Death of a Salesman: Themes

The American Dream

The protagonist of the play, Willy Loman, pursues a dream of prosperity which is highly influenced by the material successes of his older brother, Ben. Willy believes that by virtue of charisma, good-looks and imposing personality alone, a man deserves success and will have it too. However, this has not come true for his or his sons, Biff and Happy.

It is the American dream of the pursuit of success that ruins Willy and also scars his sons, particularly Biff. In American society, the constant rat race to be financially successful has been highlighted in several works of fiction—novels and films alike. In this play, the dream is heightened to a level of satire where it is presumed to befall anyone with good looks and magnetism. In believing in the American dream so fundamentally, the play’s characters are unable to view life from a prism of honesty or appreciate the privileges they already have. It is the greed of the dream that leads to the protagonist’s suicide and the sorrow of his family.

Loss of Identity

In the play, the pursuit of an impossible dream and the constant push of a father’s expectations onto his son lead to a severe loss of identity for both father and son. Willy, who has worked diligently all his life, is denied a taste of wealth and reputation and hence, expects his good-looking son Biff to achieve his dream. Whilst raising Biff, Willy constantly makes the latter believe in his own merit and charisma, blindly ignoring his son’s faults. This causes Biff’s personality to dwarf, with no room for change or improvement.

Not only does Biff suffer from a loss of identity, in being told that he is meant to be a powerful man, but Willy too, loses his identity and personality in shutting out everything else and everybody in the pursuit of his grand American dream.

The loss of identity eventually leads to Willy’s suicide and his son’s waywardness and lackadaisical attitude towards life.