Directions: Read carefully the selection below.
The Death of the Salesman by Arthur Miller
(Summary)
Willy Loman, an old salesman, returns early from a business trip. After nearly crashing
multiple times, willy has a moment of enlightenment and realizes he shouldn’t be driving.
Seeing that her husband is no longer able to do his job as a traveling salesman, Willy’s wife,
Linda, suggests that he ask his boss, Howard, to give him a local office job at the New York
headquarters. Willy thinks that getting a new job is a sure thing since he (wrongly) sees
himself as a valuable salesman. We begin to learn some family background and hear about
Willy and Linda’s grown sons, Biff and Happy. Biff has just returned home from working as a
farmhand in the West. Willy thinks Biff could easily be rich and successful but is wasting his
talents and needs to get on track. Willy thinks Biff is being wish -washy to spite him.
Later that night, Willy starts having flashbacks and talking to imagined images as if they
were real people. You guessed it: something is wrong. He’s ranting so loudly that Happy and
Biff wake up. The brothers are legitimately worried, as they have never seen their father like
this. Biff, feeling as though he should stay close to home and fix his relationship with his dad,
NAME: DATE: SCORE:
3 │ ENGLISH GRADE 9 LAS 3 WEEK 3 FOURTH QUARTER
decides to talk to a former employer, Bill Oliver, about getting a loan to start a business. In the
middle of the night, Willy’s talking to himself so loudly that everyone wakes up.
Linda admits to her sons that she and Willy are struggling financially. Worse, Willy has been
attempting suicide. She’s worried and takes it out on her boys, accusing Biff of being the cause
of Willy’s unhappiness. Now Willy gets in on the family discussion and the situation goes
downhill. He and Biff begin to argue, but Happy interjects that Biff plans to see Oliver the
following morning. Willy is overjoyed. Everyone goes to sleep believing that tomorrow will fulfill
their dreams: Willy expects to get a local job, and Biff expects to get a business loan.
The next day, of course, everything goes wrong. Willy feels happy and confident as he
meets with his boss, Howard. But instead of getting a transfer to the New York office, Willy gets
fired. Destroyed by the news, he begins to hallucinate and, yes, once again speaks with
imaginary people as he heads out to meet his sons at a restaurant.
Waiting for their dad at the restaurant, Biff explains to Happy that Oliver wouldn’t see him
and didn’t have the slightest idea who he was. Distressed, spiteful, and something of a
kleptomaniac, Biff stole Oliver’s fountain pen. By now, Biff has realized that he was crazy to
think he would ever get a loan and that he and his family have been lying to themselves for
basically their entire lives. When Willy comes into the restaurant demanding good news, Biff
struggles to explain what happened without letting his father down. Willy, who can’t handle the
disappointment, tries to pretend it isn’t true. He starts drifting into the dreamy past again,
reliving the moment when Biff discovered his (Willy’s) affair with a woman in Boston. While their
dad is busy being detached from reality, Biff and Happy ditch him for two girls.
Biff and Happy return home from their dates to find their mother waiting for them, fuming
mad that they left their father at the restaurant. A massive argument erupts. No one wants to
listen to Biff, but he manages to get the point across that he can’t live up to hi s dad’s unrealistic
expectations and is just a failure. He’s the only one who sees that they’ve been living a lie, and
he tells them so.
The night’s fight ends with Willy realizing that Biff, although a "failure," seems to love
him. Unfortunately, Willy can’t get past the "failure" bit. He thinks the greatest contribution that
he can make toward his son’s success is to commit suicide. That way, Biff could use the life
insurance money to start a business.
Within a few minutes, there is a loud crash. Willy has killed himself.
In the final scene, Linda, sobbing, still under the delusion that her husband was a well -liked salesman, wonders why no one came to his funeral. Biff continues to see through his
family’s lies and wants to be a better man who is honest with himself. Unfortunately, Happy
wants to be just like his dad.
Answer the questions:
1. How would you describe the family relationship of the characters?
2. What does it mean by “a family has been lying to themselves for basically
their entire lives”?
3. Does Willy Loman die a martyr? Why or why not?
4. How do Linda’s and her sons’ interpretations of Willy’s death differ?
5. Why is it entitled the “Death of the Salesman”?
The Death of the Salesman by Arthur Miller
(Summary)
Willy Loman, an old salesman, returns early from a business trip. After nearly crashing
multiple times, willy has a moment of enlightenment and realizes he shouldn’t be driving.
Seeing that her husband is no longer able to do his job as a traveling salesman, Willy’s wife,
Linda, suggests that he ask his boss, Howard, to give him a local office job at the New York
headquarters. Willy thinks that getting a new job is a sure thing since he (wrongly) sees
himself as a valuable salesman. We begin to learn some family background and hear about
Willy and Linda’s grown sons, Biff and Happy. Biff has just returned home from working as a
farmhand in the West. Willy thinks Biff could easily be rich and successful but is wasting his
talents and needs to get on track. Willy thinks Biff is being wish -washy to spite him.
Later that night, Willy starts having flashbacks and talking to imagined images as if they
were real people. You guessed it: something is wrong. He’s ranting so loudly that Happy and
Biff wake up. The brothers are legitimately worried, as they have never seen their father like
this. Biff, feeling as though he should stay close to home and fix his relationship with his dad,
NAME: DATE: SCORE:
3 │ ENGLISH GRADE 9 LAS 3 WEEK 3 FOURTH QUARTER
decides to talk to a former employer, Bill Oliver, about getting a loan to start a business. In the
middle of the night, Willy’s talking to himself so loudly that everyone wakes up.
Linda admits to her sons that she and Willy are struggling financially. Worse, Willy has been
attempting suicide. She’s worried and takes it out on her boys, accusing Biff of being the cause
of Willy’s unhappiness. Now Willy gets in on the family discussion and the situation goes
downhill. He and Biff begin to argue, but Happy interjects that Biff plans to see Oliver the
following morning. Willy is overjoyed. Everyone goes to sleep believing that tomorrow will fulfill
their dreams: Willy expects to get a local job, and Biff expects to get a business loan.
The next day, of course, everything goes wrong. Willy feels happy and confident as he
meets with his boss, Howard. But instead of getting a transfer to the New York office, Willy gets
fired. Destroyed by the news, he begins to hallucinate and, yes, once again speaks with
imaginary people as he heads out to meet his sons at a restaurant.
Waiting for their dad at the restaurant, Biff explains to Happy that Oliver wouldn’t see him
and didn’t have the slightest idea who he was. Distressed, spiteful, and something of a
kleptomaniac, Biff stole Oliver’s fountain pen. By now, Biff has realized that he was crazy to
think he would ever get a loan and that he and his family have been lying to themselves for
basically their entire lives. When Willy comes into the restaurant demanding good news, Biff
struggles to explain what happened without letting his father down. Willy, who can’t handle the
disappointment, tries to pretend it isn’t true. He starts drifting into the dreamy past again,
reliving the moment when Biff discovered his (Willy’s) affair with a woman in Boston. While their
dad is busy being detached from reality, Biff and Happy ditch him for two girls.
Biff and Happy return home from their dates to find their mother waiting for them, fuming
mad that they left their father at the restaurant. A massive argument erupts. No one wants to
listen to Biff, but he manages to get the point across that he can’t live up to hi s dad’s unrealistic
expectations and is just a failure. He’s the only one who sees that they’ve been living a lie, and
he tells them so.
The night’s fight ends with Willy realizing that Biff, although a "failure," seems to love
him. Unfortunately, Willy can’t get past the "failure" bit. He thinks the greatest contribution that
he can make toward his son’s success is to commit suicide. That way, Biff could use the life
insurance money to start a business.
Within a few minutes, there is a loud crash. Willy has killed himself.
In the final scene, Linda, sobbing, still under the delusion that her husband was a well -liked salesman, wonders why no one came to his funeral. Biff continues to see through his
family’s lies and wants to be a better man who is honest with himself. Unfortunately, Happy
wants to be just like his dad.
Answer the questions:
1. How would you describe the family relationship of the characters?
2. What does it mean by “a family has been lying to themselves for basically
their entire lives”?
3. Does Willy Loman die a martyr? Why or why not?
4. How do Linda’s and her sons’ interpretations of Willy’s death differ?
5. Why is it entitled the “Death of the Salesman”?
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Answers & Comments
Answer:
1. the Lomans have a troubled family relationship. Although the Lomans love each other and have the potential for happiness, this potential is destroyed by Willy's weakness and delusion, which causes trouble between him and his sons while also placing stress on Linda
2. the family has a lot of secrets hidden, and they even lie to themselves most of the time. Miller demonstrates this by how Willy lies in order to appear that he is successful, that he is adored by many, and about his oldest child`s accomplishments. In these ways, Miller uses Willy to illustrate how people lie in order to make themselves look better than they actually are.
3. perhaps because Willy has a noble conception of his suicide - he kills himself because he truly believes that the insurance money will allow his sons to achieve their destined greatness.
4. At Willy's graveside, she explains that she cannot cry. The long, slow tragic events in her life have drained her of tears. Her husband is dead, her two sons still hold grudges, and the last payment on their house has been made.
5.The title also refers to the death of Willy's salesman dream—the dream to be financially successful and a father to hotshot sons. By the end of the play, Willy is flat broke and without a job. It's pretty clear that his dream of being a big-time salesman is already dead.