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Death of a Salesman Relationships

And always to have to get ahead of the next fella. And still- that's how you build a future" (871). This quote indicates that Biff feels out of place with the competitive world. Since his father always wanted him to be a salesman, he is unable to work with his hands, a skill which comes naturally to him. Biff takes pride in this skill by building a front porch and putting up a new ceiling. According to the county Biff is not a success because the capitalist definition, pointed out by Willy, states that he has yet to make thirty-five dollars a week. Willy says this in hopes that Biff will find a better job and be the salesman Willy always wanted him to be. .
             On the other side of Willy's argument is his brother Ben. Ben is described as someone who is true to his self, not corrupted by materialism. Instead Ben is successful in his own way. Willy describes Ben by saying that all he has to do is go into any city, pick up the phone and he's making his living. Miller uses Ben's reference to the "jungle" as the setting to show how Ben's ruthless success carries uneasy connotations of a place where only the fittest will survive and in which weaker members like Willy will be devoured by the capitalist system. .
             The play's use of setting underlines the theme of a competitive society where there is no room for failures. It is through characterization that the audience learns to understand the significance of this situation in terms of the human cost. However, Willy is not presented as a passive victim of society since his brother Ben offers him a way out. Ben offers Willy a job, but Willy refuses. Willy's refusal is due to the fact that he would be contradicting his own beliefs if he accepted the job, since Ben believes in the exact opposites of his brother Willy. This shows that Willy has been offered chances to earn better money; so part of his financial problems are partly due to his own stubbornness.


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... not realize the impediments that their actions will cause, and this leads to the creation of morals for the reader to learn. "Death of a Salesman" offers many valuable morals as a result of its themes. One moral is that one should not set expectations too high. Of course, the setting of goals is very necessary. However, as illustrated by Willy Loman, one should be ... an unstable, unsuccessful life and a lacking relationship with his father as a result. "Death of a Salesman" presents and elaborates upon two extremely important morals that readers shall value. Although the characters in ...

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2. Death Of A Salesman

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... in theory, in reality, problems occur as people start to interpret this dream each according to his personal wishes. In his play "Death of a Salesman," Arthur Miller criticizes the concept of the American Dream in regard to the failure it causes the life of the Lomans' family to become. The problem with the American Dream, I believe, lies not within the dream itself, but within the ... at his job, but moreover, he gets fired during the play. His family relationships are almost destroyed and by the end of the play we find out that no one comes to attend his funeral. So according to his o...

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9. Willy Loman as a tragic hero in death of a salesman

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