When Willy Loman is heard racing off with his car at the end of Arthur Millers play Death of a Salesman, nobody doubts why he is doing so. He wrecks his car and kills himself to leave his family 20,000 dollars insurance money. Willy Loman is a suicide. And yet every viewer of the play will ask himself 1 who or what killed this man. What are the forces that pushed him towards this somber end? The fact that Arthur Miller pursues genuine moral education in his plays, which he has repeatedly admitted to (for example in “The Salesman Has a Birthday”) justifies this question. For how one answers it decides what kind of message one distils from the play. In this paper, I will not focus on a possible moral message of the play. Instead, I will try to collect hints at who or what might be responsible for Willy Loman’s death. As I am not the first to engage in this matter, I will be able to present the viewpoints of different critics, and to compare them. It seems to be a characteristic of Death of a Salesman that many reasons can be named for its catastrophic ending - its discussion has been very controversial. In consequence, one difficulty of my investigation will be to take into account also the play’s subtleties in order to value each critic’s standpoint properly. It has repeatedly been criticized that Arthur Miller makes use of fuzzy logic in his play. On the one hand, one can see obvious traits of social criticism in Death of a Salesman, on the other hand Miller presents two characters - Charley and Bernard - that succeed in a capitalistic world without acting unfair. Miller condemns a social order ruled by wealth while approving of the right way to live in it. This conflict demonstrates that Miller’s play is offering explanations of Willy Loman’s failure that are based on social criticism as well as explanations that are psychologically motivated. This division marks the two directions criticism has been following through the years. For that reason, I will divide my inquiry into two sections: Cultural Reasons and Psychological Reasons. Whenever necessary, the two domains will be cross-linked in order to form a synthesis.
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
2 Cultural Reasons
2.1 The Economic System
2.2 The Popular Myths of Success
3 Psychological Reasons
3.1 Undeserved Love
3.2 The Irrational Desire for Success
3.3 The Will to Save His Dignity
3.4 Biff
3.5 Linda
4 Conclusion
5 List of Works Cited
Primary Works
Secondary Works
Research Objectives and Core Themes
This paper examines the underlying causes of Willy Loman's suicide in Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman," questioning whether his death is a result of societal pressures or personal psychological failings. By synthesizing critical perspectives, the author explores how economic alienation and deeply ingrained personal illusions drive the protagonist toward his tragic end.
- Social criticism and the economic impact of the capitalist system.
- The influence of popular American myths of success on individual behavior.
- Psychological motivations including the irrational pursuit of status and dignity.
- The role of family members, particularly Biff and Linda, in Willy's downfall.
- The conflict between personal autonomy and deterministic societal forces.
Excerpt from the Book
3.2 The Irrational Desire for Success
Trough the whole play, one quality accompanies Willy Loman’s actions and statements: They all seem to be born out of his unceasing, bottomless desire for success. His mind seems to be slave to this central obsession.
June Schlueter holds a quite radical view of Willy’s death. She writes:
Ultimately, Willy is victim neither of a society that makes unreasonable demands nor of a wife who encourages illusion; he is victim neither of an insensitive son nor of a worthless one ... Ultimately, Willy Loman, like all men, is a free agent, self-centered, self-deluded, self-destructive – but responsible. As he continues relentlessly to insist upon the single truth that has shaped his life and prescribed his death, an audience loses its capacity for admiration and respect, wanting instead to take this insufferable old man by the sagging shoulders and shake some sense into him ... Willy deserves what he gets ... (Schlueter 66)
Schlueter uses the term “the single truth”. What does she mean by that? In her book, she does not make it explicit. However, the context of her statement supports the conception that she means Willy’s irrational desire for success which is his specific way of being egoistic.
Summary of Chapters
1 Introduction: This chapter outlines the research goal of identifying the forces behind Willy Loman's suicide and establishes the structural division between cultural and psychological causes.
2 Cultural Reasons: This section investigates the influence of the capitalist economic system and popular success myths, such as Dale Carnegie's principles, on Willy's worldview.
3 Psychological Reasons: This chapter analyzes internal factors, including Willy's perceived undeserved love, his irrational desire for success, the preservation of his dignity, and the complex roles of his son Biff and wife Linda.
4 Conclusion: The author concludes that no single cause is sufficient to explain Willy's suicide, arguing instead that it results from a combination of economic alienation and Willy's inability to abandon his untenable personal illusions.
5 List of Works Cited: This section provides the bibliographical documentation for all primary and secondary sources referenced throughout the investigation.
Keywords
Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller, Willy Loman, American Dream, Capitalism, Social Criticism, Psychological Reasons, Success Myths, Personal Dignity, Biff Loman, Linda Loman, Tragedy, Alienation, Illusion, Suicide.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary subject of this paper?
The paper focuses on identifying and analyzing the various cultural and psychological factors that contribute to the protagonist's suicide in Arthur Miller’s play "Death of a Salesman."
What are the central thematic fields covered?
The investigation explores two main domains: cultural pressures stemming from the American capitalist economic system and the psychological obsessions of the individual.
What is the primary research goal?
The objective is to synthesize different critical viewpoints to determine who or what is responsible for Willy Loman's death and to evaluate the validity of these claims.
Which scientific methods are utilized?
The author employs a comparative analysis of literary criticism, contrasting different interpretations—such as Marxist perspectives versus individual psychological readings—to develop a comprehensive synthesis.
What is examined in the main body?
The main body breaks down the causes into "Cultural Reasons" (economics and myths of success) and "Psychological Reasons" (undeserved love, desire for success, dignity, and family dynamics).
Which keywords best characterize this work?
Key terms include American Dream, social criticism, psychological reasons, personal dignity, and the tragedy of the common man.
How does the author view Linda Loman's role?
Contrary to critics who view her as entirely innocent, the author suggests that her constant repression of the truth and belittling of Willy’s problems actually contribute to his ongoing insanity.
Why does the author reject Harold Bloom's thesis?
The author argues that Bloom ignores the context of the play; Willy's discovery of Biff's love leads to new career hopes rather than the guilt and suicide that Bloom posits.
How does the "jungle" metaphor function in the play?
The "jungle" represents a lawless, competitive economic environment where only the ruthless survive, a concept Willy's brother Ben embodies and which lures Willy toward his destruction.
- Quote paper
- Anonym (Author), 2005, Zu: Arthur Miller - Tod eines Handlungsreisenden, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/71906
