1 September 2004
Death of a Salesman Journal
Page: 5 & 23
Response:
Willy seems to contradict himself quite frequently during the beginning of the book. At first he describes his Chevy as this precious car, and then he complains about that �god-dam Chevrolet, they ought to prohibit the manufacture of that car!� (23). He also calls Biff �lazy� (5) and within that same dialogue between Linda and him, he claims that Biff is a hard worker who is actually not lazy (6). His contradictions are rather bewildering, but I think Arthur Miller uses it to create a parallel between Willy�s actions and his life. These two examples continue the motif of Willy�s dreams and Willy�s reality. For example, the Chevrolet could be precious to him if not for the reality that he must maintain the car in which costs money. Also, Biff could possibly be hardworking, but his qualities stunt him from that. Basically, these inconsistencies with Willy�s opinions come from his internal battle of what could have been and what is.
Page: 14
Response:
This part amazed me when I realized how Happy�s manners with women were affected by the dream to succeed in competing with the rest of the business world. Miller introduces Happy as a struggling man in the business field, stealing the ladies of executives for short rendezvous. His corrupt pattern suggests that Happy finds himself trying to win the competition in any other way possible. Since he is almost doomed for what was probably known as mediocrity around the time of the Depression when most of the population had the same problems that Willy and his family had, then Happy was determined to win the best way he knows how which was by wooing the opponents� women. I think that trying to climb the ladder of a business hierarchy by means of destroying the rival�s social life marks a new low of society�s confusion between the professional and the private life. However, it also points out the hardships of America�s Depression.
Page: 18
Response:
In the script of the play, it specifically acknowledges that Willy laughs with Biff at his theft of a football. I thought it was a bit awkward for a parent to support theft if he or she had any sense of morality, but after finishing the play, Willy�s strange response works within the context of the play. He laughs at Biff stealing the football from school, because he does not want to punish Biff for his actions even if they are depraved. He does so in order to maintain Biff�s ego, and by condemning his act of stealing, Willy feels like that is scarring Biff�s personality and sociability. Sometimes, I see peers at school being pushed so hard by their parents and the parents would do just about anything in support of what they want their children to achieve. In some ways, this reinforcement is helpful, but unless the child enjoys what they are doing, then pushing them will achieve little. This determination from parents also harms their kids if it is to an excessive degree where health and morals are put aside in order to assist them in success.
Page: 25
Response:
During one of Willy�s business trips, he meets this woman who remains nameless. The situation is puzzling, because I asked myself, �Why does Willy cheat on his wife if his wife treats him so well?� People dream to have a spouse that loves them for who they are, looking past the flaws into the inner good in which Linda does with Willy. The only explanation I could find to this incongruence between what should be and what is in the play is Willy�s trait of living his professional life constantly. There is no indication in Death of a Salesman where Willy spends quality time with his family. He continually stays in his business mindset even at home with a loving family. He is more like a professional in the roles of a father and husband. This overlap between professional and private life probably forced Willy to his disloyalty to Linda. The woman serves as a universal character that could represent any woman who has a use, or in this case, a business connection. She fulfills the largely dominant business part of Willy and boosts his self-esteem, a tactic that Willy also uses with Biff. By satisfying those parts of Willy, the true love and care that Linda provides is rather ineffective in comparison to the love and affection provided by commerce, and apparently, those involved in business.
Page: 30
Response:
�When a deposit bottle is broken you don�t get your nickel back,� says Charley during a conversation with Willy about Biff. Charley�s view is pessimistic. He claims that Biff has become a waste, but Willy denies believing it after investing so much time and effort in making a future for Biff. However, I assume Charley�s attitude is fairly common around the time of the Depression. Life seems hopeless for even the average family, so people become hopeless too with the slightest sign of a letdown. Up to this point of the play, it is depressing to see everything go wrong when there is such hope still.
Page: 43
Response:
The future seems a bit more hopeful for Willy�s family when Biff decides to try to please his father. Biff finds out that his father is suicidal, and knowing that, of course Biff would try to keep Willy content. To try to keep one�s father alive by attempting to fulfill his every need and pleasure places a lot of pressure on Biff; it is a lot of pressure on anyone for that matter. I can relate to Biff except that my experiences are to of a lesser degree than his. I think some teenagers feel an obligation to keep their parents happy like Biff. Sometimes, I feel pressured to provide my parents with what they could not have. Now that I have the opportunity that they never had, I think that it is my duty to take advantage of it. Their desires for me to succeed in the United States, a country advertised to second and third world countries as the root nation of fulfilling hopes and dreams, pushes me to do well. With this pushed aside, I have to ask myself if I am trying to fulfill these roles and goals for my own happiness or if it is for my parents� happiness. I come across these dilemmas quite frequently, but I figure that to make myself happy would be a bit selfish after all that my parents have sacrificed in order to make me content. Perhaps Biff has the same problem, knowing that he cannot always perform to his father�s expectations when he is not content with what he is doing. However, the risk is greater under his circumstances, because Willy is suicidal. The decision is difficult if one truly thinks about the conditions and consequences of both. Would Biff sacrifice true happiness for his father�s life or is he willing to sacrifice an already-deteriorating life for his own that could possibly blossom into success?
Page: 61
Response:
Willy has a superficial career in mind that would grant him the �respect, and comradeship, and gratitude� (61) that he wants from a job. Compared to present times, his ideal career is like going into Microsoft and expecting to come out as the next Bill Gates. What he seeks for is rare especially during a decade when the economy had hit its bottom. I thought it was inane and childish for a grown man to still have the typical fate that grants fame and fortune, but at the same time, we all dream to give us a glimpse of hope that cannot be seen in reality. Today, many believe that businesses are filled with professionals who are not experts at their job but rather at the skills of deception, lies, and persuasion. In modern commerce, there are no allies; it�s a free-for-all battle to make a name and living for oneself. Willy�s belief is that personality and friendships bring success, a success where those friendships make one known to a whole other population that would grant the great fame Willy wants. His motives and aspirations stray from what I believe, and I have a strong stance on what I believe in which promotes the disagreement. He is more abstract with his thoughts while I am an extremely practical thinker. Sometimes, this characteristic of mine may bring a pessimistic outlook as opposed to Willy�s optimistic outlook.
Page: 70
Response:
Bernard plays an imperative character that sets an example to contradict Willy�s belief. I also find this success of the quiet underdog inspiring and amusing. Willy believes that people who are �well-liked� will do well in life and those who are not will fail. Bernard, as an adult, becomes a very successful lawyer, which is implied when he has to argue a case in front of the Supreme Court itself. When Bernard was young, Willy thought him to be a pest and reassured Biff not to worry, because Willy thinks that Biff will be more successful just because he was popular and �well-liked.� The future proves Willy wrong, and the underdog succeeds. This reminded me of the high school competition that we have now from one grade to another. The ranks, grades, extra-curricular activities, and popularity contests may never prove anything at all. The underdogs may prevail in ways that these top-of-the-line students cannot. This makes me wonder if I am one of the underdogs or if I am an overachieving student. If all these stories about how the people who one least expects to succeed will eventually succeed are true, then by complying with certain standards of being either the underdog or the go-getter, it will pave my future for me. It is true that one decides his or her own fate, but it is a fact of life that not every overachiever wins the end prize that they have worked so diligently at to achieve.
Page: 76
Response:
On this page, I found an aspect of the American Dream that makes it very complex. Willy is subconsciously jealous of Charley and Charley�s successes even if Willy does not admit to it. However, Willy seems to pass up opportunities that involve the help of others. At first, I thought Willy was just overly independent, but soon enough, I grasped the American Dream as an accomplishment attained alone. Otherwise, I think the American Dream would just be another dream rather than the American Dream. I can easily relate to this sense of triumph when a dream is made real without anyone else�s help, because when someone contributes to the success, then they share a part of that success. We, as humans, are generally greedy and selfish by nature even though it does not necessarily have to be in fame or fortune. An accomplishment is much more noticeably rewarding when done alone, because the hard work one puts into it can be seen with what comes out of it. When shared, one might be unsure of who deserves which part of the credit. Oddly enough, I strive for attention. Perhaps, this is why I enjoy independent projects.
Page: 88
Response:
�Why did I go? Why did I go! Look at you! Look at what�s become of you!� This stalled a rather heated conversation between Biff and Willy. Almost nothing can match the urge to please parents, but disappointing them is just so much easier. That is the cold truth about a child-parent relationship. Yes, children usually have good intentions, but just the slightest tap on their switch can make them turn on their parents. At that point, the letdown occurs and parents respond with the �how disappointed they are in you� act. Sadly, it can become an infinite, continuous cycle, because the children will try to make their parents proud of them again by trying to please them, but the switch is always there and the slightest mistake made by either the child or the parent can lead to some type of disappointment. However, it could just end with the child becoming a rebellious teenager and that leads to more complications that just do not have to repeat in a cycle.
Page: 95
Response:
I think this part of the book when Biff recognizes his father�s disloyalty to his mother is vital. This is the answer to what Willy was searching for all along in his past: the point in his life that injured the relationship with his wife, Linda, and the relationship with his son, Biff. The unstable relationship that Willy has with his wife comes from that one trip when Willy met this woman who is left anonymous for the purpose of representing a universal figure. He is constantly trapped and engulfed in his business life that the woman probably provides more for him than Linda does which is a sad concept. Biff also walked in on this mess when Willy was being unfaithful to Linda that night in the hotel. Biff had always admired Willy, and I think this one mistake that Willy made scarred Biff for life and is the root of Biff�s ruin. Biff�s idol, his own father, had committed a sin that depleted the image that Willy had tried to bestow on him ever since childhood about his success and greatness known all over the Northeast. Without this overblown image that Biff once had to consider as the norm, Biff probably cannot rely on anything else anymore if he cannot rely on his father�s word and reputation.
Page: 100
Response:
Willy dazes off into his own vision where he talks about how his funeral will be rather glamorous, which is ironic since funerals are supposed to be peaceful. This diamond, �hard and rough,� will be the fortune that can provide him with that funeral. However, the diamond is a symbol of all material wealth that Willy seeks for in order to make his life significant due to his American Dream. To live just for that Dream, he has the determination to achieve it even if it costs his life. The diamond, which also signifies Willy�s missed opportunity with his brother Ben, also represents Willy�s failure. In the end, he falls to the diamond that he passed up before, but by obtaining it, the monetary value comes through his insurance money and his death. The diamond marks his physical and career failures, but it also gives Willy the tangible prosperity that would make his life important to him.
Page: 101
Response:
After the diamond entry, I found the seeds significant as well. Remembering that Willy is currently living in an urban area, I realized that seeds rarely grow well there. This resemblance between Willy�s seeds and his career and goals causes the seeds to represent Willy�s wilting career. They also seem to represent Willy�s seedlings as in his children who both are also unable to nurture a career for themselves or so Willy could not cultivate the two either. Under the conditions in New York, the seeds have the potential but cannot grow much like Willy�s career and his sons. The two dwell in their parents� house, even if it is temporary, but that fact is suitable to characterize the sons and how they are incapable of growing up. Willy�s desperate attempt at growing these seeds is like his desperate attempt at making Biff successful, although he knows that it is nearly impossible.
Page: 105
Response:
His father handicapped Biff�s future all along. The scar that remains from Willy�s disloyalty ruins Biff�s hope of becoming who Willy wanted him to be. If Willy had his goals all wrong, then Biff probably could not rely on Willy to plan his future. So what Willy wanted his son to be can never happen because of the mistakes Willy has made. Biff trusted his father�s fa�ade, but it turned out misleading when Willy cheated on his wife with some woman on a business trip. I have had similar experiences about trusting someone too much with my emotions and my life. I trusted for them to be who I expected them to be even if the expectations were too high. This friend of mine let me down because of the way she responded to a sticky situation involving a new friend that I have made. I realized though that sooner or later, this quarrel would inevitably happen. Letting the friendship go seemed to be the best solution possible or else more problems would arise if I trusted for her to be okay with this situation if it had occurred again in which I doubt she will respond to properly. Like Biff, I have been having some post-incident trauma where Biff suffered with his future of hope and belief and where I have suffered with my future of believing in friends.
Page: 111
Response:
The disappointing part of Death of a Salesman is the continuing hopeless dream that carries onto Willy�s son, Happy. Happy states that he is going to prove that �Willy Loman did not die in vain.� He wants to pursue Willy�s goal, and the struggle will never seem to end. The story has build up to make failure inevitable within this family and hearing Happy�s determination in trying to make something out of nothing makes it all that much more miserable. It is like one of those moments when one has no other choice but to attempt at the impossible, because the American Dream is what Americans want to achieve. Without even trying, one might as well not live.