#DEATH OF A SALESMAN BOOK HOW TO#

Though Willy spends all of his adult life working for a sales company, this company releases the salesman when he proves to be unprofitable. Throughout his play, Miller seems to criticize this ideal as little more than a capitalist's paradigm. One of Miller's secondary themes is the idea of the American Dream. He is the only member of the family to finally escape from the poisonous grasp of illusion. Only Biff ever realizes who he is ('a dime a dozen') and what his potential really is. Willy feels that he must live up to the standard that Ben has set, but this is found to be impossible by the end of the play.

#DEATH OF A SALESMAN BOOK HOW TO#

Willy's brother, Ben, continually appears in the troubled man's mind, offering hints on how to make it in the world of business. Though he's a disrespected salesman, he calls himself the 'New England man.' Though Biff has done nothing with his life by the age of thirty-four, Willy tells others and tries to make himself believe that his son is doing big things' out west. For years, Willy has believed that both he and his boys (particularly Biff) will one day be great successes. Though Linda, Biff and Happy are all unable to separate reality from illusion to some degree, Willy is the main character who suffers from this ailment.

The most obvious theme is the idea of reality versus illusion.

Death of A Salesman has several themes that run throughout the play.

Death of a salesman book