Death Of A Salesman Analysis

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Death of a Salesman: The Role of Howard
Jesse Morgenroth-Rebin

Howard’s role in Death of a Salesman was to personify the idea of the American Dream. In addition to this he also contrasted Willy’s position in life and was an instigator of the majority of the conflict that Willy faced throughout the rest of the play. He portrayed this superior place by, treating Willy like a child, being ignorant of Willy’s position in life and caring more about his company than Willy’s well-being. Howard’s treatment of Willy is what caused the confrontation between the two characters to occur in the first place.

Despite the fact that Willy is a great deal older than Howard and has many years of experience in the company, Howard treats him like a child and is generally disrespectful towards him. When Willy attempts to tell Howard about the problems he is experiencing with his daily travelling, Howard constantly cuts him off to tell him about his new wire recorder:

HOWARD. Sh, for God’s sake! (77)
HOWARD. Wait a minute. (78)

In addition to cutting him off from speaking, Howard also acts as if Willy’s requests are meaningful and frivolous. When Willy is telling his story about what being a salesman means to him the stage direction notes something or importance:

Howard has not looked at him (81)

He feels he is justified in treating Willy like this because of his position in society and level of wealth. The fact that he is leaving the American Dream puts him above Willy in social class regardless of Willy’s age or contributions to the company. Being in this position of authority over Willy also allows him to slight Willy’s pride in one other way:

HOWARD. But where am I going to put you, kid? (80)

By referring to Willy as “kid”, Howard is imply...

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...hat eventually leads to him committing suicide just to acquire money for his family. This wouldn’t have been quite as bad if Howard hadn’t also hurt Willy’s pride with the way he treated the dismissal. He was reprimanding and made it seem as though Willy’s contributions to the company were meaningless.

In conclusion, Howard’s combination of ignorance and his lack of empathy lead to the majority of Willy’s internal turmoil and most of the conflict in the book. It’s caused by Howard’s position of success, following the American Dream to its fullest. Willy’s treatment, Howard’s ignorance of Willy’s lifestyle and misplaced values are all byproducts of Howard’s own lifestyle. The contrast between Howard and Willy accentuates the tragic outcome of the story, knowing that it didn’t have to end with Willy’s death if only Howard was more focused on people than money.

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