Death of a salesman by Arthur Miller

Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, the main character, Willy Loman, is generally seen as a tragic hero. By the classic definition of the term, he is a man who descends from a great height to meet his ultimate demise. When considering the play, however, one might ask whether there was really a great height to begin with. Throughout Miller's work, Willy Loman appears to embezzle so many details of his former glory that the reader begins to doubt both his credibility and his self-assessed prowess. The reader is left with questions and doubts: was Willy ever well liked? Was he ever a good salesman at all? Or was his success simply another fantasy like the often-visited success of his vanished brother, Ben? It appears that Willy Loman's definition of success lies in his perception of the American Dream concept. For Willy and his sons, the American Dream means material success and possessions. It means success in business and sports. The tragedy is that neither the main character nor his sons ever had the necessary skills or drive to achieve what they saw as success. Basically, they overlook the many other aspects of the American Dream because of the one fantasy of what it should be.

Krasner (45) points out that the structure of the dramatic action in the play provides the platform for Willy's broken dreams. The narrative is presented in three parts; the present, the past by means of flashbacks, and pure fantasy. The present is grim. Willy is prone to suicidal depression and exhaustion, with sons who are not much more successful in their thirties than he is in his old age. This discrepancy between Willy's definition of success and the reality for himself and his family drives him to escape not only through embellished memory, but also through pure fantasy.

In the "glorious" past, Biff was the football hero. Willy's strong focus on Biff's promise is perhaps an early indication that he was in fact aware of his own shortcomings not only as a salesman, but also as a husband and father. Indeed, Willy's tendency to bolster his stories of his own success emphasizes that fact that he cannot face the failure that he is in reality, both in the present and in the past (Krasner 46). When the past no longer serves as an adequate escape, Willy resorts to complete fantasy in the form of Ben.

For Willy, his long lost brother represents the ultimate realization of the American Dream. Ben left his family to find fortune in Alaska. He represents the adventurer who makes a success through entrepreneurialism and audacity (Krasner 46). Miller however indicates that this success is decidedly uncertain; pointing out the wishful fantasy that has completely overridden Willy's ability to handle reality. Throughout the play, this juxtaposition of fantasy and reality serves as symbol of Willy's inner turmoil. Willy's fantasy is his own material success as a salesman, and the hope represented by his family. The fantasy culminates in the success of his brother Ben, and in Willy's regular references to himself as being "well liked" (Miller 30).

This illusion of being "well liked" is the contact point between Willy's true past and the one he likes to boast about. It is the point where his reality and fantasy fuse and become the same thing. Willy is not well liked. This is clear in the contempt of a boss who is his junior by many years. When he finally realizes that he cannot "add up to something," as he desperately tells his phantom brother that he should (Miller 125), he ironically sees suicide as the only way to make a "success" of his life in material terms with the insurance money they would gain.