Arthur Miller’s Death of a SalesmanAdvancements in science throughout this century have led to tremendousadvancements in industry. Advancements in industry, however, have notalways led to advancements in living. For some, society has created masswealth. For most mass society has created a standard of living unparalleledthroughout history. For Willy Loman, however, mass society has createdonly tremendous grief and hardship, aggravated by the endless promise.
Forthese reasons, his tragedy is due more to societies flaws than to the flawsin his own character. Willy Loman was host to many flaws and deficiencies ranging formsuicidal tendencies to psychotic disorders. However, these shortcomingsdid not account for his tragic end, not by themselves anyway. Society isto blame. It was society who stripped him of his dignity, piece by piece. It was society who stripped him of his lifestyle, and his own sons whostripped him of hope.
The most obvious flaw in society is greed, the desire to get ahead ofthe next guy. This malady is present on a national level. It is thephilosophy of business and comprises the dreams of man. Sometimes, thiscan drive man to great things, sometimes it can drive a man to ruin. Willywas driven to the latter. (Not his own greed for he was a simple man withsimple dreams, but by the greed of others.) The developers who took awaythe sun and gave birth to shadows, his boss who reduced him to commissionand his sons which reduced him to a failure.
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The next largest flaw in society is a lack of compassion. This couldbe as a result of almost overwhelming greed, the main culprit being bigbusiness. “I’m always in a race with the junkyard! I just finished paying forthe car and it’s on it last legs. The refrigerator consumes belts like agoddam maniac. They time those things.”(Act 2, page 73, lines 16-19) Willy’s belief in this statement drew him to believe that big businesslacked compassion. It is because of this that he is abandoned by Biff anddisowned by Happy, left babbling in a toilet. It is this flaw which allowed him to die a slow death and played the greatest role in hiseventual downfall. The third largest flaw in society (particularly American society) isthe lack of a social safety net.
A net which identifies people in troubleand seeks to remedy their situations. A body identifies people who are adanger to themselves and others and treats or sedates them. Couple thiswith a pension plan and medical care, and Willy Loman might not have methis premature end. He would have had no reason thanklessly for a company,in a capacity that was “killing” him. Instead, he could have receivedpsychiatric help and recovered from his condition. It was the direct result of the flaws in society which led Willy tohis undoing. It was the greed that was ever-pervasive around him that ledto his unhappiness. It was the lack of compassion from society whichallowed his unhappiness to flourish and which eventually consumed him. Inthe end, it was the lack of a social safety net which failed to save him from himself.
