Symbols in Death of Salesman

Symbols in Death of Salesman

Introduction

The play ‘Death of a salesman’ by Arthur Miller presents the irony of the American dream. The play is about a typical American family that believe they are living the ideal American dream while in reality they are wallowing in a grand illusion and their major weakness is blindness to reality. The Loman family showcase self-deception in their pursuit for the commercial breakthrough in the tough American economy. The essay seeks to discuss the idea of various symbols utilized in the play as well as what they represent.

The stockings

The stockings in the play symbolize the affair Willy had. In one of his hallucinations, he has a vivid memory of the affair he had in Boston. Willy gives his mistress a pair of new stockings as a present (26). When he sees his wife mending a pair of old stockings, he gets angry and tells her not to mend them anymore. His wife, however, puts the stockings in her pocket probably with the intention of mending them later because as she puts it, new stockings are expensive. Willy gets angry when he sees his wife mending her stockings, and he feels guilty that he can afford to get new stockings for his mistress yet his dear wife is mending an old pair since she thinks he cannot afford new ones for her. In another hallucination, Willy remembers how his son Biff caught him having an affair in Boston, and he saw him giving the mistress new stockings. Biff is devastated because his father gave the woman stockings that were meant for his mother (89). It is clear that stockings in this play symbolize Willy’s affair and the effect it had on his family especially his eldest son Biff.

Tennis Racket

The tennis racket symbolizes the irony in the future of Biff and Bernard. Willy believes that good looks and popularity are the keys to a prosperous future (24). In their former days, Biff was the football captain, and he was popular among his mates. Bernard, on the other hand, was not popular and neither was he athletic. Because of this Willy thought that Biff will be successful while Bernard would be the exact opposite. He did not encourage young Biff to study, because he assumed that he would pass his math test because he was famous and also because Bernard would show him the answers to the test. He gets a rude shock when he meets Bernard in future, and he looks so accomplished compared to his son Biff. He cannot hide his disbelief when he learns that Bernard even has friends with tennis courts which is a sign of ultimate wealth. It is ironic that the boy Willy thought would amount to nothing turns out to be successful such that he argues cases with the supreme court while his son who seemed to have potential in his teenage days does not even have a stable job.

Seeds

The seeds symbolize Willy’s need to leave something for his family to reap. It is dawning to him that he has not done anything worthwhile in his life and his family will not have anything valuable to remember him by. He says that he has to hurry up and get the seeds planted because he has nothing on the ground (90). This urgency implies that Willy has finally seen the need to do something meaningful before it is too late. Also, the need to plant something symbolizes that he has something in common with his son Biff who is obsessed with farming. s

Diamonds

Diamonds have been used in the story as a symbol of material wealth. Willy’s brother dared to explore out of his comfort zone, and he finally became the owner of diamond mines in Africa. It is a sort of get-rich-quick scheme and Willy thinks that it the only way to solve all his problems. He devises a scheme to get quick money for his sons by getting into a car crash so that they can get his life insurance money. His brother terms his plan as an act of cowardice, but to him, the twenty thousand dollars insurance money would help his sons a great deal in their business plan (93). Willy executes his plan when he crashes his car into a tree, and he dies.

Alaska, American West, and Africa

These places symbolize the need for freedom and better opportunities. The Loman family is living in an ideal American dream. However, theirs is full of self-deception because their father thinks that America is a land full of opportunity and no man is supposed to live without a well-paying job. In my opinion, this is the reason behind the rift between Willy and his son Biff because Willy thinks that his son is lazy and he does not want to get a job while there are many opportunities for a man like him. However, Biff believes that he is not cut for office life and he is not ready to be a salesman like his father. In a conversation with his brother, Biff says that he likes working on the farm under the sun and shirtless (13). He particularly likes the American West because of the vast land and many ranches. Biff expresses his desire to own a ranch and spend his days herding cattle on a horseback. As such, this implies that Biff does not like the confinement his father is treating him to be pressuring him to get a job in the city. It is this desire to work on a farm that gives him the idea to get a loan and buy his ranch in the American West. To Biff, the American west is a symbol of freedom and success.

In the same manner, Willy sees Alaska and Africa as his getaway to economic freedom. He keeps wishing that he had followed his brother to Alaska because he thinks that he would be rich too (31). The fact that his brother was not learned but he managed to acquire enormous wealth makes Willy wonder how things would have been had he followed Ben to Alaska. Willy’s major problem is the economy which is taking a toll on him because he has bills to pay, but his job is not paying enough. When his brother reveals to him that his fortune lays in Africa where he has diamond mines, Willy’s imagination goes wild. He is determined to make his sons take the same steps his brother took believing they will be rich too. However, although he wants his sons to take risks like his brother, he does not them wandering off to find such opportunities. This is evident when he gets angry at Biff who wants to be a farmer in the American West because he believes there is no prestige in working as a farmer. He prefers his sons to get salesman jobs like him and continue pursuing the American dream. Although Willy believes that better opportunities lie in faraway places such as Alaska and Africa, he is reluctant to let his sons go.

Conclusion

Willy Loman is at a loss because, in his entire life, he has been blind to reality. He passes this trait to his sons until one of them emerges out of the self-deception and sees how blinded his family is. The author has used various symbols to show how blinded the Lomans were in the hope of achieving the ideal American dream. The symbols of the stockings, tennis racket, seeds, diamonds, and the faraway lands have brought out the message of the play.