How Does Death Of A Salesman Condemn Willy Loman

Attention Must Be Paid to Death of a Salesman

When Arthur Miller wrote "Death of a Salesman" many considered it a modern masterpiece. It has spurred debate among academics and stirred the emotions of hundreds of thousands of audiences and readers alike. However, there is a growing trend among many who approach this play to condemn Willy Loman out of hand. Entire new generations of readers feel nothing for the plight of Willy Loman; they believe his actions merit his destruction. Why is this? Has there been a fundamental but subtle shift in societal attitudes not just toward literature but toward life in general? If so, does this affect the validity of Miller's vision as presented in "Death of a Salesman"? This play must be seen

Happy's attitude toward life is a sad foreshadowing of his fate. "He [Willy] had the good dream. Its the only dream to have- to come out number one man" (Death 1425). Unwittingly, Happy will continue the cycle of domination by trying to emulate and vindicate his father. Willy's brother Ben exploits others, rather than submit to the fate of the common man. Ben is an old world imperialist. Driven by greed, he exploits the earth as well as others. "When I was seventeen I walked into the jungle, and when I was twenty one I walked out. And by God I was rich" (Death 1369). Ben's credo seems to be: you cannot save anyone but yourself. When he returns to visit Willy, he has to be informed that his mother died years earlier. Ben's strength comes from his financial state; he gains the power to exploit by becoming rich. He offers Willy a chance to share in his strength, but Willy declines. Willy opts for the stability of his false dreams. He wants to make his million in the city. The city, however, lacks the same exploitative power taken by Ben from the world at large. There is no pioneer spirit, no jungle to tame in the city. In both places hard work can bring success, but the success and influence of city dwellers like Charley seem small when compared to the power Ben carries with him wherever he

To Leon Trotsky, art was not a simple extension of ideology. "The belief that we force poets, willy-nilly, to write about nothing but factory chimneys or a revolt against capitalism is absurd" (Eagleton 43). A Marxist critique can bring new and exciting insights, but it is limited by the fact that it too is ideologically bound. Marxist critics suggest or allude to the latent Marxist tendencies of Miller because of the play's overt attack on capitalism. Marxism has an ideological agenda of its own; it seeks to replace Miller's economic doxa with a doxa of its own. Even with these limitations, the questions Marxist criticism raises about Miller's world and our own are thought provoking and even profound. To be of value, its questions must be put into ideological perspective. Though not in the most obvious manner, Marxist criticism does provide ample justification of the merit of "Death of a Salesman". Through an admission of our own ideological frailty not so unlike Arthur Miller's or Willy Loman's, we can see the nature of their tragedies, and also the nature of the tragedy that could await us all. Whether or not Willy has the stature of Oedipus, the possibility of learning exists. Because such texts present us with the chance to learn from them, attention must be