“Death of a Salesman” – Setting

09
Apr
2019

“Death of a Salesman” – Setting

The visuals for this activity were created by Brandon, Connor, and Christian from Mr. Ford’s ICT 11 and 12 classes.

A person’s home is often very showing of who they are as a person and what they have gone through in life. This is particularly true in the main character of “Death of a Salesman”, Willy Loman. The audience is introduced to Willy as a failing traveling salesman near retirement. One can see that as his career, “the grass [in his garden] don’t grow anymore, [he] can’t raise a carrot” (Miller 17). The failure of trying to grow any vegetables symbolizes the current state of his career, there was once a bountiful harvest but now there is nothing left for him to reap. The state of the garden represents how Brooklyn is now being developed into a city without a “breath of fresh air in the neighborhood” (Miller 17) and how Willy feels boxed in since “the street is lined with cars” (Miller 17) with tall apartment buildings. It can also be representative towards Willy’s relationship with sons Biff and Happy. Even when he is “[remembering] those two beautiful elm trees…” (Miller 17) that was once in the backyard, his recollection of this time period is centered around the time that he and Biff “hung the swing between them” (Miller 17). The exclusion of Happy, even when his backyard was at its peak, shows that there was always a disconnection between him and his younger son. However, there was once a point in time when he and his older son, Biff, had a healthy relationship with one another. Willy’s broken relationship with his younger son is further shown in the Kitchen. Willy’s favoritism is made even more apparent by the fact in the kitchen “there is a kitchen table … [but only] three chairs” (Miller 11) despite there being four members of Willy’s family. This can be seen as symbolic of there only being enough room in the family, in Willy’s mind, for him, his wife, and their eldest son, Biff, despite both sons being adults now. This is shown clear in their house through the “a silver athletic trophy…” (Miller 11) which stands “On a shelf over the bed” (Miller 11) in the parents’ bedroom “to the right of the kitchen … furnished only with a brass bedstead and a straight chair.” (Miller 11) Biff’s success in his younger years is something that Willy holds onto which is why he chooses to have things like trophies from his older son’s past still decorating his own room years later instead of the boys’ bedroom where the “two beds are dimly seen … [with] a dormer window” (Miller 11). A person’s home is often very showing of who they are as a person and what they have gone through in life. These details of Willy’s home are all small hints as to why Willy’s mental health is starting to deteriorate in the present.

Quote #1

“As more light appears, we see a solid vault of apartment houses around the small, fragile-seeming home.” (Miller 11)

Quote #2

“The kitchen at center seems actual enough, for there is a kitchen table with three chairs, and a refrigerator.” (Miller 11)

Quote #3

“At the back of the kitchen there is a draped entrance, which leads to the living room.” (Miller 11)

Quote #4

“Behind the kitchen, on a level raised six and a half feet, is the boys’ bedroom, at present barely visible. Two beds are dimly seen, and at the back of the room a dormer window.” (Miller 11)

Quote #5

“To the right of the kitchen, on a level raised two feet, is a bedroom furnished only with a brass bedstead and a straight chair. On a shelf over the bed a silver athletic trophy stands. A window opens onto the apartment house at the side.” (Miller 11)

Quote #6

“The entire setting is wholly, or, in some places, partially transparent.” (Miller 11)

Quote #7

“Willy: ‘The way they boxed us in here. Bricks and windows, windows and bricks!'”(Miller 17)

Quote #8

“Willy: ‘The grass don’t grow anymore, you can’t raise a carrot in the backyard… Remember those two beautiful elm trees out there? When Biff and I hung the swing between them?'” (Miller 17)

Quote #9

“‘Can’t we do something about the walls? You sneeze in here, and in my house hats blow off.'” (Miller 42)

Quote #10

“Willy: ‘Did you see the ceiling I put up in the living-room?’ Charley: ‘Yeah, that’s a piece of work. To put up a ceiling in a mystery to me…'” (Miller 44)

Brooklyn (Appearance Fact #1)

New concrete-and-glass apartment buildings hitched up against the water near East River and Bushwick Inlet Parks.

Brooklyn (Appearance Fact #2)

In the 1950s, Brooklyn had a playground for young people. The streets of brooklyn are thronged with people.

Brooklyn (Appearance Fact #3)

The Narrows, separating Brooklyn from the borough of Staten Island in New York City and crossed by the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge.

Brooklyn (Appearance Fact #4)

Brooklyn’s water borders are extensive and varied, including Jamaica Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.

Brooklyn (Appearance Fact #5)

To the east of Brooklyn lies the borough of Queens, which contains John F. Kennedy International Airport in that borough’s Jamaica neighborhood, approximately two miles from the border of the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn.

Photo #1