Death Of A Salesman

Selling More Than Just Merchandise

The play, Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller explores topics that parallel the lives of the common man. His play, therefore, is relevant during different eras, as the central issues discussed correlate with the struggles of everyday common people, no matter at what point in history the play is shown. This makes his play versatile in nature as it can be shown throughout the decades. His play can be considered a classic story; one that cannot be forgotten over the decades as it continues to be a popular play. Miller’s play connects with over half of Americans who fit into the middle to lower class. His play is diverse in that way as people can identify with the core issues discussed in his play. The play

Despite the difficult living of a travelling salesman, Willy longs for Biff to follow in his footsteps and carry on the family name through the business. From the beginning of the play, the reader finds out about this vital relationship. The reader finds out that before Willy returned from his business trip, he had a fight with Biff. Willy referred to his son as lazy and stubborn as he is a thirty year old man who performs manual labor as a living, and often hops from job to job. This argument is almost ironic in the sense that Biff is not holding a steady job, which Willy disapproves of, however it is Willy the reader knows is not holding a steady income himself. Traveling salesmanship is a generally unstable way of making a living. In Willy’s mindset, manual labor was not satisfactory for his son’s capabilities, and job hopping at his age is shameful. Throughout the play, the audience is able to learn about the relationship of Biff and Willy as Willy often has flashbacks. These flashbacks were pretty much always out loud, seemingly reality to Willy. This is essential to the play as the reader notices the connection between Biff and Willy through their father and son relationship. In one flashback, WIlly, instead of encouraging Biff to study math with a schoolmate, Bernard, orders Bernard to pass the exam for Biff, seeming not to care regarding the seriousness of the state exam. Instead, he

His play was received well due to the progressive attitude of his audiences; therefore, Miller’s play is able to be shown throughout multiple decades, and still appeal to his audiences. When Miller wrote the play to perform in New York, he wanted to adapt to the culture of the vast cities, and felt excited to portray controversial ideas. Several of Miller’s experiences and much of his background seemed integrated into his plays as there was a presence of Jewish themes coexisting with the socialism of the time as a result of the Great Depression. Miller was adaptive and unafraid to conform to the norms of the cities his plays were performed in. For example, both Death of a Salesman and All My Sons were produced in New York. Miller was known as a controversial young playwright as he exposed issues around the effects of capitalism and wartime corruption, appealing to the “common man” (Adams 2). Historically, Willy would have had a rather successful time trying to get by as a traveling salesman. During the time his play was written, America was coming out of the Great Depression, and was in the middle of World War II. Economically, the market was favorable, consistent with the pattern of wartime prosperity, as the economy focuses on mass-producing goods essential to the wartime effort. This shows inconsistencies with the struggles of Willy and the market