Death of a Salesman – Themes with complete solutions.
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Death of a Salesman
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Oxford University (OX)
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Death of a Salesman
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The play was a big success - written in 1949, and was inspired by Miller's experience of The Depression, which he said 'is my book'. The Depression put a great strain on his family, and to help them financially, he briefly became a salesman, although shortly quit because of the poor pay. D...
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Death of a Salesman – Themes with
complete solutions
Context - answer The play was a big success - written in 1949, and was inspired by Miller's
experience of The Depression, which he said 'is my book'. The Depression put a great strain on
his family, and to help them financially, he briefly became a salesman, although shortly quit
because of the poor pay. Death of a Salesman is arguably one of Miller's most successful and
memorable plays
Miller quote on optimism - answer 'tragedy implies more optimism in its author than does
comedy', because we really want the hero to succeed, more so than in comedy, where it is often
funny to see one fail
Capitalism - answer On the opening night, Miller recalls that one angry spectator called the play
'a time bomb under American capitalism', capitalism meaning a system in which their is a class
hierarchy, and only a few wealthy individuals have exceptional power. Capitalism relies on
consumer culture (being people wanting more and more products etc) so that the social system
can work and the country can accumulate more wealth. Miller opposed this - at one point in the
play, Willy says that his Chevrolet is 'the greatest car ever built', but when Linda tells him he
must continue paying for it, he says that 'they ought to prohibit the manufacture of that car'.
This shows how that materials are completely disposable, and the fault of the society is that we
all want new posessions, but don't want to have to pay for them
Twisted morals - answer When his son Biff confesses to making fun of his math teacher's lisp,
Willy is more concerned with how Biff's classmates react than if the teacher was offended - 'You
did? The kids like it?'. Similarly, Bernard is described in the stage directions as being an 'earnest
and loyal' boy. Miller likely included this information because these are qualities that the
Lomans don't admire. (For example, Willy tells Biff not to 'make any promises' at the start of the
first memory, because 'they always believe what you tell them'. This also foreshadows Willy's
future affair with The Woman)
Popularity - answer Despite his son's popularity in high school, Biff grows up to be a drifter and
a ranch-hand. Willy's own career falters as his sales ability flat-lines. When he tries to use
"personality" to ask his boss for a raise, he gets fired instead. (He has to come to terms with the
fact that he isn't like by all, as he seems to think). Similarly, when Biff was younger, Linda
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