Death of a Salesman Truth and Lies Essay

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masterful aspects of Death of a Salesman is the extent to which playwright Arthur Miller leaves it ambiguous regarding Willy Loman's culpability for his own condition. On one hand, he is part of a capitalist system which values people solely upon the extent to which they can demonstrate a profit for their superiors and how well-liked they are by their colleagues. Loman is not well-liked enough, and as soon as his sales figures begin to slip he is ostracized by his business colleagues. According to Willy, he has "gotta be at it ten, twelve hours a day. Other men -- I don't know -- they do it easier. I don't know why -- I can't stop myself -- I talk too much" (Miller 24).

Act I makes it clear that Willy's idealistic version of how to achieve success within capitalism involves get-rich-quick schemes rather than actual effort as well as establishes his suicidal ideation, his current career difficulties, and his unraveling psyche. When Biff was young, Willy paid little attention to his academics and instead hoped that his son could go to college based upon his ability to secure a sports scholarship. This was explicitly endorsed by his father who turned a blind eye to his son's foolishness.

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Now both of his sons seem to be drifting: Happy is dishonest at his workplace and Biff has never held down a steady job. The lack of values amongst his sons underlines how Willy at least in part is responsible for his fate, given that he does not seem to possess a core sense of values but merely changes in response to the world around him. Eventually, however, that world passes him by.

Willy is unable to appreciate what he does have; he is always looking around for more, he even cheated on his wife, as can be seen in his exchange with the 'Woman' for whom he buys silk stockings, though his wife Linda cannot afford new ones. Willy had big dreams, based upon the ideals of capitalism he saw around him but he did not try to achieve them in an effective way.

Q2. Act II of Miller's Death of a Salesman stresses the extent to which the capitalist system has victimized Willy Loman but also emphasizes the fact that Willy was complicit in the effects of the capitalist system upon his fate. Despite the many years he….....

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