Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman

Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman Arthur Miller's play, Death of a Salesman contains many themes of

success and failure. They include the apartment buildings, the rubber

hose, Willy's brother Ben, the tape recorder, and the seeds for the

garden. These symbols represent Willy's attempts to be successful and

his impending failure. In the start Willy and Linda moved to a home in

Brooklyn, as it at the time seemed far removed form the city. Willy

was younger and stronger and he believed he had a future full of

success.

When the script begins Willy is struggling to pay for his home, the

city has seemed to grow and has smothered his house and tall apartment

buildings "trap" Willy's house. The symbols in the play can show

Willy's struggles and an example of this can be the rubber hose, which

symbolizes Willy's stability as it shows that he has been attempting

to commit suicide and we can see that Biff cares for his father

greatly at the point in the play when he takes away the rubber hosing

because he does not want to have the thought of always knowing that

the hosing could have taken it away to avoid his fathers death.

Another symbol in the play, Ben, is a lot like Charley and shows that

success is not always going to bring happiness, as Ben himself is not

a very nice man as this can be shown when he "play fights" with Biff

and cheats by tripping him up, Charley does not have a very good

relationship with his son as he does not spend quality time with

Bernard like Willy does with Biff and Happy an example of this is when

they go to the football game.

Miller has create...

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...s offer to come with him to Alaska and become rich. On the other

hand, Ben also leads Willy away from realistic ideals. A significant

scene in the play is the garden scene where Willy is "talking" with

Ben. Here, they are contemplating whether Willy should commit suicide

or not. Willy believes that the insurance money his family will

receive from his death will provide for Biff's "magnificent future."

This scene with Ben obviously signifies Willy's unstable mentality.

Willy's mistress, Miss Frances, directly represents his infidelity. He

loves Linda, but is overcome by loneliness and feels the need to be

"loved."

Arthur Miller brilliantly uses symbolism in Death of a Salesman to

enhance the story of the Loman's in relation to their family life, the

society in which they live, and to themselves as separate characters.