Socitey's Infrastructure

Society has convinced us that submitting to conformity is the best solution to have a reasonably well social life. Others however, believe that being yourself is the best way to converse with others. In Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman,” the Loman family is having difficulty with following the customs society throws at them, while their successful neighbors, Charley and his son Bernard, cope with their surroundings and succeed. Miller uses honesty and stability to illustrate the differences between the Loman’s and Charley as well as Bernard, in the attempt to become successful.

Honesty is present in both families, but differentiates in the amount they actually utilize to help them on their path of achievement. The Loman’s in this case show the least amount of sincerity. For example, Willy tells his wife “I did five hundred gross in Providence and seven hundred gross in Boston,” when in reality he exaggerates the truth and his wife calculates that his shares were really seventy dollars instead of the two hundred they started out with (1251). Since the time is during the 1950’s and men were still perceived as the ones who bring food to the table, Willy’s actions of dishonesty are triggered by the role of being the man of the house. This low level of truthfulness is persistent throughout the play. Another scenario that includes deceitfulness from the Loman’s is when Biff tells his mom “Why didn’t you ever write me about this, mom?...I was on the move. But you know I thought of you all the time…” because we find out towards the ending of the play that he was in jail during his three month absence (1260). Biff decides to tell this lie for the sake of his parents not finding the truth and the guilty feeling that he will d...

... middle of paper ...

...with his path towards a great education, and with it become someone in his life. Each family’s priorities have an outcome in their future as well as on their quest for success.

In a country where competition thrives and communication is key for success, a portion of the population is not fully adaptive with the customs that society throws at them. As perfectly portrayed in “Death of a Salesman”, people are either successful and others cannot handle the stresses in the long journey that is life. One can only conclude that, as long as the resources one needs to suffice their lives are acquired, there is no need to jeopardize what one already possesses.

Works Cited

Miller, Arthur. “Death of a Salesman” Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Ed. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 6th Compact ed. New York: Longman, 2010. 1239-1302. Print.