Death of a Salesman Certain Private Conversations in Two Acts and a Requiem

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Death of a SalesmanCertain Private
Conversationsin Two Acts and a Requiem

• Written by Arthur Miller

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ARTHUR MILLER The Playwright
Arthur Miller was born in New York City on
October 17, 1915. He wrote Death of a
Salesman, which won the Pulitzer Prize and
transformed Miller into a national sensation.
Many critics described Death of a Salesman as
the first great American tragedy, and Miller
gained eminence as a man who understood the
deep essence of the United States.
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Miller continued

• He published The Crucible in 1953, a searing
  indictment of the anti-Communist hysteria that
  pervaded 1950s America, which is set during the
  Salem Witch Trials of 1690. Miller is also
  famous for having been one of Marilyn Monroes
  husbands! He died in 2005.

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The Play
Death of a Salesman, Millers most famous work,
addresses the painful conflicts within one
family, but it also tackles larger issues
regarding American national values. The play
examines the cost of blind faith in the
American Dream, the idea that success and
status are rights, not earned privileges.
(www.sparknotes.com/lit)
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The Play continued
It is a play viewed by many as a scathing
attack on the American Dream of achieving wealth
and success without regard for principle or
morals.
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The American Dream

• The American Dream is a belief that in the United
  States of America, hard work and determination
  can lead to a better life, usually through the
  earning of money. These were values held by many
  early European settlers, and have been passed on
  to the newer generations.
• This idea persists today, though younger
  generations have deveoped a different idea of the
  American Dream.

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The American Dream contd

• Traditionally, Americans have sought to realize
  the American dream of success, fame and wealth
  through thrift and hard work. However, the
  industrialization of the 19th and 20th centuries
  began to erode the dream, replacing it with a
  philosophy of "get rich quick". A variety of
  seductive but elusive strategies have evolved,
  and today the three leading ways to instant
  wealth are large-prize television game shows,
  big-jackpot state lotteries and compensation
  lawsuits. In this article,  Matthew Warshauer,
  Professor of History at Central Connecticut State
  University, examines why so many Americans are
  persuaded to seek these easy ways to their dream.
  (http//www.americansc.org.uk/Online/American_Drea
  m.htm).

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The American Dream

• How has the dream changed?
• What does the dream mean to you?
• Is it a right or a priviledge?
• How will you try to realize your dream?
• How important is being well-liked?
• How vital is it to work hard?
• Will luck play a part?
• Is it better to win the lottery or make money in
  your chosen career? Why?

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The Lomans.

• The play centers on Willy Loman, an aging
  salesman who is beginning to lose his grip on
  reality. Willy places great emphasis on his
  supposed native charm and ability to make
  friends

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The Lomans
Willy has worked hard his entire life (hes 63)
and ought to be retiring by now, living a life of
luxury and closing deals with contractors on the
phoneespecially since increasing episodes of
depersonalization and memory flashbacks are
impairing his ability to drive. Instead, all of
Willy's aspirations seem to have failed he is
fired from his job after 34 yearswhich barely
paid enough anywayby a man young enough to be
his son and who, in fact, Willy claims to have
named.
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Symbolism of the name LOMAN?
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The Lomans
Biff, his 34-year-old son, has been unable to
'find himself' as a result of his inability to
settle down hes a former football star. Happy,
32, the younger son, lies shamelessly to make it
look like he is a perfect Loman son. Both sons
are disspointments.
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Becoming Your Own Person

• To what extent are you shaped by your
  parents?
• If you fail to become successful, can you
  blame your parents?
• Why or why not?
• For example, Willy tells his sons that the most
  important trait needed to be successful is to be
  well liked. If you were told this, how might
  that shape your life?

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Finally, Willy is haunted by memories of his
now-dead older brother, Ben, who has constantly
overshadowed Willy, and he is in many ways the
man that Willy wanted to be. Willy's emphasis
on being well-liked stems from a belief that it
will bring successnot a harmful dream in itself,
except that he clings to this idea as if it is a
life-preserver, refusing to give it up. His boys
are not only well-liked but quite handsome, and
as far as Willy is concerned, that's all anyone
needs. He pitches this idea to his sons so
effectively that they believe opportunity will
fall into their laps.
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The Tragic Flaw
Tragic Flaw a flaw in character that brings
about the downfall of the hero of a tragedy e.g.
hubris (or excessive pride) or avarice (financial
greed). Willy witnesses his and his sons'
failures and clings ever more tightly to his
master plan, now placing his hopes vicariously
on them he may not succeed, but they might.
His tragic flaw is in failing to question
whether the dream is valid.
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The Setting

• Lomans tiny Brooklyn house
• Claustrophobic effect, surrounded by buildings
• Middle-class furniture
• takes place over 48 hours, 1942
• NOTE when the play takes place in the present,
  the Loman house has imaginary walls in scenes
  relived (reimagined) from the past, the walls
  dont exist.

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Thematic Ideas

• The American Dream
• find prospertity be well liked
• Personal Attractiveness
• better to look good and be well liked
• Truth and lies
• We never told the truth for ten minutes in this
  house!
• Family
• loyalty, pride
• Loneliness
• Even with others around, we can still be lonely

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Millers Narrative Technique

• The separation of past and present no longer
  exists in Willys mind.
• When a present event reminds him of the past, he
  drifts from his immediate surroundings and talks
  with unseen people from the past
• Willy has MEMORIES, not flasbacks
• Facts and time sequence are often confused

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Memories vs. Flashbacks

• Whats the difference?
• Can we trust memory?
• Why? Why not?
• How might our memories be different from what
  actually happened?
• Why might we recall the same event differently
  from other people?

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