instead of being cured, however, Willy is further contaminated by society and its definition of success in a materialistic sense.

Society’s Effects

Adam B. Ferguson

Willy’s struggle and hardhips throughout his time reveals the pressure of society to not only achieve but to achieve greatness. In order to achieve and live the American Dream (either that of society or of Willy), social, political and economic envirornments are affected. Throughout his life Willy experiences much despair and abandonment which in the end affected his feature and him as an individual. From early on Willy’s visions and ideas of society are tainted leaving him wanting more for something he didn’t have. Things which society projected as good and successful traints. Wi Willy’s father leaves him and Ben when Willy at a young age which leaves him wanting the tangible (money) nor an intangible (history) legacy he has always yearned to have. Willy’s actions as well as thos events which ahve affected him, eventually push him to strive for the unreachable American Dream. Willy considers his son Biff to be the embodiment of promise and wants to achieve success and reach his dream through him / for him. However, Biff is unable to succeed in business which further estranges the two. This shows how much society and Willy’s outlandish ideas derived from societal beliefs has affected Willy to the core.At Frank’s Chop House, Willy finally believes that Biff is on the verge of succes. However Biff and Happy shatter this illusion of Willy. It is then that Willy has reached a point where he loses all control. This “let down” leaves Willy derranged and babling in the washroom. Not only can Willy no achieve his warped American Dream but neither can his son. Willy values money and business success over the true success and hapiness of himself as well as his family. He believes that if he reaches that unreachable dream he will be happy because society says he should be happy. If he has a pretty wife, a good job where he makes good money, a car, and a nice house that he will be happy. However, even if Willy ever achieved these things – would he even be happy?

Dialogue- Images

In “Death of a Salesman” Miller chooses not to rely as heavily on spoken images, but rather to create them physically on stage. Instead of merely have a character tell a story, he shows it to us. However, dialogue is nonetheless important in creating images, with the image of Willy's insanity being perhaps the most important. Without his broken speech, drifting off into other times and places, we would not have the sense of how shattered he is. His speech right before he kills himself about Biff's football is a good example of this. He is completely disconnected from the world at hand, first telling Biff how to handle the game, and then suddenly drifting off into talking to Ben. We see how disjointed his mind is, yet also how clear his focus can be, never leaving behind his chance for riches, only in this case it involves taking his own life.

Enviornment

 Adam B. Ferguson

Willy is a man who sets up a very different view of the Political, Social, and Economic environment.  Willy believes wholeheartedly in what he considers the promise of the American Dream (the American dream being a person who is "well liked" as well as  "personally attractive").  If Willy is able to obtain to “American Dream,” he beleives he will obtain the comforts offered by modern American life. However, this  fixation on superficial qualities such as attractiveness and likeability is different then that of the true American Dream.  Willy believes he can “cheat” the system by using only his good looks and charm, but overlooks the what that he must work hard without complaining in order to succeed and obtain the true American Dream.  It is Willy’s childish tendencies to judge based on superficial qualities (he dislikes Bernard because he considers Bernard a nerd) that ultimately gets him in trouble. Willy’s blind faith in his obscured version of the American Dream leads to his rapid psychological decline in which is is unable to differentiate between his own life and the “dream.” Willy’s need for success and affirmation labels him as someone who believes he must prove something to someone.  In order to achieve success you must first be at the bottom in order to work yourself to the top.  Willy must go through this same journey but tries to shortcut or work the system which leaves him grasping at imaginery ladders.

Compiled Version-Idea and Metaphor

IDEA

A. Meaning of the Title

Death of a Salesman.

The paradox and importance of the title
Willy, the salesman, kills himself in the name of what he perceives; that is capitalism. This is the critique Miller puts forward. He does so by exposing the paradoxical nature of a system. This paradox is exposed by their constant appearances and recurrence.

"Killing in the name of" by Rage Against the Machine, has death as first word and name as for salesman. I like this metaphorical analogy. Because Willy kills himself, so he kills. And the in the name of, can be applied to the different plausible reasons for why he committed suicide. he killed himself in the name of money, for 20 thousand. he killed himself in the name of family, although he misperceives the value of his life, as put forward by the constant paradox behind the idea.

B. Nominative Phrase That Expresses Meaning of the Play

“When the means to an end become the end, the end itself prompts the end of the common man”

C. Philosphical Statements Made In The Play

Willy: Figure it out. Work a lifetime to pay off ahouse. You finally own it, and there's nobody to live in it.(Pg. 15)

Willy: Not finding yourself at the age of thirty-four is a disgrace!" (Pg. 16)

Willy: The world is an oyster but you don't crack it open on a matress!(Page 41)

Charley: When a deposit bottle is broken you don't get your nickel back.(Page 44)

Willy: Without a penny to his name, three great universities are begging for him, and from there the sky's the limit, becuse it's not what you do, Ben. It's who you know and the smile on your face! It's contacts, Ben, contacts!(Page 86)

Howard: Kid, I can't take blood from a stone(Pg. 81)

Linda:Linda: Biff, a man is not a bird, to come and go with the springtime.(Pg. 54)

Bernard: Yeah, I'm going. He takes the bottle. Thanks, Pop. He picks up his rackets and bag. Good-by Willy, and don't worry about it. You know, "If at first you don't succeed€¦"

Willy: Yes I believe in that.

Bernard: But sometimes, Willy, it's better for a man just to walk away.

Willy: Walk away?

Bernard: That's Right

Willy: But what if you can't walk away?

Bernard, after a slight pause: I gues that's when it's tough.(Page 95)

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 don't know that.(Page 97)

Willy, moving to the right: Funny, y'know? After all the highways, and the trains, and the appointment, and the years, you end up worth more dead than alive.(Page 98)

Willy: A man can't go out the way he came in, Ben, a man hast got to add up to something.(Page 125)

Biff: Pop, I'm a dime a dozen and so are you.(132)

Charley: No man only needs a little salary.(137)

D. How the Action Leads Directly To The Idea

The following is a listing of the crucial actions which lead to the idea.

-Willy makes the decision to become a salesman (after meeting Mr. Singleman)

-Will argues with Howard, asserting the characteristics of his own ideal salesman, resulting in the loss of his job.

-Willy asks Bernard what his secret to success is.

-Biff argues with Willy, telling him he will leave forever, and cries.

-Willy takes his own life.

-Linda makes her final statement to Willy.

Upon making the decision to become a salesman after meeting Mr. Singleman, Willy embarks upon a journey that will end with the taking of his own life. Flashing forward many years, Willy has an argument with his boss Howard, in which he stresses ideals that conflict with the reality of a salesman. Willy's inability to convince his boss to let him keep his job, while he had gone to his boss with intentions of getting a better job in New York, leaves Willy without a job. This leaves Willy without a means to support his family and a glimmer of hope to make it big. When Willy runs into Bernard, he asks him what the big secret to success is. Bernard responds by basically telling Willy that hard work is what it takes, and the reason for the downfall of Willy's son Biff is that Biff was never prepared for future work himself. When Biff tries to give him advice, Willy refuses to accept it by saying he does not need that garbage. He, by doing what has been previously stipulated, rejects his son. These assertions clearly identify that Willy is using the wrong means to go about getting what he wants, leaving the reader to infer that Willy's delusional view of the world contributes to his demise.(and his sons') As the play nears an end, Willy has one final argument with his son Biff, where his son expresses that he will leave forever. However, during this argument, Biff cries, indicating to Willy that his son still has love for him. Upon this realization, Willy is driven to make the ultimate sacrifice, killing himself for the "well being" of his family, in which they will receive a $20,000 reward. However, it is after Willy's death that his warped sense of reality is concretely displayed to the reader. Biff states that he will be moving West, showing the reader that Willy's death has had no effect on him. If there is a cash reward, Biff will certainly not be using it. Linda explains that she cannot understand why Willy has acted the way he has. She clearly identifies the paradox of Willy's actions by saying that she has finished paying off the house, but there is nobody to live in it. This paradox which is expressed throughout the course of the play, is that of a man within the system of capitalism, crucial to Arthur Miller's critique of the American dream, and postwar writings of the twentieth century.

Metaphor

You can’t get love from stone.

Willy, is a man who is influenced by the American dream. His goal is to make it big in the business world and support and care for his family. As we narrowed down his goals to these two general statements, we realized that even these fit into a larger, more fully encompassing description if what Willy wants. That is to say, he wants the American Dream. The jungle, for willy, is the how of that dream. He perceives the jungle story as a coming of age story, where Ben stepped in a poor boy and stepped out a rich man. Alejandro stated that Willy never really grasped the full idea of the jungle, only taking the object of wealth as the important factor in the jungle. What Willy fails to see about this American Dream is the PROCESS. He is too caught up in the "make it big easy" idea, for this is why he went into being a salesman in the first place. Why work with your hands when you can make it big as a salesman! But he realizes that he actually can't make it big as a salesman because of his idea of the American Dream as something "magical," an illusion that will sweep him up as long as he smiles and gets to know people. As we see, these illusions manifest themselves as characters of Willy's past, reaffirming his own strange beliefs. When he begins to discover his inability to be a big shot salesman, he begins to create his own illusion for his children and family.

As the play progresses and eventually comes to an end, it is proven that Willy’s methods to achieve success are greatly flawed. Willy’s delusional nature is illustrated through his failure, willingness to to embrace his methods after failure, and literal delusions from the past. As the play comes to an end, Willy’s misunderstanding of the process is still greatly flawed. He ends up killing himself for his family, when all he does is hurt his family. This greatly ties in to the metaphor of “you can’t get love from a rock,” similar to statements in the play such as ” I can’t squeeze blood from stone and “You can’t break an oyster on a mattress.” Willy’s inability to understand the process and reality are what pull him farther and farther away from what he wants.

Given Circumstances

Adam B. Ferguson

The action in DEATH OF A SALESMAN take place “today” (aka the present) in Brooklyn New York.  This meaning, either the late 1940s or the time period in which the play is being produced.  However, "Daydreams" take us into Willy’s past.  All of the action takes place during a twenty-four-hour period between Monday night and Tuesday night, except the "Requiem," which takes place, presumably, a few days after Willy’s funeral.