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 snappy War against Russia bleedwright Arthur miller published what was seen to be a personal criticism of the American way of emotional state, his play, Death of A Sales earthly concern. Death of A Salesman tells the report card of Willy Loman, a lowly salesman slowly being estranged from society and progressively 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 show the truth as he saw it. It is because Miller insisted on adhering to realism, that he chose a normal, Loman, or literally, low man, to be his Tragic Hero. In doing so, Miller broke one rule- that of Aris totelian tragedy, which demands a noble superstar, of high birth and simultaneously abided by another, the rule of a Modern Domestic Tragedy which requires an mundane persons story to be told.Whilst Milton would have deplored this introducing of trivial and vulgar persons into tragedy, Miller dismissed all criticism of his choice of hero, demanding his accusers to recognise it matters not whether the hero falls from a great height or a small one, or as Linda puts it, hes not the finest sheath who forever lived. But hes 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 exits in his fall from grace and eventual(prenominal) death. Most critics and audiences identify Willys 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 exclusively some 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 Willys 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 Jungle of the American Dream, meaning he dies within it a result of it and as a sacrifice to it, hoping that his death go away reveal the diamonds he seeks.Willys actual death in Death of A Salesman is not shown on stage, but rather, it is symbolised by the sound of a carmoving away at full speed then the crashing down of music which in turn morphs into 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 ex emplary 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(prenominal) implicit to the plot, without it the audience would not know of Willys death.Music runs throughout the play as a catalyst through which Miller makes the subtler, unspoken presences or emotions known. Take for example the champagne flutes melody which serves as both a melancholy theme tune to Willys failings and a musical physique of his estranged Fathers ghost, who made more in a week than a man like Willy could in a lifetime . The flute embodies both these offices in Requiem. First, Willys failings are made clearer than ever as Linda starts to truly mourn her husband and elicit an impossible last arrivederci from him.Second, flute also shows Willys fathers presence because we know it is from his father that Willy got the 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, Aeschyluss Persians (472 BC) features the ghost of the dead King Darius travel 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 plaguy presence of Willys own father and his brother Ben, both deceased who continue to taunt Willy with dreams he cannot achieve. Willys suicide is at once self-congratulating, take and selfless. He wants to escape the feeling he is temporary by truly leaving something behind, something one can feel with the hand. This something is his diamond of the $20,000 insurance funds, which will make him a hero for Biff to worship and helping Biff to start up a business of his own.Requiem holds no make outs as to whether the reward was paid and through this and the melancholy despair that r uns through the utmost scene, Miller shows how pointless Willys death truly was. No matter how such(prenominal) 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 There was no necessity for it. A melancholy drag 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 Willys death and also his fathers lack of understanding of his own son, who from the start is happiest in the open playing around with horses. However a sadder twist is Happys utter unwillingness to learn from his fathers mistakes, and despite declaring Willy Loman did not die in vain he goes on to show the opposite, promising to win it for him Willy. The Requiem shows Willys final delusion shattered. There is a simple answer to Lindas piteous, why did nobody come? The answer is that Willy was not, contrary to wh at he claims time and time again, known, because he has not changed with the times, and the old values he clings to do not make a man known or a success at all. Evidence of Willys failure to change with time can be traced back to, as Richard T. Brucher puts it, Willys unexpected, marvellingly innocent question How can they whip cheese? Such a simple statement exemplifies his static approach to modern life he wants everything to make to the 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 Lindas last lines, her mantra of reassurance, Were Free Were 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 Millers meat that if you live following the American Dream and have consumerism as your only moral compass and relig ion, then the only way to free yourself is to die.A much more cynical view of Lindas words, as proposed by D. L. Hoeveler, suggests they epitomise the familys darker subconscious thoughts, that now Willy is gone, they no longer have to continue on the paths they were forced down. They are 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 free from the burden of Willy is certainly not what she would worry for, after all she more than loves him and even his 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 Lindas anxious disconcerted calling to the deceased Willy, mimicking her fright in the opening scene when Willy ent ers.It is the flute which opens and closes the play. Everything reverting back to the way the play started shows how insignificant Willys 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 garble he was, he was still their King. There will be a 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 purging 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. Willys 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 Sh akespeare himself, The poor beetle on which we tread In collective sufferance feels a pang as great As when a Giant dies.