Theme. *American Dream:

Transcription

1 Theme *American Dream: -The American Dream is the dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. = -Willy wants to be well-known and wealthy. He desires a stable job, thus constantly works. He believes that he is successful salesman. he believes that he is an important salesman to his company. -Biff wants to settle down and have a stable job, but he has failed in all his other jobs because he did not like being bossed around. He has too much pride. He never knew what he wanted to do for a living. -Willy led Biff to believe that he can also essentially be successful without working too hard because he will be well-liked with his good looks. he never worked very hard on the things that he had to do, like studying. -Linda believes that everything will change for a good cause or for a good result. She still is concerned with her financial status, and thus blames her sons on the cause of it, for quite a while in the story. -Happy, while believing in the same philosophy as Biff, tends to mainstream and wants to avoid tension in the family. He is more optimistic about life and longs for peace in the family. He does not like going the hard way in solving problems. an example is when Biff asked him to help him tell Willy about the fountain pen, Happy abruptly rejected because he thought that telling Willy about the pen would cause even more trouble. Both for him and for the family. -The Loman family, just as all other families at the time, care extensively on what they had, in terms of property. (fridge, laundry, roof, etc.). *Family -Willy main character. his Father went to Alaska and abandoned the whole family. His older brother Ben, followed their father later, and he too abandoned Willy. he was not a successful salesman, so the company fires him (Howard) people laugh at him and make fun of him feels abandoned by society when he was fired and when people laughed at him feels abandoned by Biff. relationship with Biff worsened after one trip to Boston. and Biff found Willy with a woman. expects his sons to be successful men. abandoned his family and his role as a husband and father when he got into a relationship.

2 has many personal problems. keeps them all in. and yells and fights with his family -Linda mother in the family. supports her husband more than anyone else does respects her husband. sees that Willy is falling apart but does not do anything about it she blames Biff for the cause of Willy s attempt in suicide and for turning his back on Willy. she told Biff to leave and never come back. -Biff admired his father a lot followed him everywhere and wanted to dedicate all his accomplishments to Willy feels abandoned later when he finds that Willy was in a relationship his relationship with Willy worsened after that incident. Linda blamed Biff and asked him many times why he and Willy have parted so fast, but he did not tell her because the cause of the separation was Willy s betrayal to Linda. abandonment led to resentment. Biff and Willy s relationship worsened over time. they always fought whenever they saw each other was the only one who later on tried to resolve the family situations. -Happy also admired his father. supports Biff. doesn t like trouble in the family. starts to become embarrassed of Willy. tries to find solutions for the family. he constantly lies to his parents but does not feel bad about it at all. Biff also lies all the time too, but he later on was the only one who felt bad about it. *Image and Reality - Willy s American Dream started to bring the family apart Willy told his boys that a well- liked personality is more important in business than a smart brain. he believed that because Biff and Happy were so handsome and well-liked by people everywhere, they would be very successful men. more than Bernard. he saw himself as a very successful salesman that everyone needs New England man he boasted about himself to his family and made himself look more successful than he really was he wanted to be liked by everyone he also wanted Biff to be a very successful man, but because Biff was never really successful, Willy started telling other people that Biff was doing very well in the west Willy did not accept the fact that Biff was unsuccessful, and thus fought with Biff and criticized him every time he saw Biff Willy had images of his dead brother, Ben, and followed Ben s advices about how to become wealthy, just as he himself did when he was in Africa.

3 -Biff was the only one in the family who opened his eyes to reality. at the end of the play, Biff finally realized that there is still something he could do with his life, so he decided to leave home so that he would not be brought down by his father. Willy always told Biff that Biff would succeed no matter what because of his personality and good looks, but Biff realized that that was not true. he realized that success comes from hard work. Arthur Miller s main three themes of his drama, Death of a Salesman, were the ideas of the American Dream, the separation of a family, and the entrapment in an illusion. The Loman family has not been financially stable nor successful, thus the family started to develop strong beliefs in the American dream. The American dream was a dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. ( The Loman family was not much different from any other families in that time period. They were neither rich nor poor and had their own properties such as the fridge, roof, laundry, car, etc. They cared about these belongings. Willy Loman wanted to be well respected and seen as the most successful salesman in the company he worked for. He strongly but wrongly believed that he was essential to a part of the company and wanted a raise. What Willy Loman wanted most was to have a stable job that would make him wealthy, and by the salary he was given at the moment, it was not possible to do so. Hence, he went to his boss, Howard, to ask for a pay raise, I tell ya why, Howard. The kids are all grown up, y know. I don t need much any more. IF I could take home--well, sixtyfive dollars a week, I could swing it. Willy led his two sons, Biff and Happy to also believe that they would be successful without essentially working too hard because they would be well-liked by everyone with their good looks and good personalities, That s just what I mean. Bernard can get the best marks in school, y understand, but when he gets out in the business, y understand, you are going to be five times ahead of him. Biff wanted to have a stable job and live a wealthy life just like one in the American Dream, but he was never successful. He cheated on his tests, You mean to say Bernard wouldn t give you the answers? [...] He did, he tried, but I only got a sixty-one. did not study, He s gotta study [...] Let s box, Bernard! and stole equipment many times as a high school student, The coach told me to practice my passing [...] Well, I borrowed it from the locker room. [...] Well, I m bringing it back! He did not know what the point in studying was because Willy always told Biff that he did not need to study because he would be well-liked for his looks and personality wherever he went. Biff never knew what it was he wanted to do for a living, and so he tried to posses different professions, but he failed in all of them because he was too proud of himself (his father rose him that way) and he did not like to be bossed around by others. He even stole some items from his bosses. Towards the end of the drama, Biff realized that it was impossible for his American dream to be fulfilled unless he worked hard. Happy, just like his older brother, was not very successful in his years and had the same philosophy of success without hard work as his father. Linda believed that all the hardships that the whole family is going through would change for a good cause or for a good result. It s changing, Willy, I can feel it changing! She believed that time would change everything for good, but she blamed all those hardships of Biff. She told him that he was the cause of everything for becoming hostile towards his father, leaving home, coming back unsuccessful, and arguing with his father every time they meet, You! You didn t

4 even go in to see if he was all right [...] Get out here! Linda also believed in the philosophy of the American dream in that the family will flourish without hard work and only with the help of time. That time will help shape the family into the ideal family with wealth and happiness. The second major theme that Arthur Miller portrayed in the play was the separation of a family. It was seen that the Loman family was a very happy, normal family when the two sons were still in high school, but as the play developed, tensions grew in the family through one event and grew into separation. That very event took place in Boston when Willy went on a business trip. Biff went all the way to Boston to ask his father to talk to his math teacher Mr. Birnbaum about failing him. Biff did not study in class and ignored his friend, Bernard s advice to study for the big test because Willy constantly told him that it will be ok as long as Bernard gives Biff all the answers. Biff realized only after he failed the class that he needed to pass the test in order for him to graduate. After Biff talked to Willy about the plan to talk to Mr. Birnbaum, he found that Willy was with another woman. Willy s betrayal towards Linda made Biff feel bitter towards his father and lose all his respect towards his father. He called his Father a fake, [a] phony little fake, and their relationship was ruined from then on. Willy s family separated when he was a very young boy. His father left to Alaska to start a new life of wealth, and later, his older brother Ben followed their father to Alaska, but he lost his way and instead went south to Africa. Willy was, in a way, abandoned by both his father and brother. The separation of his family greatly traumatized him at a young age, and no matter how much he wanted to avoid doing the same for his own family, he did the very thing. He cheated on his wife and abandoned his role as a father and husband. Willy probably felt that it was acceptable for him to have an affair when he was lonely because he was the man of the house and he had the experience of being left alone and abandoned by his closest relatives. Like Father, like Son. Like his father did, Willy started to separate the family, not by leaving for a new life, but by betraying his wife. Another way Willy lost his role as a father and husband was when he lost his job at the company. The men of the family have the role to provide for his family, but Willy no longer was able to because he did not have a stable salary, he had debts to pay, and he lost his job. The major aspect of the play that showed Willy breaking the family apart was his eventually successful attempts to commit suicide. He thought that by dying, he would free his family from him as a burden. But he did not free them. He instead caged them in his dream. His wrong dreams. All, all, wrong. Linda also had a strong role in the separation of the family connection and bond. Although she found the rubber pipe, she left it there, and only took it out during the day when Willy was not at home. Linda did not immediately inform her sons about the rubber pipe and about the car accidents that were supposedly intentional accidents. This, in a way, showed that Linda left her husband to continue to try to kill himself. She did not accept the fact that she could have done anything, such as take the rubber pipe, to stop Willy to continue to try to kill himself. Another way the connection between the family members broke off because of Linda, was when she started to blame her own sons for the cause of Willy s behavior. She mainly blamed Biff as the source of Willy s miseries. Get out of here, both of you, and don t come back! I don t want you tormenting him any more. Go on now, get your things together! Linda always wondered about why Biff and Willy s relationship suddenly became hostile, but Biff knew from the beginning. It was because Willy had an affair with another woman, but Biff respected his mother and did not want to hurt her, so he kept the whole situation/ encounter a secret and let her continue to blame Biff for the bad relationship he had with Willy. He took all the blame because he did not want to hurt his mother, and at the same time, started to believe through her criticism

5 that he was causing the family to fall apart, when in reality it was Willy who drove the family apart. Biff felt that he was responsible for all the tensions that arose in the family and all the trouble that Willy went through. He left home and came back unsuccessful, and he thought that that was a disgrace to the family. Biff and Willy fought everyday when they saw each other about his future and his potential. Happy Loman was the youngest in the family and was the one who always tried to make peace in the family. He did all of it for a good cause, but he did it the wrong way. He used lies to cover up all the things that had happened. A few obvious examples were when Biff asked Happy to help him explain to Willy about the fountain pen, and when Linda yelled at Biff about Willy humiliated after being abandoned at the restaurant. Biff asked Happy to help him explain to Willy about how he stole the fountain pen from Bill Oliver, but Happy refused and instead recommended that they lie to him. Happy was an easy liar who did not ever feel guilty about his lies. Biff on the other hand, constantly felt guilty for lying to his parents. Linda confronted Biff and Happy, especially Biff, about the dinner when the boys left him in the bathroom all alone and ashamed. Happy immediately interfered and started to spurt out lies that came into his mind, and said all of them so smoothly. His goal might have been to lessen the amount of fights that the whole family had, but he did nothing to solve the problems, which in stead would have brought the family into some sort of peace. His lies worsened the situations. One last major theme that Arthur Miller portrayed in his play was the confusion between Illusion and Reality. The whole Loman family was trapped in the illusion of the American Dream. Willy, in particular was constantly in illusions, literally. Linda and Happy were also trapped in the illusion, but were not as deeply trapped as Willy was, but they never were able to be free from their own illusion of the American dream. Biff was the only one who was able to free himself from the illusion of the American dream and look upon reality. Willy Loman literally had illusions throughout the whole play and talked to himself and his images of the people. Ben Loman, Willy s older brother who passed, constantly appeared in Willy s illusions and taught Willy how to become a successful man at his peak. Willy Loman worked hard as a salesman for the company for over thirty years that he felt that he was the most important and necessary salesman for whole company. He boasted to Howard that he was a very successful salesman in the past whom everyone loved. I averaged a hundred and seventy dollars a week in the year of 1928! He enthusiastically believed that he made so much money and was at the peak of success, but in reality, nothing like that happened and he never had a record of making that much money in one week. The consequence to this was the loss of his job. Another major illusion of Willy s occurred right at the end of his life. He killed himself, thinking that he would free the family. He imagined himself as a tragic hero who sacrificed himself for the good deeds to others, while in reality he actually further trapped his family in the illusion. In the Requiem, Happy made a resolution that I m staying right in this city, and I m gonna beat the racket!.. All right, boy. I m gonna show you and everybody else that Willy Loman did not die in vain. He had a good dream. It s the only dream you can have Willy s dream was the trap that the Loman family members were not able to free themselves from. Linda said at the end of the play that they were finally free. She did not mean that she was free from society and the American dream, but from all the debts that they had to pay. She said they were free, but she did not feel so because there ll be nobody home. Willy intended to sacrifice himself and free his family from their hardships, but he instead bound them to his own selfishness. Happy decided to stay home and prove to others that Willy s dream is a dream that can come true and Linda was

6 not free from anything. If Willy stayed alive, then the whole family would have been free from the American Dream. Biff Loman was the only one in the family who realized that the whole family had been living in an illusion their whole life. Biff at first believed the same thing as his father did. Like his father believed so, Biff believed that it does not require brains or strenuous work, but good looks and likable personality; and so he did not bother to study hard in school nor did he try to stay in one job for a long time. Biff was raised as a stubborn boy with great pride that he would not be bossed by anyone. Biff lived in agony throughout his life from the moment he saw that his own father was a phony and a fake. Biff was fired from all of his jobs for refusing to work under someone else in charge and for being caught stealing belongings from his bosses. As Biff reflected on his past behaviors, he realized that his whole life was a waste. He constantly stole from others, and after he stole from Bill Oliver the fountain pen, he realized that he had lived a life of a fool and he did not want to be a fool. I stopped in the middle of that building and I saw-- the sky. I saw the things that I love in this world. The work and the food and the time to sit and smoke. And I looked at the pen and said to myself, what the hell am I grabbing this for? Why am I trying to become what I don t want to be? What am I doing in an office, making a contemptuous, begging fool of myself, when all I want is out there, waiting for me the minute I say I know who I am! He realized that if he just found out what it was that he really wanted, then he would have already been successful in his life. He then decided that he will work hard from then on and be as successful as possible that he can be. He knew that it would be impossible for him to become as successful as his father wanted him to be because he realized that [He is] a dime a dozen. He then decided to travel far away and find a job for himself, and so wanted to leave home and for his father to let him go. Pop, I m nothing! I m nothing, Pop... Will you let me go, for Christ s sake? Will you take that phony dream and burn it before something happens? This quote revealed that Biff realized that it was Willy s dream that held Biff down all his life. The major themes of the Death of a Salesman were the American Dream, the family values, and the inability to differentiate from an illusion and reality. The title of the play Death of a Salesman relates to the theme in that Willy represents the salesman, who had been trying to sell his version of the American dream to his family. The most impacted by Willy s selling of this dream is Biff, who grows up under the influence of his father. Linda is also impacted by Willy, and so when Willy dies, Linda says, We re free and clear. We re free. We re free.. We re free... This symbolizes the family s freedom with the death of Willy and his version of the American dream, which suffocated the family. Biff The following analysis focuses on the character Biff, as we intend to show the importance of Biff in the story and how his characterization develops over time. Biff is a dynamic character, as we see him change over the course of the play. At first he is well-built yet less self-assured, but at the end of the play he comes to term that he is what he is. He tosses his life away after the incident at Boston, [...] I knew he d given up his life. But he eventually has the courage to find his way back to his life and his lost self, I know who I am, kid. Also, as round and dynamic as he is, Biff is not the protagonist of the play, as Willy is essentially the center of the spotlights. Biff serves as a significant featured character who sheds clues and lights on the protagonist s conflicts.

7 Through another perspective to discuss Biff as a round and dynamic character, over the play we can clearly see that Biff is problematic because his parents discuss seriously on his issues, The trouble is he is lazy, goddammit! [...] Biff is a lazy bum! As the play progresses, we go back to Biff s childhood to see his proud and confident high school year, I got it, Pop. And remember, pal, when I take off my helmet, that touchdown is for you. Bernard says that back in high school, Biff is so proud of the sneakers from the University of Virginia and wears them every day, Oh, Pop, you didn t see my sneakers!. This action shows that Biff relates himself closely to high standards enough, that he actually displaces his pride and high regards in himself in public every single day. Biff s wardrobe in the play does not play a significant role but the University of Virginia sneakers show Biff s sense of pride or arrogance. Readers also see the lost and vulnerable Biff. Biff: Isn t Dad coming? Happy: You want her? Biff: Oh, I could never make that. Happy: I remember the time that idea would never come into your head. Where s the old confidence, Biff? Biff: I just saw Oliver-- Happy: Wait a minute. I ve got to see that old confidence again. Do you want her? She s on call. Biff: Oh, no. (He turns to look at THE GIRL.) Through this conversation between the two brothers, we notice that Biff has lost the confidence he used to have back in the days. We see more vulnerable, lost Biff when he discusses his stealing problems with Happy. Biff is a thief, The next thing I know I m in his office--paneled walls, everything. I can t explain it. I--Hap, I took his fountain pen. And he escapes after stealing which also implies that the stealing causes him to lose his jobs, I ran out. I ran down all eleven flights. I ran and ran and ran. By the desperate attempt Biff tries to explain his behaviors, I don t know, I just--wanted to take something. I don t know. You gotta help me, Hap. I m gonna tell Pop, we the audience can guess that Biff has some sort of habitual behaviors that relates to stealing. With no reason or logical motivation, he steals. There is no further solid evidence or plot line that suggests Biff has a psychological disorder on stealing but we can infer that the habit has developed into his subconsciousness that he behaves without really knowing the purpose of the action himself. Then, at the end, we see the outburst. The denotation of biff means to strike roughly or sharply with the fist. We can use the denotation to infer the connotation. First, Biff is an aggressive person where he pushes the boundaries of interaction and at some points bluntly strike out his opinions, Don t touch me, you--liar! he exclaims. Another part of the denotation mentions with a fist. Metaphorically speaking, he punches Willy in the face with his direct confrontation, No! Nobody s hanging himself, Willy! I ran down eleven flights with a pen in my hand today. And suddenly I stopped, you hear me? And in the middle of that office building, do you hear this? I stopped in the middle of that building and I saw--the sky. I saw the things that I love in this world. The work and the food and time to sit and smoke. And I looked at the pen and said to myself, what the hell am I grabbing this for? Why am I trying to become

8 what I don t want to be? What am I doing in an office, making a contemptuous, begging fool of myself, when all I want is out there, waiting for me the minute I say I know who I am! Why can t I say that Willy? He first takes down all the father-son barrier, calling his father by his first name. Then he lays out all the realities that the rest of the family cannot see. While the family refuses to acknowledge Biff s flaws, Why I am trying to become what I don t want to be? Biff himself spots it and lays out all the practicalities in the open. And this leads to one of the important points of syntax or diction of Biff is how he addresses his father. When he was younger, he calls his father Pop the majority of the time and Dad occasionally. Shift over to adulthood, he flips the two and call his father Dad most of the time, with some Pop. But eventually, at the climax, the confrontation, as previously discussed, Biff abruptly refers to his father as Willy. Through this transition in diction, we can see that at young age, Biff adores his father and feels close to him that he calls him Pop, a name with some affection. He then switches Dad, which obviously is more formal than Pop. Ultimately, he does not even care if Willy is his father; he treats Willy as a mere person. We notice that Biff s affection and adore towards Willy decreases over time. We shift back to observe Biff s character development and notice that even though Biff is able to come out the tunnel at the end, he seems to struggle through the process of finding himself. He desires to come to term about who he is as a person, instead of reflecting himself merely on the images his father creates. Willy says, I am not a dime a dozen! I am Willy Loman, and you are Biff Loman! Biff responds, I am not a leader of men, Willy, and neither are you. You were never anything but a hard working drummer who landed in the ash can like all the rest of them! I m one dollar an hour, Willy! I tried seven states and couldn t raise it. A buck an hour! Do you gather my meaning? I m not bringing home any prizes any more, and you re going to stop waiting for me to bring them home! Biff breaks off the idealistic and unrealistically triumphant images Willy makes, which expect him to bring prizes home. Biff is able to move on since he realizes eventually who he is, A buck an hour! Even though his nothingness identity is by no means glorious, the act of finding out his true self is, Pop, I m nothing! I m nothing, Pop. Can t you understand that? There s no spite in it any more. I m just what I am, that s all. Let s hold on to the facts tonight, Pop. We re not going to get anywhere bullin around. I was a shipping clerk, he recognizes himself and moves forward, I ll go in the morning. And we can clearly see that Biff is the only one among the father and the two brothers to have identified the flaws in their dreams and have gone forward, as Biff talks about Willy, He never knew who he was, and looked at Happy with a hopeless glance [at Happy]. Biff wears a mask, ironically not made by himself but his father. He is buried under his father s dreams, That boy--that boy is going to be magnificent! But he is able to eventually tear off the mask and confront his father, Will you take that phony dream and burn it before something happens? To portray Biff, the actor must show some interpersonal charm through his gestures, for example one should contain solid and highly visible arm movements when talking. Also, through the actor he must gradually show Biff s change in character and show a dramatic before-and-

9 after difference. One can at first repeat some limited movements, for example always spotting only one direction when talking; then change to a variety, for instance shifting eye focus constantly during the confrontation with Willy. These changes in movement choices can symbolize Biff s character and identity outburst. Now we take a step backward and analyze not merely Biff but his reactions with the rest of the family. Biff, the son of Willy Loman and the elder brother of Happy, causes conflicts in the family. First, we look at the relationship between Biff and his father. Biff s early relationship with his father Willy is filled with admiration and reverence. In a flashback, the audience can see that as a kid Biff consistently seeks for his father s approval and attention. When Biff tells Happy that he borrows a football from the locker room, he laughs confidentially, implying that he is confident and proud of what he has done. However, when Willy tells Biff, I want you to return that and Happy retorts, I told you he wouldn t like it! Biff is angered and defends himself by exclaiming that he will bring it back. This defense in front of his father signifies the desire not to fail before his father and to have his approval. Biff further shows this by exclaiming, Oh, [the coach] keeps congratulating my initiative all the time, Pop. Then, when Biff began to play football, he tells his father, This Saturday, Pop, this Saturday--just for you, I m going to break through for a touch down.. You watch me, Pop, and when I take off my helmet, that means I m breakin out. Then you watch me crash through that line! Biff dedicates his playing to his father and desires his father to see him at his best. This again reflects Biff s intention to gain high regards from his father. At young age, Biff also wishes to keep close to Willy and Willy s life. Biff inquires constantly about Willy s job, Where d you go this time, Dad? and What d he say?. And he tells his father, Gee, I d love to go with you sometime, Dad. We can clearly see Biff s affection for his father from his telling Willy that Biff and Happy were lonesome for [him] and missed [him] every minute. Biff s relationship with his father deteriorates after the incident at Boston where he witnesses Willy s affair and betrayal to his mother. When Biff first returns home, his animosity for his father can be seen through his dialogue with Happy and Linda. Stop making excuses for him! He always, always wiped the floor with you. Never had an ounce of respect for you. Instead of defending his father, Biff is quick to attack saying, People are worse off than Willy Loman. Believe me, I ve seen them! However, when Linda begins to defend Willy, Biff calms down a bit, settling for a negotiation in which he will live [t]here in [his] room, and get a job. [And] keep away from him, that s all. In addition, Biff goes into logistics, saying He ll settle for half my pay check. He ll be all right. This in itself shows that Biff does not regard Willy as his father, rather, as a mere person, almost a stranger. Biff s looking highly upon his father and treating Willy as someone personal to him no longer exists, compared to his childhood days. We see another proof of the worsening relationship when Biff exclaims to Linda, [Because] I know he s a fake and he doesn t like anybody around who knows! Willy s image in Biff s mind has tragically gone from a respectful, well-spoken man ( He d like you, Pop. You know the way you could talk. ) to a phony ( You fake! You phony little fake! You fake!. ). The relationship between Happy and Biff is that of brothers. Happy, Biff s younger brother, is a minor character that serves as a buffer in the story. Like his name suggests, he is always striving for peace and no tensions within his family and family relations. He is also very optimistic, which sometimes come off as naive and too hopeful. When Biff tells Linda that Willy never had an ounce of respect for her, Happy immediately retorts, He s always had respect for--. He does this in hopes of intervening and stopping the conflict. And even when he

10 becomes overridden by Biff s accusations, Happy keeps defending Willy. Just don t call him crazy! he yells. In this optimistic manner, Happy serves as a contrast to Biff. While Biff searches for himself and comes to accept himself for who he is, Happy remains optimistic about life and does not search for himself. This brings out Biff s character and reestablishes Biff s accepting of his reality. Bernard is a minor character that serves as a foil to the character Biff, for he represents the fulfilled American Dream. He studied hard and worked his way up to be a successful lawyer, as he was gonna argue a case in front of the Supreme Court.. As Biff s childhood friend, Bernard pushed Biff to make up lost credits so that Biff would be able to graduate and attend the college of his dreams, Biff, where are you? You re supposed to study with me today. Bernard became successful through hard work while Biff threw away his life believing that success would just happen. As mentioned, Biff is not the protagonist but obviously contributes greatly to the development of the plot and theme through his characterization. When analyzing the play Death of a Salesman, we simply cannot overlook the character Biff. Marx/Historical The Death of a Salesman was a work written in 1949 by Arthur Miller. This time period was right after World War II, which helped America to get out of the Great Depression. During this year, three times as many college degrees were conferred as in ( Women started to work and rationing began to take place. This historical setting plays a role in the story. The family members had recently gone through depression and the war, and they were trying to rebuild their lives. Pressures to do so and support ones family were stronger than ever, which influenced a lot of the tension in the family. Willy strived to improve his wages, and when he lost his job, he was devastated and his condition became worse. In addition, education was not as big of a deal then as it is now. Because of this, Willy believed that schooling was not too important to be successful. He believed that some hard work was necessary, but that most of success came from one s connections and looks. The time period of post-world War II also affects the society in the story. Society in this story and time period are still searching for that balance in life after the war. This search for balance makes it even more essential for families to seek steady jobs that will provide comfort and stability after times of turmoil during the recent war. This explains Willy s desire to have a good job for the family, for he goes to meet Howard with aims to raising his wage. [...] all I need is to set my table is fifty dollars a week. This is what Willy says at first when he goes to see Howard. However, when Howard continually refuses him, he goes from fifty to forty in desperation. Then, when Howard refuses him completely and fires him, Willy s devastation portrays his desire to maintain a stable job. It can also be seen that Linda also desires this stability, for she is in high hopes for Willy before he says that he will ask Howard for a better job. Oh, that s the spirit, Willy! It s changing, Willy, I can feel it changing! she exclaims. Her optimism reflects her yearning for a stable job. In addition, this type of attitude can be seen from Happy as well, who reassures Biff that they can be the Loman Brothers and start a business of their own.

11 The historical time period of the story plays an important role in its history and background. Not only does this affect the society in which the play takes place, but it affects the characters and their beliefs and actions within the story.