Death of a Salesman Essay

In 1949; whilst America saw the culmination of anti-communist feelings, fear of the unknown and the general hysteria which stemmed from the Cold War against Russia; playwright Arthur Miller published what was seen to be a personal criticism of the American way of life, his play, â€Å"Death of A Salesman†. Death of A Salesman tells the story of Willy Loman, a lowly salesman slowly being estranged from society and increasingly led into confusion by his attempts to escape his own failure brought about by the great American Dream he has served so loyally. It was for this play Miller was brought in front of HUAC (house un-American activities committee) and charged with undermining American Values. Miller defended himself by claiming he simply aspired to â€Å"show the truth as [he] saw it†. It is because Miller insisted on adhering to realism, that he chose a normal, â€Å"Loman†, or literally, low man, to be his Tragic Hero. In doing so, Miller broke one rule- that of Aristotelian tragedy, which demands a â€Å"noble† hero, of high birth; and simultaneously abided by another, the rule of a Modern Domestic Tragedy which requires an ordinary person’s story to be told. Whilst Milton would have deplored this â€Å"introducing of trivial and vulgar persons [into tragedy]†, Miller dismissed all criticism of his choice of hero, demanding his accusers to recognise â€Å"it matters not whether the hero falls from a great height or a small one†, or as Linda puts it, â€Å"he’s not the finest character who ever lived. But he’s a human being and a terrible thing is happening to him† the importance then, lies in the way and reason for which the character falls. Willy does, however, comply with both the moulds of an Aristotelian tragedy and Modern Domestic Tragedy in that he suffers from a Hamartia which results in his fall from grace and eventual death. Most critics and audiences identify Willy’s Hamartia as his Hubris, his over inflated sense of self-worth and pride, which means he refuses help even as he becomes increasingly lost. However, a few critics complain that Willy cannot be a tragic hero, as he does not have one fatal flaw but many which combine to bring Willy down. This idea, as expressed by Thomas Adler, Ruby Cohn and others rests on the existence of other factors in Willy’s life, Willy is not only proud, but stupid, cursed with the wrong dreams, lacking in vision and most of all weak. It is this weakness which prohibits him from escaping the â€Å"Jungle† of the American Dream, meaning he dies within it; a result of it and as a sacrifice to it, hoping that his death will reveal the â€Å"diamonds† he seeks. Willy’s actual death in Death of A Salesman is not shown on stage, but rather, it is symbolised by the â€Å"sound of a car†¦moving away at full speed† then the â€Å"crash[ing] down [of music]† which in turn morphs into â€Å"a dead march†, not explicitly showing the morbid act, but implying it heavily enough for the audience to be in no doubt of its occurrence. It is typical of a Modern Domestic Tragedy death not to occur in front of the audience. The music in this ‘death scene’ is poignant, powerful and very implicit to the plot, without it the audience would not know of Willy’s death. Music runs throughout the play as a catalyst through which Miller makes the subtler, unspoken â€Å"presences† or emotions known. Take for example the flute’s melody which serves as both a melancholy theme tune to Willy’s failings and a musical embodiment of his estranged Father’s ghost, who â€Å"made more in a week than a man like [Willy] could in a lifetime† . The flute embodies both these roles in â€Å"Requiem†. First, Willy’s failings are made clearer than ever as Linda starts to truly mourn her husband and elicit an impossible last goodbye from him. Second, flute also shows Willy’s father’s presence because we know it is from his father that Willy got the â€Å"wrong dreams† which drove him to the grave Linda sits by. It is perhaps important to consider the role of ‘ghosts’ or past figures which appear throughout the play. Ghosts and figures from the past litter tragedy throughout the centuries. Indeed, the oldest surviving complete tragedy, Aeschylus’s Persians (472 BC) features the ghost of the dead King Darius returning from the past to cast judgement over his son Xerxes, whom he deems to be failing in his role and pursuing the wrong dreams. This is not unlike the mocking presence of Willy’s own father and his brother Ben, both deceased who continue to taunt Willy with dreams he cannot achieve. Willy’s suicide is at once self-congratulating, misguided and selfless. He wants to escape the feeling he is â€Å"temporary† by truly leaving something behind, â€Å"something one can feel with the hand†. This something is his â€Å"diamond† of the $20,000 insurance money, which will make him a â€Å"hero† for Biff to â€Å"worship† and helping Biff to start up a business of his own. Requiem holds no answers as to whether the premium was paid and through this and the melancholy despair that runs through the final scene, Miller shows how pointless Willy’s death truly was. No matter how much money he leaves behind, it will never compensate for the loss the family has to endure. Linda cannot even understand his motives and Happy encapsulates the mood when he declares â€Å"There was no necessity for it†. A sad twist of irony is Biff making it clear he is moving away. Thus, he would never have used the money anyway. This shows the true uselessness of Willy’s death and also his father’s lack of understanding of his own son, who from the start is happiest in the open â€Å"playing around with horses†. However a sadder twist is Happy’s utter unwillingness to learn from his father’s mistakes, and despite declaring â€Å"Willy Loman did not die in vain† he goes on to prove the opposite, promising to â€Å"win it for him [Willy]†. The Requiem shows Willy’s final delusion shattered. There is a simple answer to Linda’s piteous, â€Å"why did nobody come? † The answer is that Willy was not, contrary to what he claims time and time again, â€Å"known†, because he has not changed with the times, and the old values he clings to do not make a man â€Å"known† or â€Å"a success† at all. Evidence of Willy’s failure to change with time can be traced back to, as Richard T. Brucher puts it, Willy’s â€Å"unexpected, marvellingly innocent question†: â€Å"How can they whip cheese? † Such a simple statement exemplifies his static approach to modern life; he wants everything to return to the â€Å"great days† and is unwilling to change anything, least of all his expectations and aspirations. Irony is another key feature of a Modern Domestic Tragedy and Linda’s last lines, her mantra of reassurance, â€Å"We’re Free†¦ We’re free† is more heavily laden with irony than any other line of the play. The lines are applicable in so many different ways, not only the upfront meaning of the family being free from debt. They also despondently relay Miller’s message that if you live following the American Dream and have consumerism as your only moral compass and religion, then the only way to free yourself is to die. A much more cynical view of Linda’s words, as proposed by D. L. Hoeveler, suggests they epitomise the family’s darker subconscious thoughts, that now Willy is gone, they no longer have to continue on the paths they were forced down. They are â€Å"free† of the burden Willy placed on them. However, the earlier events show that despite no longer being pushed down the path of the American Dream, Happy will continue to pursue it, so this interpretation too is heavily ironic. As for Linda, being â€Å"free† from the burden of Willy is certainly not what she would wish for, after all she â€Å"more than loves him† and even his â€Å"little cruelties† do not change this. She needs to look after Willy so that she has a purpose and an aim. The play ends as it began, bringing the action back to the beginning and lending a continuous rhythm to the play, with Linda’s anxious disconcerted calling to the deceased Willy, mimicking her trepidation in the opening scene when Willy enters. It is the flute which opens and closes the play. Everything reverting back to the way the play started shows how insignificant Willy’s death really is. Capitalism does not crumble, life goes on. It is here that I believe Modern Domestic Tragedies are flawed, where Shakespearian ones are not. When Macbeth dies, the audience is certain that his Kingdom will mourn his loss, however warped he was, he was still their King. There will be a â€Å"massive† funeral, of the sorts Willy dreams of, and a Kingdom-wide expression of collective grief. It is this grief that I believe provides the catharsis of emotion for the audience, they know his death will continue to be felt after they leave the theatre and this assurance brings closure. This closure however, does not exist in Modern Domestic Tragedies. Willy’s death will go unnoticed by most, and this does not bring significant catharsis to the audience. There is no final completion of raw emotion. To support my view I can only offer the words of Shakespeare himself, â€Å"The poor beetle on which we tread In corporal sufferance feels a pang as great As when a Giant dies. â€Å"