Death of a salesman - What are the dramatical devices that miller uses to show the disintegration of wily Loman?
Death of a salesman
What are the dramatical devices that miller uses to show the disintegration of wily Loman?
Death of a sales man is a satire about the “American dream” and it’s flaws and prejudice nature to the people who have surpassed their point of usefulness to the American system. The people who have passed their sell by date. Wily Loman is an image of the failures of the American dream as he is not a success and yet he has lived his life by the rules of it. Miller shows Willy’s disintegration in numerous ways using sound and most of the other dramatical devices.
‘The American Dream’ is based on the ‘Declaration of Independence’:
‘We believe that all men are born with these inalienable rights – life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.’ (Thomas Jefferson, 1776).
This ‘dream’ consists of a genuine and determined belief that in America, all things are possible to all men, regardless of birth or wealth; you work hard enough you will achieve anything. However, Miller says people have been ‘ultimately misguided’.
The origins of the American Dream seem to have been rooted in the pioneering mentality of the 18th and 19th century immigrants, most of whom came to America because of a promise of a new and better life. In particular, the opportunity to own one’s land. Nevertheless, land ‘ran out’ and so cities developed and massive variations arose in wealth, which meant that this ‘American Dream’ changed from being a potential reality, into being a dream, like the name implies.
Most of Miller’s plays are directly or indirectly about the American Dream, because ultimately this dream wasn’t going to succeed as lots of people wished. ‘Death of a Salesman’ written in 1949, is a moving destruction of the whole myth.
To be hard working, honest and have ambition were the ways of the American Dream. This lead onto success, wealth and in due time – power. However, this dream for everyone developed, and encouraged greed, selfish behaviour, pride, and rivalry between one another.
Willy Loman was ‘caught-up’ in this American Dream. It causes business to develop in the world. Capitalism and the profit motive and competitive instinct, makes Willy have a weakness in his personality. This weakness was caused by a combination of business pressures. Willy wants to prove himself through successes a salesman, but as he fails, his own life destroys him.
‘I’m the New England man. I’m vital in New England.’
‘Never leave a job until your sixty.’
Willy’s quotes above shows that he is insecure, and is not the successful businessman he says he is.
Miller based Willy’s character on his own uncle, Manny Newman. Miller said,
‘That homely, ridiculous little man had after all never ceased to struggle for a certain victory, the only kind open to him in this, society – selling to achieve his lost self as a man with his name and his sons’ name on a business of his own.’
This explains exactly what he had in mind for Willy to be – as he was, ‘trying to achieve his lost self’.
The things that are meant to happen in business are success, wealth, and esteem. American dream sucks people in and doesn't let them leave. The American dream becomes the American cult. This cult will sucker people in by promising riches and success and then won't let them leave simply because it states that if you quit a job you become a quitter and, according to the American dream, quitters are failures. Willy's demise was one of a common man. It was not anything special. Miller's book is one about the tragedy of a common man, unlike Sophocle's Oedipus Tyrannos or Shakespeare's King Lear Miller portrays this tragedy as something common rather then something unique. This play is a play about an unlucky man who had no real career whereas Oedipus Tyrannos is about a specific man who killed his father and married his mother. As you can see, Miller's play is a lot more common then Sophocle's play.
Biff's character is one of a popular nature. When he was at school, he was always popular, athletic, and full of potential. All this changed however when he went to see his father in Boston. This is when Biff found out about Willy's affair. Finding this out crushed Biff and destroyed his image about his father, he discovered that his father was a phoney he says, "You fake! You phoney little fake! You fake!” This shows how devastated Biff was when he found out about his father's affair. Before Biff discovered about his father's affair Biff believed in the American dream, but when he discovered that his father, who relied so heavily on the American dream, had deceived him and his whole family, he realised that the American dream was as phoney as his own father. This is where Biff rejects his father's dream and his relationship with his father begins to deteriorate.
The idea behind the whole play is to show up the numerous flaws in the American dream and to show that you must define success for yourself else it will define you. Willy believes sincerely that wealth is happiness and the number of brand name goods you have shows your wealth. Willy then looks around and notices he has little brand name goods, thus little money and thus he is a failure. Willy also believes that failure cannot be tolerated in his family so he then lies to his family about how popular and successful he is. His lying then gets his children to lie, thus having a continuing circle of lies. This is pointed out when Biff says "We never told the truth for ten minutes in this house!” to this statement, Happy responds "We always told the truth!” This shows how that even when faced with the truth, the Loman family still can't accept it. Biff however refuses to lie any more and he accepts the truth, he accepts that he was never anything big and that he "stole his way out of every job since high school". Willy however still wants to be a big success; he wants it so much that he starts living in his own fantasy dream world. He lives in the past because then there was hope for him whereas know there is no hope for him and he is doomed to failure.
Willy's demise was one that could only have been avoided by him changing his dream and Willy was not going to do this. Willy would stick by his dream until the end, in the hope that it would eventually pay off. In the end the dream did not pay off and nor did his plan for Biff to have his life insurance money since his death was written off because it was suicide. As said by Biff "he had the wrong dreams".
