Death of a Salesman is a perfect example of Arthur Miller’s idea of ‘Tragedy and the Common Man’, in which the tragic protagonist doesn’t have to be powerful or influential in order to experience a downfall. Even the opening stage directions of the play- before any of the characters even speak- indicate tragedy, as the very foundations of the play reflect the adversity felt by Willy Loman and his family. Almost every decision made by the characters furthers the tragic process; for example, Linda takes away then puts back the rubber pipe every day and during multiple temporal shifts we learn how Willy chose not to follow Ben to Alaska and stay as a salesman in New York. All of these errors culminate in the inevitable tragic ending of Willy Loman.
Perhaps the biggest indicator to the audience of the tragic outcome is Willy’s identity, or rather the false identity that he has created for himself. He falsely believes himself to be an exceptional salesman, when in reality the audience knows that he has to borrow “fifty dollars a week” from Charley because he can’t make ends meet. As a result he constantly contradicts himself when talking, for example when he refers to Biff as “lazy” and a short time later claims that “there’s one thing about Biff- he’s not lazy”. Willy is delusional about who he is and becomes increasingly aware of it whenever he becomes close to reaching an anagnorisis, something the audience gets a glimpse of in the rare moments that he opens up about his feelings to Linda or, more crucially, to Ben. He fearfully confides that “[he’s] afraid that [he’s] not teaching them the right kind of-”, and looks to Ben for guidance because to him Ben represents the epitome of success, something that Willy desperately wants to achieve. Much of the identity of Willy Loman is based off of his role models, the most influential of which is Ben. However, in the second temporal shift we see that Ben is not as perfect as Willy seems to think he is, when he play fights Biff and ends up with “the point of his umbrella poised over Biff’s eye”. These errors of judgement, though, happen even before the opening stage directions, showing that the tragic process is already in motion for Willy. The people that Willy prides himself on being like are noticeably flawed, but he is so desperate for Ben, for example, to approve of his supposed success and the life that he has chosen that he becomes blind to the fact that while his brother may have achieved the contemporary concept of the American Dream, he did so in unsavoury ways. The hubris felt by Willy overpowers all other reasoning, as he feels that the only way to succeed in life is to reach success in the business aspect of the American Dream so he dwells on the past instead of facing the reality that he has, in society’s eyes, failed. The way Willy presents himself to the world is proleptic because the audience can clearly see that he is approaching a tragic downfall due to a lack of a realisation about his own identity, especially when considering Arthur Miller’s contempt towards a capitalistic society and the American Dream.
Something that is very obviously shown to the audience throughout the entirety of Act 1 is how Linda enables Willy’s actions, and how she is making the active choice to further his tragic process. She knows that Willy is a fragile individual and while she tries to help him, she ultimately backs down; she confides in Biff that she lives “from day to day”- Linda lives in a constant fear about the “rubber pipe” that she found in the basement and doesn’t recognise that by putting it back every day she is increasing Willy’s chance of a downfall instead of decreasing it; she is afraid that Willy will discover that she knows that “all these accidents in the last year” weren’t accidents, so instead chooses to stay silent and inflict the burden on Biff that “his life is in your hands”. Even when Willy tries to open up to her, telling her that his coworkers make fun of him and he is not as well liked as he has led her to believe, she refuses to believe him, asking “why would they laugh at you?” and telling him not to be silly. Furthermore, when Biff complains of Willy’s behaviour Linda chastises him, saying that “I won’t have anyone making him feel blue”. She is utterly devoted to her husband, despite him continuously making mistakes. He is deeply flawed, yet Linda romanticizes his suffering, referring to him as “a lonely little boat looking for a harbour”. The audience can see Willy’s faults but Linda purposely turns a blind eye, something that inevitably comes back to haunt the Loman family later in Act 2. The role of Linda in Act 1 is to cement Willy’s tragic process by enabling his delusions and blaming his consequential behaviour entirely on Biff; she is a character that always hopes things will turn out for the better, but Willy is so trapped in the desperation to be “well-liked” that her story is ultimately one of disappointment.
Biff is a character who is crucial to the tragic potential of Act 1. The relationship between Biff and Willy is imperative because it is representative of Willy’s hubris towards his son. This error of misguided pride leads him to repeatedly make the same mistakes with Biff that his father and Ben made with him growing up; the same ill-advised life lessons that Willy was taught when he was young are what he instills into Biff, such as the idea that they’ll be successful only because they’re “built like adonises” and that you should “never fight fair with a stranger”. This need to be noticed for your outward appearance- conspicuous consumerism- seems to be the driving force behind Willy’s lies, eventually convincing both of his sons that he is worth more than he is and that he is successful enough to be known “up and down New England”. In addition to this, we see hints of a strain on the relationship between Willy and Biff which suggests the tragedy to come as a result of past mistakes; a significant conflict between them occurs in Act 2 when Biff finds out about about The Woman,but throughout Act 1 the audience sees the impact that this error has had on not only Biff but on the whole family. Furthermore, Linda believes that if her two sons, though primarily Biff, achieve the conventional idea of success then Willy’s mental state will improve exponentially. This is in a sense true, as when Biff shows small signs of success Willy becomes noticeably happier, but since a business-oriented path doesn’t fit him this elation is only brief. As a consequence of these pressures, Biff grows up arrogant and overconfident, and when he reaches the real world he tries to replicate the easy success felt during “the best day of his life” at the Ebbets Field game. This proves impossible and causes the whole family’s devastation, though none feel the loss more heavily than Willy Loman.
To conclude, Act 1 of Death of a Salesman is constantly furthering the tragic process because the audience can only watch as the Loman family, unbeknownst to them, makes mistakes that will culminate in the tragic action of Willy’s suicide. Everything about the play indicates tragedy, from Linda’s active decision to repeatedly put back the rubber pipe instead of confronting her husband, to Biff’s struggle to find his face in a society that values monetary success above all else. Even Willy’s name (Willy Loman) is tragically ironic. The process has already been set in motion before the play even begins and it can all be seen to be Willy’s fault because he refuses to let go of the capitalistic ideals he grew up with and remains convinced that if he keeps being ‘the salesman’ then he will eventually succeed like he dreams.
2019-11-12-1573561180