This classic play by Arthur Miller (1915-2005) examines human failure, high expectations, and the dark side of the American Dream. Willie Loman is an aging salesman whose figures have fallen to the point where he no longer makes a real living. Not only is his job in jeopardy; so is his family and self-worth. Loman reacts by deluding himself, living in the past, and by holding his sons to unrealistic expectations. Miller does a superb job in presenting a broken man sliding downwards. Such occurs in the sordid race of materialism and corporate success - one that leaves many broken souls in its path. Willie needs to face reality, and mend himself and his struggling family (and his family should help him too), but Miller's powerful script doesn't go there. Instead we have a deluded, beaten man sliding into mental illness - and worse.

Miller penned this play in 1949, as the USA was moving into postwar changes and a more suburbanized, corporate society. This play about the brutish world of expectations, materialism, and the illusive American dream is as much on target today as in 1949.

"Death of a Salesman" is a modern American tragedy. Yet, it can apply equally to any society where individuals become self-obsessed, lose touch with the bigger picture and allow themselves to be deluded by dreams of riches whilst ignoring the beauty of the day to day world.

Poor Willy Loman is a very sad figure. He wallows in the past. He has grandiose dreams about himself and his two adult sons, Happy and Biff. But these dreams are not rooted in any reality. Quite simply, Willy is lost and lonely.

Arthur Miller's play is a masterpiece. Few other 20th century playwrights have been able to surgically dissect society so well. Miller's work is not for those seeking a happy ending where everything is resolved and the characters happily fade away. No, this work is brutal in comparison. Willy Loman is an anti-hero. He is hard to like. He is, however, worthy of our pity. His life, at least through his own eyes, is one of failure. But, in reality, Willy is no failure. He is simply deluded. He has swallowed the American dream to the point where its goals merely impoverish him. The dream, any dream, is what you make of it and should not be imposed upon the individual. Willy allows the dream to ruin his life. Willy is the ultimate tragic.

Many deem "Death of a Salesman" to be a critique of American society. This is unfair. Miller's work is the précis of a tragic life. Willy is that tragedy. To dream is magnificent. To allow a dream to dominate your very existence is a disaster.

I wasn't terribly impressed with "Death of a Salesman" while I read it. The play simply didn't live up to its acclaim, its noble status in American literature. I've heard Salesman referenced countless times over my life, all 22 years of it. Salesman was written in 1949, a post-war era that supported the belief that starting anew was possible and wishes do come true. My first impression of the play was that it attempted to shatter the ubiquitous belief of an American dream, making it merely a quixotic fantasy. But after rereading certain passages and thinking about it for this review, I saw how very human its message is and how it is actually an incredibly despairing masterpiece that throws a new light at the idea behind the American dream. Through the utterly destroyed and distraught protagonist, Willy Loman, Miller represents the demise of the American dream and suggests the need to reassess such a unrealistic dream.

Loman is a revised, twentieth-century version of the classic tragic character. He does not display the typical chivalrous characteristics that many literary tragic characters do, such as Beowulf and Oedipus Rex. Loman, in fact, is pathetic and repugnant. As an older aged, crazy, and impoverished character, Loman isn't close to the traditional heroic figure. He cheats on his wife; builds up impratical hopes for his two sons; and makes imprudent business and life decisions. Such characteristics are sinful and generally not seen in the traditional tragic literary figure. But these traits are also very real and humanistic. Miller deftly jumps from the present to the past and back again, slowly "peeling the onion" (as Grass would call it) of the true Loman. This peeling process reveals what went wrong and what should've been avoided to prevent this most tragic ending. It appears that Miller is suggesting that seemingly innocuous decisions can--and do--destroy the American dream.

Such a bleak perspective on the American dream shouldn't come as a surprise to the reader/viewer. The late 1940s was a period of transition: America was forced to adjust from the war-driven, ration crazed society to a very corporate-driven, forced-fed consumer culture. Post-war America was full of tenuous hopes to climb the corporate ladder and to acclimate to a life of plenty, i.e. family members and money. For an ordinary, hard-working American, like Loman, this proved to be too much. Despite the play having a backdrop in the 1920s and '30s, it takes place in the late '40s, in the very much consumer focused society. It is fitting that the land of plenty left Loman and his family with nothing.

The play is very much alive today as it was nearly sixty years ago. Do read it. I'm going to try to see the play the next time it comes to town.

Poor Willie; he's just as much a victim of capitalism as the people he's screwed in business all those years. Long before American business became the global conspiracy of recent years (Enron, Haliburton,), business rested on the efforts of the little guy who thought big. Willy Loman is just such a man: in fact, he's the poster boy for the dark side of the corporate psyche in America, from 1949 (when the play had its first production) right up to today. Loathed by his colleagues, avoided by his family (Biff and Happy, his sons, leave him hallucinating in a public toilet), and haunted by his life (which is portrayed in flashback episodes generated within his own troubled mind)--
willy finds himself asking, "Why?" Trying to answer this question leads him through psychosis to eventual suicide . Only Linda, his long-suffering wife, pays him homage: "Willy Loman was a Good Man...," she says over his grave near the end of the play. I can only imagine that universities across the country began developing classes in business ethics soon after this play hit Broadway. ( Ken Lay and Dennis Kozlowsi, for, example, must have missed the play altogether, and it's obvious they cut their ethics class). But, you DO get the feeling that Willy started out as Linda sees him, a good and honorable man. His slide through capitalism has left him critically wounded. When I first saw this play performed on television, Lee J. Cobb played Willy like a wounded bear; he reminded me of some of the business people I knew, both friends and family; so, when I read the play later, I was blown away by it again, amazed that Miller could get it so right. This play should be required reading in all ethics classes. Anyone who reads the play will never feel the same about American business again. It begs the big question: When it comes time to take our own life's inventory, as Willy has, will we look back with pride and a sense of accomplishment? Or will we find ourselves sidestepped and alone, lost to despair? Arthur Miller poses some of life's key questions in this wrenchingly powerful play. It's up to each of us to answer them for ourselves.

It was a very well written play. It's major theme is the American dream. The main character Willy Loman is a very depressed man with a wife and two sons.
Loman doesn't like how his life has turned out which is what makes him depressed. When reading a play in class it is best to go and get a chance to see the play live or see the movie of it. The movie with Dustin Hoffman as Willy really does justice to the play. Plays aren't intended to be read like a book. They are intended to be performed and watched by everyone.

thank you for your time,
Loran

The play in its entirety displaying the trials and tribulations of living an unfulfilling life is a caveat to those that will not settle for anything less than perfection. Willy's constant battles with his self conscience lead only to his apparent insanity and ultimately suicide, signifying that one should be content with the life they live and be able to realize their limitations before pushing themselves too far.


Through his numerous mental breakdowns and moments of delusion, Willy demonstrates the true dangers of living a completely disgruntled life where the only apparent way out is death, warning others of this dastardly fate. Ever since the beginning of the novel, Willy is never seen as being truly happy--the only times when he is in a good mood are when he believes that something miraculous is occurring. Unfortunately though, this never happens because he sets his expectations too high to a place where they cannot even be touched. He expects everything to happen exactly the way he wants it to--but this is simply not the case. The main reason for his high expectations and consequently let downs for Biff is because he refuses to take responsibility for the reasons Biff is not as capable as he could have been. It is Willy's fault that Biff does not graduate high school and go on to college because when Biff discovered that Willy had a mistress whom he was more dedicated to than Linda, he gave up. Willy blocks out these memories and only lets them come to life in his subconscious. His rejection of these memories leaves him continually bewildered and let down, never allowing himself to be happy with Biff's condition. When Willy can finally bear no more regret, he ends his suffering by the only way he knows how--death.


By so willingly turning to drastic measures to end such a brutal life, Willy sends out even stronger warnings in his death to all those in his situation. Immediately after his death, Linda asks why he couldn't have waited just a little longer until all the bills were paid. She "made the last payment on the house" on the day of his funeral. The day that they can finally be "free" is the day that he is being buried. This brings about the question of why he didn't wait just a little longer. Hold on just a little longer to be able to finally relax and live life carefree. That is what everyone wants yet no one is usually patient enough to wait for it. However, that is what is needed if one truly wants to be happy. Happiness will come in due time as long as it is recognized when it comes and accepted for what it is. There is no life if nothing is ever good enough so the simple pleasures in life need to be recognized as the blessings they are. If that can be accomplished, then all else will follow.

I read The Crucible before reading Death of a Salesman and I'll be honest, I preferred the former. But Miller's masterpiece is a vehicle for a representation of the negative portrayals of the superficial American Dream. Other books deal with the dilemma of fantasy against reality. (i.e. Streetcar Named Desire) Yet what makes this book different is the way it relates the conflict to an average American family struggling to make ends meet. For lack of a more sophisticated phrase, the play is so sad. When the characters lie to themselves and each other, I desperately hope that Miller is telling the truth and that these characters will be happy. I won't spoil the end, but the outcome forces you to question whether or not the American Dream is truly possible for everyone who simply works hard. It's a great read.

This play cannot be passed up! Follow the fascinating story that begs for the acceptation of fate. The beginning of the play begins Willy who is illustrated as a stern man, with a surprising amount of courage and respect for himself despite his inauspicious lifestyle of a low-paying salesman. Willy's false self image begins to become so instilled into himself, that he later becomes unable to be fully invested in reality. Even though he was not the most successful business man, Willy still continued to illustrate himself as a success to his peers and family, constantly misleading them by bragging about the nonexistent sales he was making. Very few people saw the struggling financial circumstances of the real Willy because if anyone knew how poor and unsuccessful Willy really was, life would be unbearable for him, he would think that his family would become ashamed of him and worst of all, he was worried that they would no longer love him. Despite the apparent flaws in his philosophy, Willy continued to preach "Be liked and you will never want," claiming that as long as you were well known and liked, everyone would want to do business with you. So as his children grew up with his philosophy, they developed false values just like Willy, causing them to be as equally of a failure as their father. As the family unity begins to weaken because of discoveries of affair and the psychological disorders being developed by Will, hope for ever rekindling their happiness seems far from reach. Will the Loman family ever manage to rebuild their broken family? Or will it end tragically in their world of misfortune, deceit and failure? This story is deep, and will reflect on the stance of your own values. Therefore, this book should be read by everyone, so they can learn from stubbornness of Willy and understand the important priorities of life rather than the importance of being accepted by society.

Death of a Salesman is a moving play that touches the most human of our sentimental emotions. In it, a father suffers from neglect from his own family and from his coworkers, eventually leading to his demise. In it, a man has what many would consider the perfect family, with a devoted wife and two strong, capable, and loving sons, but is unable to cope with it all because of his preoccupation with other, more materialistic achievements. Willy Loman possessed his own version of the American Dream: that of the glorified salesman, with a face known across town and respected among peers. And he held onto this dream even after his prime had passed, even after his health started to fail him; even then, he tried to force this dream on his sons, with unfortunate consequences. The play carries a message speaking out against the pursue of materialistic gains, and urges instead for people to focus on the more immediate pleasures of life, such as the joys of family and love. Miller employs a simplistic diction and engaging imagery, along with an overlap of reality and hallucinations to provide a tale that not only entertains but also imparts a lesson in life.

Having read both The Crucible and The Death of a Salesman, I would have to say that The Crucible is Miller's better work, simply because I enjoyed the storyline a lot more, but maybe that's just my personal bias.

Now, don't get me wrong, this play is by no means bad, but it may not be for everyone. The story follows the Loman family, a typical American middle-class family struggling to stay afloat. Willy Loman, a failed salesman, has his own version of the American Dream: to be a successful and respected salesman. What he refuses to accept is the fact that his career is a faliure, and instead dwells in his own memories and fantasies, stubbornly declaring himself as a successful salesman. Willy's mental and psychological disorders puts a strain on the Loman family, especially for the sons, Biff and Happy, who, following their fathers' philosophy, ended up as failures themselves.

The story in itself is sad and moving, but at times uninspiring. It doesn't hit the right note and doesn't move me as a story of such contect probably should. Miller's writing style in this story is straighforward and comprehendable, if even at times plain and bland. However, what I do like about the play is the fact that Miller employs engaging imagery, and really puts everything into historical context. The Loman family isn't special or significant in any way, but could be any American family in real life.

Death of a Salesman slaps me back to reality, as it includes realistic suppositions about a family's and society's expectations. As the father won't settle for anything else but success, his family falls apart, reminding me of the potential result of any family.
Attempting to effect change in the new American society, brainwashed in an even newer American Dream, Arthur Miller hopes to vanquish the false illusion of that fact that everyone and anyone can succeed in America with wealth and fame. Miller argues that American society puts so much emphasis on financial success that it actually drives people the other way, into insanity. Because everyone thinks he or she can succeed, people begin to unrealistically face an overly ambitious approach towards making a fortune. In the end, when only a few can actually succeed, the rest fail in misery. In order to battle this false notion in American society, Arthur Miller writes of this fact and warn people not to submit to the American Dream and create one, in which everyone can succeed without monetary domination.
Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman argues that even if an individual is determined enough to chase a dream to the ends of the earth by any means necessary, his social status would remain the unchanged and perhaps even diminished. Left with no choice, Willy Loman is forced to dream big in order to gain monetary success. Because of societal pressures, he is coerced to think of a way to succeed, and the best way is gain a financial fortune to gain respect. However, the fact that he thinks of himself as a self-important individual really causes him to feed on his ego. His confidence grows increasingly grander, until it becomes overwhelming for both his family and himself. As he becomes more greedier, his dreams become more grandiose. This false illusion he creates of his world actually set himself up for a disastrous collapse. Eventually, he admits that he has never achieved anything at all in his life. Consequently, he notices he has nothing left to do but to give up, when he has actually wasted his whole life chasing after an unrealistic goal. Ultimately, he ends up in a suicide. Because of this tragic ending, Arthur Miller argues that a society with this kind of emphasis on materialistic success sets people up for a catastrophic downfall. Subsequently, Miller contends that America should rebuild society's foundation, and create a country, in which wealth does not entail success.
Because the book does appeal to me, I recommend this book only if you're into themes about the pressures from society - applauding those who succeed materialistic.

Arthur Miller had a good ear for the foibles and traumas of the ordinary people of the old middle class put up against the wall in a world that was dramatically changing after World War II. The time of the man in the gray flannel suit and the victory of corporate culture that destroyed the old independent professions was not Willie Loman's time. In this play, seemingly only about the trials and tribulations of Everyman Willie Loman a used up salesman at the end of his career, the underlying tension is that he cannot keep up with those changes and therefore has to be discarded. This has a fallout effect on his personal life as well. He does not understand what has happened to destroy the integrity of his dysfunctional nuclear family. The old standards that had guided him do not stand up in the new suburban-dominated world where he must try to survive. Obviously there is some dramatic tension between him and his sons who have in their own way nothing but contempt for the old man, his old ways, his illusions and his duplicity. But also, as is always the case with rebellious children, love, at least their conception of it, as well. That this is not good enough to save Willie in the end is one of the lessons to be learned from the play. Read the play and see the Lee J. Cobb version of the movie. Cobb is Willie Loman.

Good read to supplement the play in real life or on video.

Miller utizes the american setting of his time, and yet this play is pertinant today as well! It ingulfs traditional depictions of tragedy to make a really real one. I believe this is better than Shakespeare!

Miller utizes the american setting of his time, and yet this play is pertinant today as well! It ingulfs traditional depictions of tragedy to make a really real one. I believe this is better than Shakespeare!

I was assigned to read this book in my A.P. English class a week ago. I've loved almost every book or play we've read in there...I'm just discovering so much amazing literature and I love it.

Death of a Salesman was an amazing play...it is so deep. The play is kind of confusing to read, because your main character, Willy, has random flashbacks from all throughout his life. He'll be standing in the kitchen with his wife, and it will just go into a flashback from some other time, and at first it's hard to realize what is a flashback and what is reality, but by the end of the book it gets easier. Also, the stage directions written into the text kind of help.

It is very much a play of illusion vs. reality. It has been compared to The Great Gatsby, and I think that is a very good comparison to make. The only difference is that in Gatsby, everyone seemed to be morally depraved - it was a city gone to hell. In Death of a Salesman, it seems like it's only the the main family that is suffering through things.

Arthur Miller's writing is amazing - all of the imagery in this play is intense. You can almost feel the dirty, sad city pressing down on you as you read it. This was true with The Great Gatsby, as well, so if you liked this play, definitely check that one out.

I also suggest watching a theatrical version of this, there are several movies out right now. It will just help to clear up any questions you may have, and is especially nice in clearly separating their modern life from any flashbacks Willy has.

This play is highly recommended: 4.5 stars.

The one element that Death of a Salesman does is create a sense of what it takes to succeed in a shrewd business world. The idea that sometimes the great have to fall to make room for others is one essential idea in Miller's work. There have been the rise and fall of great leaders, but we don't know just how good Willy Loman was as a salesman in his prime, mainly because he tends to askew the facts at points in this play. However, the bigger problem with Willy Loman is that he tends to take this idea of success and run with it to the point that he becomes obsessive and self-centered on his one goal: to have the best for him and his family. Although this seems like a noble and honorable quest, he seems to dismiss and ignore those who don't directly fit in with his grand ideas, namely his wife and Biff, who are largely ignored. His dream's actualization seems to be only in his mind, and he seemingly loses grips with reality because, as a man who has outlived his greatest successful days, he cannot bear the burden that the successes he hoped for--Biff being a great sports hero or a success, him being the greatest salesman---have not become reality.

The play itself, although a brief work, can be confusing at times because of its symbolic nature and because of the many flashbacks and references to Willy's dead but successful brother, Ben. Biff is constantly stealing things, perhaps as a gesture that he needs to steal away success that he hasn't live up to, or perhaps for the approval of Willy. Happy is losing weight, representative of him vanishing from importance in Willy's life. Linda, despite being the faithful wife who always mends stockings, is not given the proper respect by Willy, and is cheated on when Willy goes to see a woman in Boston. Ben represents the hope for success for Willy, and, in the flashbacks, Willy is constantly asking Ben about what it takes to succeed; he wants to know the answer of life, how to get though the "jungle" of life unblemished.

Willy is the ultimate tragic hero because he cannot see the bigger picture in life: he has to life in the past and in a fantasy world to create perfection. Miller uses Willy Loman perhaps as a vehicle for questioning the essence of success in America, not only what it takes to have success or feel successful, but to feel at peace with one has accomplished. You can read this play and really look at Loman two ways: 1) as a loser incapable of facing the truth or 2) as a man so passionate about success that he is blind to what is going on around him. (Or perhaps you can see a little of both). At any rate, the gripping part of this play is Miller's ability to depict the struggle of an individual who keeps dreams at any cost

Arthur Miller's most famous play, "Death of a Salesman" proves to be a power-packed tale of desire, betrayal, and ultimate abandonment. Willy Loman, an aging salesman whose best years are far behind, leads a frustrating and futile existence as he attempts to chase after the most money and most success. Miller's portrayal of Willy and his underachieving sons provides a potent warning to those who champion popularity and likeability over hard-work and perseverance.

In Willy's mind, the American Dream is one where the most likeable and most handsome will succeed. Yet, this is unrealistic and unattainable. Willy inflates his worth through self-delusions of grandeur, and constructs an alternate reality for himself and his boys. He is convinced that his worth is decided on how much money and new appliances he brings home. Although he may have been content to work with his hands and be with his family, he must excel in the business world, or else he is a failure. It seems as if his desire to succeed is an attempt to get the approval that he never received from his father, who abandoned him, or his eldest brother, who made a fortune in South Africa and recently died.

Ironically, the ones who most meet the American Dream ideal of hard work and success is his neighbor, Charley, and son, Bernard. In a sophomoric manner, Willy is jealous of Charley's success and measures his life against his. Furthermore, he despises his son, Bernard. In high school, Biff was the big football star with the bright future and Bernard a pencil-necked geek, yet now in their adult years Bernard is a successful lawyer and Biff is a glorified drifter who cannot support himself.

In the end, though, Willy proves to be a sympathetic character. Perhaps it is society that drives him to these unrealistic expectations and the desire to "keep up with the Joneses." Although Willy nearly succeeds into turning Biff into a creature of self-delusion, he dearly loves him. He is heartbroken that he has not succeeded and is racked with guilt for the incident and betrayal that caused Biff to abandon his college football dreams. In the end, he views himself as a martyr, as his death will provide a financial windfall to his family and the only meaning to his failed life.

A true classic, "Death of a Salesman" should be on the short list of any reading list. Alhtough it is a quick read, Miller's style of flashing back in time with no transitions may be confusing at times, so it does provide a bit of a challenge. And, of course, it provides a power-packed punch in the gut to all those who view the pursuit of material wealth as the ultimate goal in life.

Unfullfilled Expectations

Arthur Miller's most famous play, "Death of a Salesman" proves to be a power-packed tale of desire, betrayal, and ultimate abandonment. Willy Loman, an aging salesman whose best years are far behind, leads a frustrating and futile existence as he attempts to chase after the most money and most success. Miller's portrayal of Willy and his underachieving sons provides a potent warning to those who champion popularity and likeability over hard-work and perseverance.

In Willy's mind, the American Dream is one where the most likeable and most handsome will succeed. Yet, this is unrealistic and unattainable. Willy inflates his worth through self-delusions of grandeur, and constructs an alternate reality for himself and his boys. He is convinced that his worth is decided on how much money and new appliances he brings home. Although he may have been content to work with his hands and be with his family, he must excel in the business world, or else he is a failure. It seems as if his desire to succeed is an attempt to get the approval that he never received from his father, who abandoned him, or his eldest brother, who made a fortune in South Africa and recently died.

Ironically, the ones who most meet the American Dream ideal of hard work and success is his neighbor, Charley, and son, Bernard. In a sophomoric manner, Willy is jealous of Charley's success and measures his life against his. Furthermore, he despises his son, Bernard. In high school, Biff was the big football star with the bright future and Bernard a pencil-necked geek, yet now in their adult years Bernard is a successful lawyer and Biff is a glorified drifter who cannot support himself.

In the end, though, Willy proves to be a sympathetic character. Perhaps it is society that drives him to these unrealistic expectations and the desire to "keep up with the Joneses." Although Willy nearly succeeds into turning Biff into a creature of self-delusion, he dearly loves him. He is heartbroken that he has not succeeded and is racked with guilt for the incident and betrayal that caused Biff to abandon his college football dreams. In the end, he views himself as a martyr, as his death will provide a financial windfall to his family and the only meaning to his failed life.

A true classic, "Death of a Salesman" should be on the short list of any reading list. Alhtough it is a quick read, Miller's style of flashing back in time with no transitions may be confusing at times, so it does provide a bit of a challenge. And, of course, it provides a power-packed punch in the gut to all those who view the pursuit of material wealth as the ultimate goal in life.

The book came fast, and it came it very good shape. It is my summer reading book and I am looking foward to reading it.

Enter the cult of the salesman's society. A salesman needs to dream and lives in a completely fake smiling world when meeting his customers. Unluckily this alienation, because to smile on command is an alienation, can invade the salesman's private life and then life becomes a lie, becomes a solitude, becomes hell and blazes. Enter the cult of the urban sprawl. You may have had a nice house in the middle of some open space, but the city grows out and grows up and your house is soon surrounded by skyscrapers and sprawl and you live in a totally dehumanized and cold environment in which sunshine has become a vague recollection fading away with time. Enter the cult of the oedipian tragedy. The father is the dominating boss of the family, the bread winner, the meaning giver, the future designer and definer. The sons are zealots of the father and have to follow him in his tracks, or at least in what they think his tracks are, and trying to preserve his self-esteem and illusions by manipulating his ego as if it were a fragile fresh egg of some endangered bird species. One will accept the model and the other will find out all this is a lie, a fake, an illusion, but this latter will sink in some kind of maniacal depression that will leads him from one failure to another, from one intentional failing procedure to another, just to prove to himself and the world his father is great and he is nothing. And this will go till he finds the courage to look out and step away, once and for all, and become himself, finally free of the lie. Or, because there is always an alternative, till the father decides to step out of life, of his family's life, which will liberate the horizon and the perspective, though it will reveal marvellously how the mother had locked the father into that lie by killing his dreaming power and his enterprising spirit to having a house built, paying for the mortgage, footing the insurance bill and a few others like the refrigerator's, the car's and the washing machine's, etc. The mother (and here the play is extremely misogynistic) is the direct representative of the consumer's society that enslaves us to short-term needs and evacuates all imagination from this life, except when we manage to blow our tops and fly up into the sky of derangement. Enter the cult of private initiative seen as the only excape from this dictatorial ideology. There is always some wild country where you can go and become rich overnight. There is always some profession that can only be reached through hard work and heavy studying and in which only knowledge, competence and performance will count. There is always an outer and an inner frontier that the happy hardworking few will be able to cross and then to come back from enriched and empowered with a vision and a future. But woe to those who do not have that vision, who do not have that personal force, who do not have this special competence, who do not have this particular knowledge that gives them the opportunity to become the leaders of the world, their local world or the global world, or any stage in between these two extremes. What comes out of this play is that those who fail in this world only get what they deserve because they are failing themselves and the world by telling tall tales, by spreading lies, by not seeing that illusions are poisonous to the human mind. And yet how hard it is to be imaginative, competent, self-conscious and self-righteous, compassionate and humane, realistic and strong enough to know how to lie in order to save not one's public image but the truth. And by the way what is the truth in a society that considers the virtuality of an ever-evading potential to be more real than the material reality of an aim killed in our very act of reaching it ?

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine & University Paris I Pantheon-Sorbonne

It's very good, and I only give it one star because my teacher ruined it for me. She analyzed everything Arthur Miller wrote in it, whether the lights were to be dark, or bright, how he shift time, how the instruments played, believing symbols of all of them. Contrary to Arthur Millers own statements which I printed out and gave to the class, that he didn't plan on anything, he just wrote. Let people do with it what they do. In that affect, the teacher took a great play, and ruined it with her ideas of what he meant.

because it gets me so annoyed. Anything vivid enough to truly bug me the way that this play did has to have at least a little merit. Arthur Miller is pretty depressing, though, and it's my opinion that DEATH OF A SALESMAN is even worse than THE CRUCIBLE in this department. The characters are bland and not at all likable, and I can't help thinking that I don't mourn Willy Loman's passing at all. He and Linda were terrible parents who never taught their sons about integrity and proper gender relations, and as Biff and Happy are not terribly young (early thirties), they have no excuse for not having learned about these important characteristics on their own. The play overall is bland and boring and sometimes confusing, mixing flashbacks with reality.

Maybe at the time it was written I would have reviewed it more favorably. In light of the life Miller led I can't help but to be disappointed by the cheap commericialization of the socialist superiority over capitalist theme that permeates the play. Here Miller creates a character only to destroy that character to point out the ills of capitalism, then Miller spends the rest of his life living an indulgent capitalist life here in the good ole USA: the very capitalist society that was supposedly Willy's oppressor. I think the years have taken the shine off of Miller a bit. I'm sure the Liberal 101 literature professor will disagree.

It is about 1:40 a.m., and I just finished Arthur Miller's DEATH OF A SALESMAN. I am writing because I sincerely hope that the reader of this review will take the time to read this work of art. I wish I would have read this play earlier, and I hope to see it performed, as the many issues covered are so important for families, professionals, and so-forth. I would encourage the reader of this not to "put off" reading this play, and I also encourage the reader to NOT take my word for it; this seemingly simple, modern play has profound depth and covers, I believe, many of the themes and challenges we encounter in our lives.


I would like to just touch on a few aspects of the play:


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Characters
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The characters in the play have such depth and complexity. I believe, although I have not conducted advance research, the playwright created characters that represented certain personalities. Furthermore, I think each person can see something of one's self in each character, and that is one reason (among many) the playwright was awarded the Pulitzer Prize.


I particularly enjoyed the characters of Willy Loman and Biff. I think Willy Loman represents the aspiring, ambitious us; we in many senses do not live in reality. Biff, however, respresents another side insofar that he does not want to dream.


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Theme: Love, Success
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How do we define love and success? I think a question the play raises is, what is love among family members and acceptance? Will our family members love just for who we are? Will we love our family members for who they are? In today's world, perhaps, do we prefer to love those that are successful? Does a family member have to become successful before we love, admire them?


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Conclusion
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In closing, I would like to shout out in stating that this play is very relevant. Many of us are obsessed with our careers, our success, financial goals, and so-forth. Will that make us happy? Will that make us loved? Will that make us better able to love? I sometimes think one must first love and be happy with one's self before one can be a success. In fact, isn't that success?


Thank you,
Clovis

In my opinion, the play Death of a Salesman was both positive and negative. Like any story, this one had its ups and downs which in a way are good to help the reader relate to the characters in different situations. Willy Loman, the main character, and his family had confrontations which are normal in a household occasionally, but the Loman family had them quite often, practically normal ion their daily routine. Willy's attitude were at first a turn-off for me, but upon further observation and seeing the whole story, behind Willy's hurt and pain, it is realized his disappointment seemingly toward everyone else honestly is aimed toward himself. Willy's ungrateful and unsatisfying spirit caused a downfall to both his family as well as himself. Nevertheless, I could have done without the use of all the profanity.
I believe Arthur Miller's main purpose in writing this piece was to brutally share his opinion of the "American Dream". Willy's search for happiness never came and all he had done didn't amount to anything when everything was said and done. Willy worked and worked, driving to Boston each week, hardly making enough money to cover the gas he spent on his trip there, for the satisfaction of his customers. Years passed and his customers were now either retired or dead, but Willy holds on to the faith that this new generation will give him the respect he needs and deserves. He is wrong and Willy is crushed by the harsh reality that he is a no one now and he feels useless and that his life is over, because he no longer received his "smile or a shoeshine."
Although this has not been my favorite play this year, I have learned a lot from it. Actually, I have learned something from each specific main character. From Willy, I have learned to be grateful for the family I have no matter how dysfunctional it may be. I have also learned to live each day to the fullest and to do what I love with my life because it will be gone before I have truly experienced happiness if I'm not careful. From Linda, the sweet and caring wife, I have learned to be more straight-forward with my concerns. She kept a lot of issues from Willy because she was afraid of hurting him, I noticed in my life I have that problem too, hoping and wishing it will go away but not taking action myself. She has taught me to be more aggressive with issues I face. Biff, the star child has taught me to do what I want with my life. Ultimately it is up to me what I will be and how I will succeed and that I shouldn't have to live in the shadow of anyone who has gone before me, whether they are a parent or close friend. Last but not least, Happy has taught me to not try to please others so much. It was ridiculous in my opinion to read abut him competing for attention form his own father, but in the end, he was the one trying to fulfill his fathers dream.
Despite the parts of this play I truly didn't agree with, concerning Willy's affair, I believe I would recommend this book to someone if I felt they were heading down the path Willy went. This play had a lot of double meanings though, so if I was to recommend it, I would also recommend a commentary of some sort, to help them analyze each situation as they read along, as we did in Drama class. I enjoyed this play and I am appreciative of Arthur Miller's bluntness toward his subject. The play spoken in modern-day English was also a plus for me because it lessened the confusion. In conclusion, I would like to say, be all you can be and live for yourself, not for those around you.

Arthur Miller's poignant drama, Death of A Salesman proves to be a great American tragedy. His crafted storyline has resounded throughout the generations while resting strongly on America today.
The Loman family depicts a piece of every family today as they struggle through a world of hard businessmen, changing suburbia, and the danger of being drowned in your own selfishness. We experience the desire for self-worth and self-gain tear down a family, and amidst the rubble leave a cracked and worn out foundation.
Miller's main character, Willy Loman the tragic incompetent businessman and father, revels in his tragedy even to his end. To afraid to let even his sons know who he really is sets the theme that begins to tear their family apart. Choices made by Willy in his past and present ultimately affect and hinder his sons. Willy's wife Linda allows her self to be pushed over and neglected. Even when problems arise Linda's lets her own love blind her from her reality. Willy and Linda's broken relationship shows a never-ending need for each other, which is never realized throughout the play.
Willy and Linda's two sons Biff and Happy also carry this tragedy through their choices and actions. Biff, the family jock that sometimes seems to speak his mind too much at times, never really allows his father into his life. Happy, the younger son, seems to be an exact opposite, wanting just that from his father- acceptance. The family neglect and anger boils over through each family member only to bring a crashing end to their falling lives.
Arthur Miller spoke directly to America through the pages of Death of A Salesman, revealing the risk and reality of chasing the American Dream. America's desire for the best and the most hasn't changed much since the birth of this drama in 1949. We also feel the trap so many family's fall into of neglecting those closest to them. Arthur Miller wanted people to stare these problems right in the face because everyone knows that they deal with them, whether in their own lives or in their family's lives.
As one character said about Willy, "...a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back that's an earthquake." Miller wanted America to see than many people go through life wanting only what others can give them, not wanting to give to others. People in America often place value on trivial things that won't last longer than a few weeks or years, pushing aside things such as family and friends that can change your life as well as, walk through it with you. If anything, Miller wanted people to evaluate their lives and see what has taken hold of them, the American Dream or their own?
Reading Death of A Salesman has put an entirely new perspective on my outlook of the American Dream. As I am about to graduate high school and go to college I've had to think a lot about what it is I want to do with my life. Having to choose between what I want to be doing instead of doing what I feel I have to do. I think that I have also taken away the importance of really connecting with my family. Your family should be the people that know the real you not the people that you hide the real you from. As Willy strived so hard to be successful in business he lost the family he once had. He gave up the best thing in his life for something he would never gain. As we see throughout the play Willy's American Dream soon became his American Nightmare.
Arthur Miller's voice echoes through these pages. It is a play I would recommend and even insist you read. Anyone today would find the relevance and raw storyline something to be cherished. I truly enjoyed this reading and will hold on closely to its message.

Death of a salesman was a very well written play. It really makes you think a lot about life and the American Dream. I very much enjoyed this script. It was a lot different then both Antigone and Much Ado About Nothing. I could connect more with the characters because the play was written in more modern times. It reminded me of my own family. I have two twin brothers, Dustin and Dallas, and they are in the same fourth grade class. Their teacher always complements Dallas and then asked Dustin why he can't do work as good as him. It hurts Dustin and it reminds me of Happy the one who tries so hard but gets complemented.
I think that Arthur Miller's main point in writing is that people are chasing around trying to reach the American Dream, because that what everybody wants for them, but they can never really quite get it. It's like dogs running around trying to bite their tail but they can never get it. Willy set the standards for Biff. He wanted Biff to be better than Willy ever was. I think that Arthur Miller wanted people to see they can only be happy when they do what they want to do, if they want to do the American Dream then they will be happy while trying to get it, but if they don't then they won't be happy. For example, Willy set the standards and held Biff too them, but Biff didn't want that so he was never happy to do what his father wanted him too do.
I think another one of his points is that America mistreats the older. For example, Willy was old and losing his mind and what he needed the most at that time was a good job to hold down the fort, but what he got was Willy's boss fired him. Also Willy's boss was a younger man, but he kept calling him kid and treating him like an annoying little kid. I felt so bad for him. He should be getting respect but instead people only half his age are totally disrespecting him. It makes me sad because that's what America is coming too.
I have learned that all people should be able to make their own decisions. Sometimes I have certain standards for people and expect them too hold up too that. But now I know I should let people make their own decisions. Also I would want people to make my own decisions too. Another thing I learned is that I should respect my parents a lot more. They work so hard to put food on our table and keep us warm.
I felt like Biff and Happy did not really have any respect for their father. Although I can kind of see where they're coming from, since their father lied to them practically their whole life. But they should still respect them and maybe think that their father made those lies because he wanted their respect so much. I now know how hard my parent's work just to make me happy and it makes me feel good. They love me so much that they sacrificed some of their happiness just to make me happy.
I would most definitely recommend this play for people to read. It is very well written and it is something that actually makes you think. A lot of books and plays today are very good but don't make you think as much. It is a breath of fresh air to have something that makes you think and have discussions like we do in drama. Plus it shows how our country handled things after the war. It's sad too think that the war was so devastating that all people wanted to watch and read was sad things. But it is also pleasing to hear the war had such and effect on everybody's lives that they started to really think about death and topics like that. I think of what might happen if our nation had a war as devastating as that if we would actually start to think instead of wasting our lives away watching TV and other frivolous items like that.

Arthur Miller, a profound playwright who truly shows his amazing talent when he wrote Death of a Salesman. The story shows the depression that most Americans faced after World War 2 as they searched for their purpose in life. He paints a grey picture of life that we even still face today.
As a student in High School I am searching far and wide to find out what I want to do with my life. In his story he shows how we are all so caught up in the American dream to become rich and famous but when we finally realize that life isn't always going to be that way it tears us apart. The main character, Willy Loman, is an old salesman and realizes that everything he has worked so hard for has never amounted to any of his expectations. He says "I have worked all my life paying for a house that nobody lives in anymore" and this is saying that he works to keep up a house that when all is said and done the kids are moved out and you miss out on the most wonderful part of your life. Miller was also letting us know that every decision in life is important in the molding of our character. Willy states he once knew a salesman who became so famous that he worked from his home and when he died had a huge funeral with all his buyers and everyone attended his funeral these statements show why he decided to become a salesman. The reason for his unhappiness was because he received his happiness when people knew him and gave him a simple smile as he walked into the room. You cannot look for other people to make you happy because people will fail you at some time and you will be forgotten.
Death of a Salesman has taught me to enjoy every aspect of life because, it is short and precious. Life is not to be taken for granted and neither is anyone in your life. The people around you will come and go but your family will always be there for you. The one thing Willy did have was a loving wife that cared so much for him but he overlooked her kind, gentle, and compassionate heart. I recommend this play to anyone from High School and older because it is very easy to read and comprehend. The book will give you a newfound appreciation for everything around you. One of the most important things to remember is that you have one life to live and every decision you make has a consequence whether it will be good or bad you must think before you act on it.

Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller, describes the traditional highs and lows of the "American Dream". The way Miller has portrayed the different characters really shows the tragic reality of what Americans must cope with in their lives. In this playwright the audience is introduced to four main characters. Willy is the father and is pretty much losing his mind and is holding on to things that should've been let go of. Linda, his wife, is caring and completely adores him. Together they have two sons the elder is Biff, and Happy the younger one. Miller shows how dreams will not always turn out the way you imagined them to be.

Millers' point in this play is showing the way Americans want that dream of having the wife stay at home and take care of the house and the husband make enough for the two of them and they live happily ever after. In reality though it really never turns out that way. He depicts this family, the Lowman family, and how they struggle to survive. In this struggle Linda is found alone in her family. Seeing how Willy is going crazy and Biff and Happy only come home just to go away once more. As we are introduced to Act I you can see the drama in their family and how it only gets worse. The family that we perceive as perfect becomes helpless and sad. It then comes to the point that suicides an option for Willy just so that Biff can make it in the business world.

A life lesson that I have learned through this is that the American Dream isn't half as much as everyone makes it to be. There are so many things that are wrong about the "dream" that many people overlook. People should use the gifts they're given and not settle for something less than it. By striving to accomplish something that you just aren't good at makes it tough to have success at that job.
Therefore by exercising the talent we are given success is a lot more likely. Miller describes over and over again the idea of Willy wanting to be well like and even though that is a good thing, it can sometimes bite you back.

This saddening playwright is extremely well written and has a good storyline. The way he describes the lives of his characters and the way they lived is realistic and true to the lives of people today. The way that we can relate to the characters makes the play even more interesting. I definitely recommend this playwright because of its dramatic appeal and anyone who reads it will be able to relate somehow to one of the characters described.

Death of a Salesman is a tragic yet entertaining play that makes an excellent point about several topics. Even though Arthur Miller wrote the play over half a century ago, it still applies to our lives today. The Penguin Plays edition gives you a good idea of what Arthur Miller intended the play to look like. Personally, I enjoyed reading the play, and I learned several good lessons from it.

Death of a Salesman takes place around the late 1940's and the early 1950's in the New England area. Almost the entire play takes place in and around the Loman house. Willy Loman, an aging salesman who has worked all his life and has little to show for it is the main character in this great play. He often has terrible daydreams about the past and is slowly losing it. He is in many senses dying. Many see him as a crazy old fool. His lovely wife Linda Loman however sees him as a poor, misunderstood man who has suffered through much in his life and must be taken care of very carefully. Even though Willy does not treat her with a lot of respect, she still is his greatest support, and is the only person keeping him from falling apart and going completely crazy.

Part of Willy's mental problems comes from his two grown up boys, Biff, and Happy. Biff, the oldest and Willy's favorite, has failed to live up to his father's expectations of becoming successful and well liked. He purposefully hasn't found a well paying job yet, which Willy hates. Willy believes Biff does this to spite him and they are constantly arguing (you will find out exactly why they are constantly arguing later in the play). Happy has always looked up to and respected his dad. When he was younger he was constantly trying to impress him although now he believes Willy is a crazy old fool and a disgrace to the family. Unlike Biff, he dreams of being very successful and living out the American Dream. The play continues on and just when you think things are starting to calm down and to take a turn for the better, everything heats up again. The play quickly builds up to a final great climax, and it ends with the Death of a Salesman.

Arthur Miller probably wrote Death of a Salesman for several reasons. His main reason as I see it was probably to tell people about the dangerous effects of the American dream on a person's life. The American Dream from Arthur Miller's perspective is to make money, be well known and liked. In trying to live the American Dream a person can live their entire lives devoted to making money so they can buy and pay off a car and a house, etc. By the time they have enough money to do so, the kids have already moved out and they don't have much use for a car anymore. This is seen when Linda says "I made the last payment on the house. Today, dear. And there'll be nobody home." In the play (SPOILER ALERT) Willy wasted his entire life trying to be a successful and well liked salesman, but in the end, he loses almost everything including the respect of his sons, his own life, and still has nothing to show for all his hard work.

I personally learned a very valuable lesson from Death of a Salesman. You can try all your life to be successful and well liked, however you might just end up disappointed. Or, you can break free of the American Dream and just try to be happy doing your job instead of trying to get ahead of everyone else in the world. I viewed Death of a Salesman as a conflict of interests. On one side you have Willy who believes success comes with becoming well liked and having money. He is always trying to impress the next guy. Biff on the other hand just wants to be content with his work and to make a living by doing want he wants to do. During the play they both try to convince the other one that their way is the way to be successful and to make a living. What I got from this play is that being successful is not about being well liked, but about being content with what you do. At the beginning, Biff seems somewhat happy with his current job even though he feels like he is failing his dad. Happy has gone out and has started to make a living through the American Dream. He has been somewhat successful in this but when Biff asks him if he is content he says no. Happy doesn't know what he is working for but believes that once he has more money than anyone else, he will be happy (no pun intended). Unfortunately, if you follow that path you will work all your life to achieve a virtually unreachable goal. However, if you just try to be content with what you have, you will be successful in your own right.

I really enjoyed reading this book/play and I got a lot out of it. Overall, Death of a Salesman was a great play. It teaches a great lesson and might just give you a different view on life. Arthur Miller did a great job in writing the play, but be careful of the mild language in this edition. I recommend this book as a must read to everyone teen-aged and up. It has a great story and an interesting view on the idea of the American Dream. I would give this book 9.5 out of 10. This is a play I believe everyone should read at one point in their life.

The book Death of a Salesman was very sad. Wily, one of the main characters grows up dreaming of living in the big life. He believes that success is based on popularity. Willy is often visited from memories of the past. Most of them are based on his future choices and decisions. These flashbacks tell a major part of the story. His two sons, Happy and Biff looked up to their father. When Happy and Biff were younger, Willy would tell them untruths to paint himself as a big and important father. Once the truth is revealed, Biff is mostly affected by his father's lies. In the book Biff finds out a secret that makes it hard for him to trust his Father again. This is one reason why Biff and Willy do not have a good father and son relationship. Happy is always trying to find things to please his parents because he feels that he is always left out and Biff gets all of the attention. He feels as though he is placed on the back burner. Both Happy and Biff are still stuck in their adolescent age. They dream and fantasize about there future as if they are not adults yet. Also, they both live with their parent and are in their thirties. Linda is somewhat quiet but towards the end she begins to show a little more character. She is fighting to determine if she should confront Willy with his continuous attempts of suicide. Sometimes she gets the courage to talk to him, but never approaches him. She always expects her sons to say the best things about Willy to help him fill better about himself.
I think one of Arthur Miller's main points was to follow your heart and live for you're dream. In the book Biff `s dream is to work outside in the fields as a farmer . His father wished otherwise. He wanted him to have a city job. Biff tried the city job, but it did not work out for him. He was not happy with the job. If you do not follow your dream or your heart, you will never be happy or have a since of accomplishment. Also you should never try to please other people but please yourself first. Willy based success on the companionship of others and how popular and recognized a person is.
I learned that I should appreciate my parents more for all of their hard work . It took Willy years to pay for things just to make his family happy. I also learned to follow my heart and not to follow the expectations of others. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves a good book. This book teaches life lessons and choices, and how they affect you later in life.

Death of a Salesman, a heart wrenching drama written by Arthur Miller, illuminates the falsehood of the American dream and the continuous struggle to achieve success and ultimately respect from his family and peers. This play portrays the life of a struggling salesman, Willy Loman, whose mind slowly deteriorates along with his relationships. Miller uses this to teach the positive lesson of the deep need for communication in a family as well as forgiveness.
Willy Loman is an ordinary American man, attempting to realize the American dream. However, Willy is horribly failing to achieve his aspirations. Each of his efforts are filled with heart, but he fails to receive the fruits of his labor or the success he deserves. This unfortunate truth is one of the main points Miller tries to reveal to his audience. As Americans, we are spoon fed this great "American dream", but we fail to capture the reality of our finite existence with an infinite God. God, our Creator, is omnipotent and omniscient. He is the one who has unlimited power and is all knowing, yet we as humans are faulty and therefore limited by God within the limits of His creative design. In Ecclesiastes, Solomon conveys his frustration about life because no matter how bountiful his success or the greatness of his possessions, all is vain, for one day we will all die and that will not matter. However, Solomon realizes that God does not measure our lives in a worldly perspective; God sees our attitudes and our service to others for Him. Man looks to the outside, but God looks at the heart.
Another point Miller makes is the necessity of communication in any and all relationships. Linda, Willy's wife, constantly dismisses the reality of her husband crumbling mental health by living a continuous facade. This point is also made through the relationship between Willy and his son, Biff. Each never spoke of Willy's affair, Biff harbored resentment toward his father for willingly choosing to betray his mother because of his loneliness and need for comfort. It is obvious through the lack of communication and forgiveness; the relationship between the two of them took a harsh turn. Willy's deception was the cause of a severe heartache that would remain with Biff forever.
Through the reading of this play, I received several positive lessons. This play truly reminded me to appreciate the sacrifice my parents make daily for me. Without their willingness to serve, my family would not be what it is today. I also learned not to allow myself to harbor anger with someone, but to have open communication with everyone by applying the Matthew 18 principle to my daily life. In Matthew 18, it says that if someone offense you, you are to go to that person and make peace with them. Finally, I realized the overall faultiness of the "American dream". As what was previously stated, we are each given this extraordinary idea of America and the amazing opportunity to be successful, however, this dream is not all that it is cracked up to be.
I would highly recommend the reading of this play, however, I would caution that it does contain language and may be offensive to certain readers and not appropriate for younger youth. Nevertheless, the message Arthur Miller gives is extraordinary and is extremely relevant to all Americans. The realism that he vicariously portrays shows Miller's deep conviction for the American people and his compassion for those who dare to dream. This is a prime example of the genius of Miller's artwork and an excellent display of his innate talent.

As Arthur Miller intertwines his creative dialogue with the realistic lifestyle of Americans, he easily captivates the heart and mind into the story of The Death of a Salesman. The plot of this play revolves around the perspective on life held by a simple salesman. We are introduced to Willy Loman as a man consumed by the powerful dreams of success and honor. He has a caring wife, Linda, and two sons Biff and Happy. Willy seems continually haunted by his and Biffs previous close relationship and is unable to interpret Biffs current resentment towards him. Contrasting Willy's dedication to Biff, Happy is ignored and considered unimportant. Because of Willy's careless nature, Linda follows the example, leaving Happy left in the trail of Biffs glory.
The reason this play hit the hearts of so many Americans was how it explored the questions and doubts of life's purpose. It revealed the different opinions that post war was bringing to a hurt land. Miller intended to strike the people by delving deeper into the fear of a purposeless life. The uniqueness of his writing was in the way he portrayed both the wrong and right aspect of a salesman
Looking at Willy's faults only, it's easy to judge him as the cause of all the problems. Willy made many foolish choices that brought on consequences. He told small lies to make believe his dream was true. However, they soon grew larger then expected and caused damage to both Biff and Happy. Willy refuses to believe the truth because it is the only hope he has. When Biff confronts Willy with the truth he turns to anger and begins to push the blame to his son, refusing to admit to the responsibility. Willy bases success on being well liked and is so consumed with the idea that he convinces himself its true in his own life. While time goes on and the lies grow stronger in his mind, Willy is so consumed with the goal of being successful that he becomes blinded from the constant compassion of his wife, who attempts to save him from self-destruction. Although in his mind he is well liked, inside he recognizes his unimportance. Regardless of how hard he tries to ignore and cover the truth with lies, he can't escape the worlds rejection of who he is, of what he hasn't lived up to be.
However, Miller doesn't portray Willy in a negative way only. Miller places much concern and empathy towards Willy, and in a way defends the hopeless cause that Willy has fallen into. The habit of being fixated in the past goes beyond the poor relationship that he has with Biff. As a young boy, Willy's father and brother deserted him without even considering the family they left behind. Hurt and confused, Willy was discarded; left alone trying to learn how to be the man he never knew, how to love a woman without a role model to exemplify and how to cherish his children having no idea of what a true father is. Alone, without a strong love behind him, he became a salesman. While ambitious and young, he pursued the American dream of success. Encouraged by companion buyers to go beyond, he instilled himself into the life of a salesman. After years of dedication, Willy is fired and his hope for reaching the top became unaccomplished. With nothing to give, he has become worthless and dispensable, just another man with another dream. Willy's goal of being well liked crashes as he is removed from all that he is known and hoped to become. Loyally, Linda defends Willy to the last, knowing his heartache, his childhood fear of worthlessness, has left him a broken man.
The depth that is inside this play shows me many valuable life lessons. A prominent teaching is the importance of choices. Choices in life, from the largest down to the small insignificant decision, affect more then we usually consider. Willy chose to lie occasionally but the fabrication grew to change his and his family's perspective on their entire lives. There is importance in choosing to appreciate all the blessings that life gives. When Willy focused on the past, it resulted in both the present and the future becoming blurred.
I earnestly recommend this play not only to become perceptive and knowledgeable but also to be able to personally interpret the meaning and see the expression that Miller presents in his work. This tragedy shows the minds and hearts of Americans after the war and has valuable insight that goes beyond simple words and pages.

The Death of a Salesman is one of my favorite plays that I have read. I think that this was a positive reading because it taught me that we all should be thankful for what we have and not stress on things that are not important in life.

I think that Arthur Miller's main purpose in writing The Death of a Salesman is to show us that God gave us everything we could ever what right in our hands. I think that when Arthur Miller was Writing this play, he was thinking about how many people stress and want what they can't have. They are not thankful for what God gave them. In the play The Death of a Salesman Willy tried to commit suicide, he was only doing this because the thought that his sons did not love him, I like he wanted to be loved. Willy had a great job and a wonderful wife Linda, and two great sons Biff and Happy. Linda was always there for Willy and she did everything Willy wanted, she was very caring, but Willy just didn't think that it was enough to make him happy. So he had an affair, which was not the right decision. Willy wanted only the best for Biff, so Willy wanted Biff to be a Salesman. Biff didn't want to be that, he wanted to be a football player. He didn't want to disappoint his dad, but Biff wanted to be happy, and he wouldn't be happy if he was a Salesman, because he saw how it put so much stress on his dad and he didn't want to go through that. Willy was more focused on his dreams, and it made him loose his mind He was going crazy, and he was not thinking right, which made him commit suicide.

I have personally learned from this reading is, that you cant try to live life by your dreams, meaning you cant try to make life just like your dreams, I think that God wants us to live life day by day. We should be happy for what He gave us and not want something else, because God does and has made everything for a purpose. I don't think Willy quite understood that, he was more focused on his dreams than what was really going through in his life. I have learned to be thankful for what I have and I thank God everyday for the life that he has given me. If only Willy could have lived his life the way he was supposed to instead of concentrating on his dreams, and trying to make his dreams come true. I have also learned that its not a good idea to commit suicide. God wants you to life a great life with him, and worship him. I have also learned that even is your surrounded by bricks, buildings, and windows that we should try to make the best out of it, because this is the life that God wants you to live if u follow God. I have also learned that its not a good thing to go crazy and cheat on your husband or wife, because by doing that you are disobeying God.

In conclusion I would defiantly recommend this play The Death of a Salesman because, it makes you realize that we should all be thankful for what we have and not want what's always in our dreams.
Also I would recommend this play because it makes u realize how great your life is with God. The Death of a Salesman tells you how Willy is not happy with what he has and how he only wants to live life according to his dreams. God doesn't want that, He wants us to follow him and live the life He wants us to have with him.
I think that this play is a great play to read for a drama class, because it makes you have a great outlook on life and realize that you could have everything you could ever what right there in front of you. But in this play Willy didn't even realize it until he died. Neither did his wife or sons, Willy's death was I think mainly because of Biff. I think that it was mainly Biff's fault because he didn't really love his father, Biff just did not listen to him. Since Biff didn't love of care for his father, Willy committed suicide just to show Biff that a lot of people would be at his funeral. And actually no one really showed up except for Happy, Biff, Linda, and the Pastor. So its not a good idea to kill yourself just to prove someone wrong, because it makes other hurt inside and all you can do is watch them hurt because of your mistakes.
So in the end I recommend this play, I think that all drama students should read it and realize how good they really have it.

Although Arthur Miller's drama, Death of a Salesman, is regarded by many to be depressing and tragic, its message has a positive effect when put to use by the reader. The play deals blatantly with many of America's unspoken problems and shows the typical American family as they many times truly are, rather than how they wish themselves to be perceived. The primary family portrayed, the Lomans, have developed the lifestyle of many people that we see everyday: one tangled with lies, regardless of whether they are directed toward themselves or to those around them. These lies lead to another issue discussed throughout the plot: the attempt of many people to be something they are not for the sole sake of another person. As seen in the script, this tactic only brings failure and unhappiness. Because Miller was able to incorporate these issues within the story, along with many others, the play, however pessimistic it may seem, is positive in its overall outcome.

In every piece of literature, an author has many purposes and points they wish to communicate. In Death of a Salesman, Miller purposes to display an average man struggling to achieve the American dream among the business world that can never be obtained. Unfortunately, this failure is a picture of the lifestyle that was extremely common during the 1940s and 1950s. Men lost jobs quickly, and salesmen were plentiful, but only as good as their merchandise. This fact is plainly shown in the scene with Willy and Howard, and described in Charley's last monologue during Willy's funeral. Men's identities were wrapped up in their occupations and when those didn't succeed, many people were forced to live among dreams, for that's all that was truly left of them. However, it is when those dreams become confused with realities, as seen in Willy's case, that danger becomes existent.

Though there are multiple lessons found in Death of a Salesman, one stands out among the others. Miller effectively communicates the fact that pretending or attempting to be something we are not fools no one for long and eventually brings only personal unhappiness. For example, Biff strives to fit the mold that his father has created, but fails and is miserable because he's not living his own life and is attempting instead to do things that he was not meant to do. Willy, on the other hand, confuses his own true failures with his imagined successes invented merely to impress others. The constant lie lived by Willy not only affects his lifestyle, but is one of the causes of the deterioration of his mind. Happy as well seeks approval by doing all that he believes his father desires, but the end of the play leaves him still striving with no glimpse of a hopeful result.

By taking the three previous examples into consideration, it can be concluded that the ability to live one's own life and to be one's own person is essential. Others' input and advice certainly hold an important place within my life. However, I am the one who has to wake up each morning and live the life I have developed for myself. It is as impossible for me to be happy living another's dream just as it was for Biff to live out Willy's. Therefore, making personal values and decisions and facing personal consequences are imperative; otherwise an individual's existence is that of a puppet: constantly held back by strings.

The controversial topics brought to light throughout this drama are enough to support a strong recommendation. I believe that it is essential for teenagers and adults alike to face not only the problems outside of our country, but within it as well. Death of a Salesman communicates the unspoken fact of where the root of America's problems lies: not within her government, economy, or media, but within her own homes and families. The Loman family is a perfect picture of how messed up many relationships are, and how people would rather tuck this embarrassing problem away. Most individuals deal with situations outside of their own because they're uncomfortable with the trouble staring them right in the face. The denial of this mental insecurity is why I believe that Death of a Salesman should be an addition to every individual's personal library, for Linda's words apply not only to her opinion about how Willy should be treated but to how the crucial elements of the play must be acknowledged and learned from: "Attention must be paid."

One of America's great tragedies is Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. During this time, soldiers were coming home from World War II and were not in the mood for light comedies or romantic stories. After seeing all of the tragic sights that they did, the soldiers began to think about their life. About the meaning of life, the reason that they survived this horrific war that they had experienced. And thus began the period in American drama where playwrights began to change the focus of their plays for the more solemn side of things.
Reading Death of a Salesman was an interesting experience for me. On one hand I like they way that it portrayed the American Dream and what America holds as important today. Yet on the other hand, the play did seem a little slow in some parts where I believe it was just a matter of it was written more than a half a century ago.
Arthur Miller began his story in the Loman house. We see that possibly later in the play Willy will snap the last fiber that is holding his saneness in place. The foreshadowing begins when he starts to talk to himself and when we learn that he has wrecked the car on more than one occasion. We later learn that whenever flute music is played in the story, Willy is reminiscing about the old days and actually has conversations with people in his past who have already died.
One example of Miller writing about the reasons of life is the different occasions of Willy's attempt at committing suicide. One specific time is when he tried to wreck the car, there were witnesses who said that it definitely was deliberate and the only thing that saved Willy was the shallow water that he drove into. Another would be when Linda, Willy's wife, finds a rubber pipe connected to the gas pipe where Willy is trying to suck gas and kill himself.
One thing that I have learned from reading Death of a Salesman is that you need to have your priorities in line. During the play, Biff and Happy, the two sons, constantly show a lack of maturity by not having their priorities in line. Even if things aren't necessarily fun, yet are more important then the enjoyable thing, they should be on the top of my priority list.
For example, Biff and Happy take Willy out to a restaurant to celebrate what should have been their new deal with a respected business man. After things go wrong at the meeting, Biff tries to explain, but Happy cuts him off. Not wanting to deal with the misunderstanding anymore, they sons go off on a date with two girls who they had met that night. Not having any previous relationship with them, the sons leave their father, who has been there for their whole life, for a night where they don't have to deal with some hardships.
When it comes to recommending the play, I feel torn. On one hand, I do think that this play has valuable lessons that need to be taught in today's society. Lessons like priorities, honesty, and unconditional love. These concepts are dwindling in America today and should be brought back into light. This Death of a Salesman in my mind would help fulfill that goal.
On the contrary, I do feel that the way that these concepts are portrayed is a little dull. This style of writing doesn't necessarily appeal to me. As I mentioned before, that may be because it was written over 50 years ago, in 1949. It also may be because I feel that the plot was a little weak. I feel that if Arthur Miller would have made the point of the play clearer, it would be more wildly accepted. Some of the ideas that he was trying to portray were ones that you almost had to dig deep into in order to find them.

Death of a Salesman is a play about a salesman named Willy Loman who wants to live the American dream, popularity and fortune. The play starts out as Willy comes home to his wife, Linda, from a business trip. Throughout the play, Willy relives events in his past that are positive and make him feel wanted. In reality however, everyone around New England doesn't know or care about Willy. The only people he has are his wife and two sons, Biff and Happy. Willy wants his older son, Biff, to follow in his footsteps to become a salesman. The problem with this is that Biff has lost respect from his father over the years and he wants to become a farmer in Texas and make his own living. This conflict between Willy and Biff shapes the entire play and its outcomes.
I think that Arthur Miller's main purpose in writing Death of a Salesman is to show, not only the people of America but also the world, that the American dream is not the only dream. This is evident in this play because Willy tries to become like everyone else. He thinks that the only point to life is to live how America thinks people should live. This is known as the American dream. Although this is a very nice accomplishment, this shouldn't become an obsession to the point where you go mentally insane. This was also evident in the life of Willy Loman. Willy was always having flashbacks of when his sons were in high school and when he was doing great business as a salesman. Willy is so stuck in these flashbacks that he literally goes insane, which leads him to suicide.
The greatest lesson that I have learned is that we should all watch what we do. Our actions are based on our decisions, and they also play a key part in how we shape our future. If we don't do the right things, than we may not have a good future. Willy certainly didn't watch his actions. Over time, Willy Loman did things that he didn't even think about. One of these was having the affair with The Woman. His emotions of loneliness led to the decision to have an affair and that led to the actions. And that action led to the result of Biff losing respect for him. When Biff lost respect for him, Willy went crazy because of how horrible his life is. At the beginning of the play, he is complaining about things such as whipped cheese and apartment buildings. This shows that Willy is realizing what that affair did to him and to Biff. Anyway, I am saying that we should all watch our actions. If we don't watch our actions, our future will be molded into something that we can't control. Since Willy didn't watch what he was doing, he ended up in a lifetime of despair and loneliness. I don't think anyone wants that kind of life. Watching our actions also means that we need to make the right decisions.
In conclusion, I would recommend this play because it teaches you many things that you may never have realized. It also teaches you things about yourself just from reading it. This play is a significant play because it can take the life of one person to change the life of another. That is why I highly recommend Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller.

Willy is a salesman and is trying to kill himself. Linda, his wife, is supportive and trying to keep Willy happy. Biff, his favorite son, does not like his father but his mom tells him to keep his father happy and do a job he does not want to do. Biff doesn't get the job and Willy got fired from his job. Happy, the other son, has a job he does not like and is going to get married but no one pays much attention to him.
I think Arthur Miller is trying to tell us to do a job you like and if the money comes with it great. People waste their lifetime doing things that they do not like to do and it can affect their relationship with their family and friends, their job, and them self. Willy had a dream but when he saw someone as a salesman calling to people on the phone he thought that would be a good idea. Salesmen are happy when they get a compliment. When all their customers die or retire and you get negative comments, it hurts them really badly.
Their job decreases and they come home sad. Biff knew something that Linda didn't know and that was Willy had an affair with someone else. Because Biff saw that it changed his attitude about his father, he became more protective of his mother, and because of that he didn't like to be bossed around and stole things from every job he was in. What you do now can affect your family now and forever. Biff knew the truth and was trying to tell Willy but Linda and Happy didn't want him to because they wanted Willy to be happy.
In the end Biff cries on Willy because he was concerned for his dads safety. He took out the gas tube but when he brought it to Willys attention Willy denies ever seeing it. Biff starts to explain everything accepted the affair. Happy tried to stop him but it didn't work. Linda tried to stop him but that didn't work either.
Willy didn't want to hear any of it but Biff talked and told why he didn't take summer school and how Willy ruined his life. This family has lack of communication. If Willy sat down with Biff and they talked about what was expected of each other maybe they wouldn't have argued so much. Linda and Happy would have talked with them and had family meetings then maybe it wouldn't have ended the way it did.
Biff would have gone to summer school and have a good job by now. Happy would have been married and Willy would still have a job and not stuck in his past. But since his father and brother, Ben, left him he had no role model to look up to and so it affected everything. I think Biff is the only one who won't make the same mistakes as his father did and go do a job he likes.
I recommend you read this play to get a grasp on life and know what you do now affects people in the present and the future. If you made a bad choice it will affect your children and their grandchildren all the way to like the fifth century unless someone in your family chooses not to make your same mistakes. That is why most people who are divorced their children will be divorced and so on and so on and so on until someone decides I don't want to be like that and that is a good and new impact.

Death of a Salesman is a very positive play in the fact that it can be applied to any person reading it. The writer of this play, Arthur Miller, did not specify what Willy Lowman, the salesman, sells so the audience can imagine Willy to be selling whatever they want. Not only is this part of the play applicable to any member of the audience, but the rest of the play is that way as well. There are many lessons to be learned throughout the play, and a particular person could be struck by one lesson, while a different person a different lesson. This play is very positive in that it shows the life of an ordinary person who has struggles. No one wants to hear about the rich and famous, we hear about that all the time. We as people want to hear about the people who have tough lives. We want to learn from them, live with them, cry with them. I think the main reason people like to read about the local yokels, is that we are them! This play does not end on a positive note, but it is positive in the fact that the story is so applicable to us and our daily lives.
Arthur Miller is a very thoughtful writer in that he hides bits of information in the very least of things. Little life lessons can be pulled simply from the way two characters react towards one another , or by what props are used on stage. I think Arthur Miller's main purpose in writing Death of a Salesman was to show the readers that the American Dream is not all it's cracked up to be. The life of Willy Lowman shows that. He travels hours and hours to a city to sells his merchandise and drives hours and hours back home to his family. In the middle of the play Willy isn't making much, which is a tragedy to a salesman, because he no longer "brings home the bacon." The American Dream for the Lowman family was for Biff to be great at football, for Willy to be able to support his family, for Linda to be the perfect wife who always does housework and for Happy to win the favor of his father. But at the end of their lives, Willy is lying to his family because he doesn't bring home enough money to pay rent and Biff works out on a farm which isn't what Willy wants and Linda tries to cover up offenses instead of settle them and Happy still dreams like a kid! All their dreams have gone to waste. Or maybe they just had the wrong dream. Society tends to paint the picture for us of how we should live our lives. Arthur Miller's purpose in writing was to tell us that society can be wrong sometimes and that we need to make our own dreams come true, not societies dreams.
I have learned a very important lesson from Death of a Salesman. I am a Junior getting ready to go to college and I need to decide what I want to do. I really want to go to Bible college and learn as much about God's Word as I can so I can apply it to my life. Other people want me to go to a different college for something else. Nursing, Forensics, Drama, Biology, anything! One person thinks that by just majoring in "God's Word" it will not make me enough money to live on. I tend to disagree. If God wants me to Follow Him and be in His Word, than that's what I'm going to do and He will provide me with what I need to live. The reason that I bring up this important lesson that I learned is because Biff and Willy go through the same struggle. Biff wants to be free in his career. All he wants to be is "outdoors with his shirt off." He wants to do whatever opportunity puts at his front door. He wants to be able to move from one job to another and not have to worry about anything. Willy on the other hand, wants Biff to be like him. He wants him to have a steady job selling merchandise and to raise his status in life. So what does Biff do? He decides to be free. I think that is such an important lesson, doing what you want. It's your life and you have to live it. Make the most of it!
I would highly recommend this play. So many plays end up like a fairytale, but this play does not. There are many lessons that can be applied, and we can all use a few good life lessons. For the inspiring dramatist: Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman is not to be missed on your list of must-reads. His play mingles depression, dreams, fears, hopes, and life all into one powerful gut-wrenching book that will make you take a second look into the life that you are now living.

I would have to say that this book wasn't very positive you see this family who isn't very functional. I mean they don't get along, Happy is neglected, and Biff doesn't get to show who he really is because Willy is always pushing him to be something he is not. Biff also gets treated as if he were some god. Linda knows that Willy isn't doing well but doesn't change anything about it; she doesn't want the truth to come out which is hindering the family. They don't at all communicate with each other. A lot of times they're harboring angry from one another, they all have their dirty little secrets. Willy is trying to have this American dream where he wants to be well liked and have a success but he starts having failures and he just tries to kill himself. Willy wants to show Biff that he is well liked by killing himself and saying you just watch all these people from all these different states will be at the funeral and it turns out no one is there except Charlie, Biff, Happy, and Linda.
Arthur Miller was trying to show us that the American Dream could get to us when we want success so bad, but sometimes in order to get there you are going to have a few failures. That communication is important because if you want to change something and you never speak out about it you wont cause change. A family also needs communication because if you don't be honest with each other you may end up like the Loman's who never were able to show who they really were. You shouldn't push people to do the things they don't want to do because then you will cause them to hate you and also they wont people able to show who they are because you have made them into something they weren't. Willy was always pushing Biff into they things Biff didn't want and here all Biff wanted was to leave on a farm and be successful, But Willy wanted him to do other things. You see Biff towards the end be like I don't like you but I don't want you to kill yourself I don't care about you. Linda loves Willy but, doesn't want to make him upset so she does all things and telling Biff not to talk the way he does about his father, when he was telling the truth. She didn't change anything when she would take the pipe away that Willy used on the gas but then she would put it back. Willy wanted the American Dream it became a hold on him that it lead him to suicide because he saw himself as a failure. I have learned through this Book that you shouldn't lean so much on the American Dream because soon that becomes your life. You will always be trying to impress or please people and people may just reject that. Also that you will have failures learn from them, see what you did wrong and pick yourself up and keep going don't just stop when you feel so down. No one wants to be around someone who is down all the time because then they are going to feel down. You shouldn't care what other people think and be honest with people.
Willy was always trying to impress people and he just gave up when he could have looked back on all of his mistakes instead of giving up. He could have kept going but he didn't and it leads him to his death. Biff learns to be who he is and he is seen as the bad guy but he was being so honest.
I would recommend this play because everyone should know that no matter what you should always perserve. Also that you shouldn't care what people think because life is to short to be pleasing other people and they won't be alive for a long time once they go then you just wouldn't be pleasing no one. Learn from the mistakes you make because they will lead you to a great success.Be honest with people because if you never share what you feel then what good are you really doing.

Death of a Salesman is a modern masterpiece; and Arthur Miller's greatest work I have yet to come across. The characters, although strange and sometimes deplorable, are some of the most interesting I have seen.

Willy Loman, an average man haunted by everyone and everything in his life, is a wonderfully deep character. Miller's skills shine brightly in this character alone. I actually backtracked at one point and realized that within the span of a couple pages I had gone from absolutely despising Willy to completely sympathizing with him.

Happy and Biff are both interesting characters as well. It's obvious from the beginning that they share both a deep bond and several characteristics. Their relationships with Willy, while hugely different, are also wonderfully intertwined. The fact that they are both womanizers only helps to add to their allure.

To be completely honest, I actually had trouble writing this review. Simply put, it's one of the most profound and affecting pieces of literature I have ever had the great pleasure of reading. Almost every character could supply hours of thought and discussion. This is truly a must read for anyone and everyone.

"Death of a Salesman" is often referred to as a criticism of capitalism or as an exploration of the dark side of the "American Dream". There may be some truth in this idea. The central character, Willy Loman, is a man who has worked hard for the same company for over thirty years. According to all the tenets of capitalism, his qualities of diligence and loyalty should have been a guarantee of success, and yet his life ends in failure when he is dismissed by his employers without a word of thanks. Arthur Miller is sometimes attacked by political conservatives on account of his left-wing opinions, but in my view such an attitude is misplaced, as he was generally better as a writer of human drama than as a political propagandist. "The Crucible", for example, remains a great play even today, worth reading or watching not as an attack on McCarthyism but as a powerful drama with the strong figure of John Proctor, a flawed but genuinely tragic hero, at its centre. Similarly, the human side of Willy Loman's downfall is much more interesting than any political lessons that might be drawn from it; the play concentrates far more on Willy's relationships with his family than it does on that with his boss Howard Wagner.

Willy is a much weaker character than Proctor. He is the salesman of the play's title, a man in his early sixties, approaching retirement. Despite his long service, travelling from his New York base all over New England in the service of his employers, he has never enjoyed great success in his job. He is in financial difficulties, struggling to pay the mortgage on his house and the instalments on the consumer goods- refrigerator, vacuum cleaner, car- which were becoming popular in the forties but which represented a major commitment, even in middle class households. In order to make ends meet, he has taken to borrowing from his old friend Charley. His sense of failure, however, does not derive solely from his unsuccessful career. He also sees himself as having failed in his private life. Although his marriage to his loyal wife Linda has survived, despite the fact that he has on occasions been unfaithful to her, his relations with his two sons are strained. Biff, the elder, showed promise when young in both the academic and sporting fields, but failed to win a place at university after failing a maths exam at school, and since has become a rootless drifter, alternating between dead-end jobs and petty crime. Biff has been particularly alienated from his father since discovering one of Willy's affairs. Happy, the younger, has been more successful than Biff in his career, but in his private life is a selfish, cynical womaniser.

Willy is a character much given to violent mood swings, alternating between exuberant over-optimism and despairing pessimism. The younger Willy's optimism was largely focussed on his own prospects, believing that he had a talent for making himself "well liked" which would lead to a brilliant career. The older Willy's hopes are mostly focussed on his sons, especially Biff, whom he still believes (in the teeth of all the evidence) to be capable of great things. When his son disappoints him, Willy turns on him fiercely, accusing him of being a "lazy bum". Biff's lack of success in life does indeed derive partly from his own weaknesses, but Willy's unrealistic expectations are also partly to blame. There may be a connection between Willy's job and his capacity for self-delusion. As Charley says of him "A salesman's got to dream. It comes with the territory".

The play is written in two acts and a brief epilogue, but without any further formal divisions into scenes. On a number of occasions the action switches abruptly from the present into the past, as the characters act out episodes from earlier in Willy's life. Some of these episodes, in fact, may exist only in Willy's imagination, particularly those involving his older brother Ben, who is now dead although that does not prevent him from making several appearances. He seems to have been a wealthy man, although there are two versions of how he acquired his wealth, one involving business dealings in Alaska, the other diamond mining in Africa. Ben, in fact, is not really a character in his own right, but rather functions as a symbol of the failures and missed opportunities in Willy's life. This structure can make the play rather confusing when read from the printed page, but any confusion is generally quickly resolved in a well-directed stage or screen performance. (One particularly good filmed version is that starring Dustin Hoffman from 1985).

There is much more to the play than a critique of the capitalist economy or of the American way of life. It is also a character study and an exploration of the relationships within a family, especially father-son relationships (which was also an important theme of Miller's "All My Sons"). On a wider level it touches on the plight of the elderly, especially those whom society no longer seems to value, on the human need, too often disappointed, to aspire to a better life, and on the gap between appearance and reality. It is a play that deserves the high reputation it has acquired since it was written in the late forties.

"Death of a Salesman" is as succulent as a borscht and smacks red of youthful idealism. Miller clearly expresses his political views through Loman's struggle to slice his own American pirog as a traveling salesman. Views that would later earn Miller a deserved trip before the House Un-American Activities Committee. Willy (or as I like to call him, Wily) expresses nearly bipolar behavior during the course of a day while attempting to sell some widget or another. The point is, Miller displays an utter contempt at the American Way of Life and creates this unbelievable, paper-thin character to undermine the good, wholesome values of capitalism.

Oh, poor Wily Salesman has a rough day. Can't quite cut it in the real world. Well, tough. Am I really supposed to care about some nobody salesman that no one else cares about either? Does Arthur make any semblance of a point by examining the efficiency of capitalism? The answer, quite clearly, is 'No'.

I half-expected this play to come printed on pink stock. Miller casts such a liberal, ivory-tower light on his subject that I almost read this as farce. Lo Mein's timely demise couldn't come too quickly for me, as I was sick of Miller's blatant manipulation of the audience's emotions to garner sympathy for his unpatriotic views.

Don't let Miller peddle this schlog to you.

I am an outside sales rep so I have a lot of drive time...I put that time to good use by listening to Death of a Salesman on tape.
It is an amazing, story that is still relevant today. It is a nice reminder that the worth of oneself is not measured merely in wealth and career accomplishments.

For anyone who is appreciative of the great work of Arthur Miller, it is beneficial to have a collection of scripts of his plays. This item was excellent. The print was easily read (as I am up in years and my eyesight isn't what it was 40 years ago). I appreciate that the script I received from Amazon was not in the usual very small print. For this reason alone, I give this a top rating and recommend it to my associates.

This is a powerfully sad play. It really demonstrates the deterioration of a man's dream. It almost made me cry, and I have never cried because of a book. It is an easy read, and I suggest YOU read it because it is very insightful.

Arthur Miller wrote an outstanding play on the human condition as it pursues the traditional American dream. Willy Loman is a man of high self-esteem and expectations, who always waited for the big hit to occur, yet it never did. He then gets to late in life and looks around to find all those whom he admired and didn't had made something of themselves, while he was still in the same salesman position he was in as a young man.

The book switches between his memories and reality, which reflects his true state of mind, being linked to what is perceived as a glorious past in many different ways:
- He was an extremely well liked person, had great connections, which was the basis of his self-esteem.
- His sons were outstanding and capable of taking on the world.

That glorious past was pitted against the crude reality:
- The world changed and he knows no one anymore, which coupled with his old age, makes him unproductive and leads his to be fired from his long time job. He is fired by the son of the company founder, who had made him many promisses and kept his hopes up, hopes which were not fulfilled.
- His son is a poorly adjusted man, never being able to focus on anything, preferring to go west for long stretches without accomplishing anything meaningful in Willy's eyes.

Willy gets trapped in an imaginary world, swithcing from the reality of his and his family's shortcomings and the potential that layed before them as young men (his and his sons'). This is a short but densely written story, one of those few that will open a small window into a failed man's heart and let you peek inside.

+++++

(Note that this review is for the book "Death of a Salesman: 50th Anniversary Edition" published in 1999)

This book has five sections:

(1) Preface by the playwright, Arthur Miller (Oct. 1915 to Feb. 2005) who provides a very brief analysis of his play (among other things). Its title is "Salesman at Fifty." (This play was published in 1949.)
(2) Actual play itself that has two acts and a requiem. (In fact, the subtitle of this play is "Certain Private Conversations in Two Acts and a Requiem.")
(3) Still pictures in black & white and color from the first production of this play in 1949 (starring Lee J. Cobb) and the 50th anniversary production of this play in 1999 (starring Brian Dennehy). There are eleven of these pictures found between the first and second acts.
(4) Afterword by Chris Bigsby (an author, playwright, broadcaster, and University professor). This afterward is an excellent detailed analysis of the play from which I learned much.
(5) Selective chronology of world productions of this play from 1949 to 1999. For example, one entry has the play put on film for CBS in the US in 1985. The lead character was played by Dustin Hoffmann.

The actual Pulitzer Prize-winning play itself is unforgettable. It is about hard-working, traveling salesman Willy Loman, a man whose life has become a permanent nervous breakdown, due to a kind of "success mania." He's about to lose his job, he can't pay his bills, and his sons Biff & "Happy" don't respect him and can't seem to live up to their potential. His wife stills loves him but she is caught up in a state of "bitter helplessness." Willy, now in his sixties, wonders what went wrong (after all, his dream of monetary success should have come true by now!!) and how he can make things up to his family. He is now indeed a "low man."

I shall provide a quotation from Miller's preface and from Bigsby's afterword both of which seem to capture the essence of the play:

Miller:

"The Lomans [especially Willy], like [society's] models...are not content with who and what they are, but want to be other, wealthier, more cultivated [and] closer to power."

Bigsby:

The story of Willy Loman is "a dream shared by all those who are aware of the gap between what they might have been and what they are, who need to believe that their children will reach out for the [monetary] prize that eluded them, and who feel that the demands of reality are too [absolute] and relentless to be sustained without hope of a transformed tomorrow."

Finally, I saw the movie version of this play (starring Dustin Hoffmann) first and then read the actual play. I found that when I did this, the actual play was easier to read and follow.

In conclusion, Arthur Miller has left us a gem of a play that is truly "one of the greatest dramas of our time."

(published 1999; play is 110 pages; entire book is 145 pages)

+++++

It is a difficult task to review one's favorite play. I have known and loved DEATH OF A SALESMAN since I was sixteen years old; I am now twenty-five. Let me just say that, whether or not one considers DEATH OF A SALESMAN a tragedy, it is unquestionably one of the greatest dramas of the twentieth century; it is also the late Arthur Miller's greatest play. Like his ALL MY SONS (written in 1947, two years before SALESMAN), and like his subsequent THE CRUCIBLE and A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE, DEATH OF A SALESMAN brings together the themes of familial responsibility, man's role in relation to his society, and the possibility -- or impossibility -- that an individual can lead a normal life after having committed a crime. Whereas in Joe Keller's (the protagonist of ALL MY SONS) case this is a crime against the "human family," Willy Loman, the titular salesman, betrays his own family. To the above-mentioned themes DEATH OF A SALESMAN adds one more: the dehumanizing effect of capitalism. Willy, having reached the retirement age without having achieved the success in his profession of which he always dreamed, has become a mere object to be discarded by the company for which he has worked for twenty-five years. ("You can't eat an orange and throw the peel away -- a man is not a piece of fruit!" Willy protests to his boss, Howard.) Where SALESMAN differs from ALL MY SONS is in its seamless integration of expressionist techniques, showing that Miller had learned from Tennessee Williams' 1947 play A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE. Under stress from guilt over his past "crime" as well as from the knowledge that he will soon be "thrown away" by the selling firm, Willy's mind wanders increasingly back to a past, happier year (1928 -- significantly, the year before the Great Depression began). Thus in SALESMAN past and present exist onstage simultaneously, and the stage itself is a map of Willy's mind. This is the true brilliance of the play.