Death of a Salesman Blackout
In the play, “Death of a Salesman” written by Arthur Miller, we see an insight on Willy Loman’s life. Willy is a travelling business man based out of Brooklyn, New York. He has a wife, Linda, and two kids named Biff and Happy. In the play, we find out that Willy is getting paid based on commission instead of salary. This is not good for Willy as it turns out that he is behind on his monthly bills. He still feels like he has a place in his work as he is ‘well known’ and that he is the ‘New England man’. The boys come to visit and they decide to change their lives by trying to get a loan by Biff’s old boss, Bill Oliver. Willy is excited when Biff tells him this as Willy believes that Biff did not live up to his expectations. Willy also has series of flashbacks as well throughout the play, showing us what has happened before. From seeing his successful brother Ben, to seeing his mistress and how Biff had caught them. These flashbacks show us the downfall of Willy Loman. When Willy decides to build a garden after a dinner with the boys, he comes back in and argues with Biff, until Biff shows how much he loves his father. Once everyone is going to bed Willy has a flashback of Ben telling him that he was leaving. Willy then proceeds to go to his car and speed off. Willy got into a car accident and died. Willy always wanted a Death of a Salesman, where he can work at home and have a funeral where a lot of people show up, this isn’t the case. This play fits the genre of tragedy because Willy wasn’t supposed to die in a car crash. His dream was to have a home and a big garden as well as guest homes for his two boys to visit on the weekend. He also wanted the Death of a Salesman, where everyone he knew such as clients and coworkers would come, but then again, this doesn’t happen. Most people that read this play feel empathy for Willy because of the downfall of his life. The Blackout poem that is shown is a representation of Biff. Biff is telling us what his father used to do when he was younger. Biff is shown crying as he is sad to see his father gone, even though his father wasn’t always happy of his decisions in life, he still loved him.