Stimpson 1

Lydia Stimpson

Brother Bailey

English 314

11 December, 2017

The Visions of a Salesman

Throughout the play, Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller artfully manipulates time by

luring Willy Loman from reality to relive various moments of his life via flashbacks. In the

beginning each imagining may seem random, however, the timing of these moments quickly set

a definitive pattern. Any time Willy is provoked by an inconsistency in his life or feelings of

inadequacy, he involuntarily falls into imaginings of past events. Most of the time these events

are vital moments that originally contributed to his unrealistically high expectations for what life

would be like as a salesman. Willy always dreamed that at this point in his life as a salesman he

would be well known, respected, and even loved; however, he has fallen short of his own

expectations. As a result, when he finally refocuses back to the present he is left with a

heightened sense of dissatisfaction regarding the current state of his life. By understanding the

causes behind Willys distorted view of the ideal life, the audience will be able to better

understand why he makes the choices he makes. Seeing his past and how he has changed or

remained the same creates a more realistic and relatable character. Though there is no question

that Miller intentionally includes these remembrances in order to convey his message with more

clarity than he would be able to otherwise, there is still debate over the meaning behind the

flashbacks themselves.

This theme of misguided expectations and inflated reputation is not a new notion for

Arthur Miller, but rather a recurrent thought. He explores it further in his 1953 play, The
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Crucible. In this play, the town of Salem, Massachusetts has been overcome with accusations of

witchcraft and adultery. The only thing the main character, John Proctor, must do in order to live,

is confess. However, just as Willy Loman views death as more courageous than admitting his

self-perceived failure, John Proctor also chooses death over sacrificing his reputation in a public

confession of guilt. Through both plays Miller uses prideful characters over-developed ideals of

self to explore the boundaries of status. Though John does not fall victim to flashbacks as Willy

does, they are united in their fragmented and unrealistic view of life. Throughout each play both

men exhibit flaws within their reasoning. Priorities are shifted, and maintaining a certain faade

or reputation precedes everything else in life. Miller is able to prove time and time again that he

is capable of handling characters with realistic struggles. Death of a Salesman is not his first, or

only attempt in exploring problems of self-deception and the perceived importance of status. In

fact, he has consistently addressed these issues throughout his career.

In his article, Consciousness, Literature and the Arts, Gunasekaran Narayanan

concisely states, when Miller narrates through flashbacks, it has much greater psychological

complicity, for what is revealed is not simply the memory of an earlier event, but a new

experience, a fusion of past and present (Narayanan 1). These remembrances are not as simple

as a past mindset in comparison with Willys current mental state and situation. Instead, these

moments act as cancerous tumors which grow and dominate when dwelled upon. Rather than

dealing with the present situation and then moving on, Willy forces himself into deeper agony by

comparing what he feels his life should be like with what it currently is, proving that he is

discontent with his status and how others view him. Ultimately, his life becomes a jumbled mess

where the distinctions between past and present become increasingly vague with each imagining.
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Narayanan continues on in his analysis of the methods Miller uses to convey the

fragmented state of Willys mind. He explains that this is achieved by intermittently exposing the

audience to Willys stream of consciousness. Rather than only knowing what is said out loud, the

reader is able to hear what Willy thinks and remembers as well. This chaotic perception of Willy

would not be so plain to see if Miller had not chosen to include all the internal dialogue, which

ultimately provides a more complete, if not biased, understanding of the story. Additionally, in a

logistical sense, the flashbacks enable Miller to create a well-developed backstory that flows well

throughout the play. This avoids awkward story-telling and gaps in time, and creates a more

cohesive and complete understanding of Willys life for the reader.

It is also interesting to note that his imaginings maintain an additional and devastating

role in Willys unhappiness. In his article, Happily Self-Deceived, which comes from the

academic journal, Social Theory & Practice, Mike W. Martin comments, Psychologists

generally assume that people know when they are happy and when they are not. If so, there is

little possibility of self-deception about whether we are happy (Martin 30). However, he

continues on to argue that perceived happiness does not necessarily correlate with true happiness.

Though Willy Loman may pretend to be happy in certain moments throughout the play, his

flashbacks are actually causing him to deceive himself into a state of denial. He unrealistically

expects that he will be able to have an easygoing life as a beloved salesman, without actually

being required to work hard. Ultimately, Willy is harming more than helping himself by

repeatedly pretending all is well.

Martin continues to address this topic further. Throughout the article, he discusses

various views regarding self-deception and questions its possible effects. While some may

believe self-deception to be harmless, Martin is not quite so sure. When debating over the
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definition itself, Martin argues, Mere ignorance and false belief do not suffice, for in addition

there must be some inner dynamic at work whereby we avoid distressing topics, evidence, or

inferences (Martin 30). It is the avoidance of reality that Martin believes is harmful. How can

one truly be content when they are continually searching for happiness? Martin views this

pursuit of happiness as a troubling paradox, rather than an ideal to strive for. As it is when

capturing a butterfly, the moment we begin to chase it, it escapes our grasp.

As a second attribution to Willys despondency, Stephen Lawrence, an English professor

and researcher at the Carnegie Institute of Technology, takes a closer look at the devastating cost

that comes with the compulsive need to be successful within societys terms. He comments,

This is just why Willy, who is so acutely aware of what it is that makes him happy

opening the windshield and looking up at the sky, building a porch with his own hands,

planting seeds in a garden, working in the outdoorsremains to fight in a world which

allows a man to succeed only to the extent that he give up what makes him most himself:

his freedom, his personality (that which makes him more than just a dime a dozen), his

belief that there is something worthwhile about being well liked, his love for his son

which finally he feels he can prove only at the cost of his life (Lawrence 548).

His visions, rather than being harmless remembrances, have actually caused Willy to doubt and

regret the moments that make him happiest. They have made him painfully aware that not only

has he failed by the worlds standards, but he has even failed to create a life he himself is proud

of. He realizes that his past choices have prevented the one thing he wants mosttrue joy and

comfort. And instead of striving to reach that ideal in the present, his despair is only increased by

his denial as he continues in past habits. Even at the point when Willy is ready to give up his

life, he maintains his belief that somehow there can be a link between love and success (549). In
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his final moments, Willy persists in maintaining the misconception that success in life is dictated

by the degree to which we are well-liked.

Arthur Miller intends for the reminiscences in Death of a Salesman to be far more than

random moments of erratic behavior. Instead, they possess greater importance as symbolic

parallels to the inconsistencies in Willys life. Though Willys imaginings are involuntary, in the

long run they become ineffective coping mechanisms that prove to be detrimental to his mental

state. Ultimately, the symbolic use of these flashbacks emphasize Willys fragmented self-view

which is caused by the inconsistencies between his expectations for himself, and what he has

actually become. By using this method of storytelling, Miller is able to create a commentary on

the danger of self-deception and choosing to dwell in the past rather than live in the moment.

The very first experience Willy has with a flashback is so delicately nuanced it almost

escapes the attention of the reader. Rather than being dragged down into an extravagant

remembrance, as he experiences later in the play, Willy spends the first few moments in and out

of normal conversation with his wife, Linda. In fact, all Miller writes of the first imagining is,

He loses himself in reminiscences (Miller 16). This is one of the few times in which the

audience is excluded from the workings of Willys imagination. However, the exclusion does not

necessarily mean the audience is completely oblivious. Enough context clues have been given

within the surrounding conversation that its fairly easy to conclude that he was lost in thought

regarding his son Biff, who turns out to be the primary source of his flashbacks.

Immediately before this recollection Willy and Linda are discussing Biffs career choice.

Disappointed that Biff has not taken the road that leads to becoming a salesman, Willy declares

that, Biff is a lazy bum! (16). Directly after that he also makes the comment, Theres one

thing about Biffhes not lazy (16). Here, Miller has drawn attention to the inconsistencies
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contained within Willy. Not only are his estimations of Biff contradictory, but in addition, his

consciousness appears to take a brief leave of absence as he slips into a private moment of

reminiscence. This scene is anything but stable as Willy skips around topics and moods, never

deciding on any one thing for certain. While the flashback was only mentioned momentarily, it

plays a vital role in introducing the first of many inconsistencies in time.

After his conversation with Linda is finished, Willy can be heard talking out loud to

himself for quite some time that night. As the scene continues he falls deeper and deeper into the

remembrances of an afternoon of talking to Biff and Happy when they were in high school.

While this starts out as a very happy scene with each boy throwing in playful quips and loving

remarks throughout, it quickly darkens as the vision changes to the end of a scandalous afternoon

spent with The Woman in Boston. As the woman is preparing to leave the hotel room Willy asks,

You picked me? to which The Woman replies, I did [pick you]. Ive been sitting at that desk

watching all the salesmen go by, day in and day out. But youve got such a sense of humor, and

we do have such a good time together, dont we? (38). This change in scenery adds a second

dimension to Willys mental state. Just a few moments prior, Willy was more than happy to bask

in the love of his sons. He felt happy and fulfilled. He was making plans, and focusing all his

energy on teaching his sons what he could. At the moment, it felt like enough; however, as a

stark contrast, the mistress gives Willy a different sense of satisfaction and fulfillment. In a sense

he sees the affair as the crowning sign that he has truly become a successful salesman. In his

eyes she has picked him, rather than it being the other way around. Perhaps this is the ideal life

that Willy truly wants.

By grouping these contrasting scenes together, one of fulfillment within family relations,

and the other depicting the salesmans ideal of being successful and loved, Miller is able to
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explore the incongruous expectations Willy has for life. The happy scene depicts what his life

was like for a time, while The Woman represents the life of a salesman that he has always

coveted. He has deceived himself into thinking he could preserve his role of contented father,

while also maintaining the perfect persona of a well-liked salesman. This is further emphasized

as Willy is extracted from the imagining and he comes to realize that he is standing alone in the

kitchen. Perhaps the vision fooled Willy into believing he was happy for a time, but self-

deception can only go so far. Ultimately, he will still have to confront reality when he realizes

that he is no longer surrounded by an adoring mistress, and sons who idolize him. His efforts

have failed, and he is still struggling to cope with the reality of that fact. After viewing this

moment, the reader cant help but wonder if Willy is truly happy, and what it would actually take

for him to be content.

The next imagining follows so closely, it nearly overlaps. Upon realizing he has faded off

for a time, Willy becomes sensitive to his failures. He gets angry when he realizes Linda has

recently waxed the floors, because he knows how hard she struggles to maintain their home,

which brings him a sense of guilt after thinking about his mistress. Additionally, his friend

Charley shows up and offers him a job. After a second blow to his pridenot only is he

incapable of properly taking care of his wife, but now hes offered such a humiliating jobWilly

is dragged down into another vision. This time his brother Ben shows up. However, instead of

the vision maintaining its identity as a completely separate scene, Willys imaginary

conversation with Ben weaves in and out of his real conversation with Charley, which

complicates the understanding of time for the reader. Once again Willys imaginings disrupt the

natural flow of time and parallel the state of his conflicted mind.
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Willy has such high expectations for himself, yet he is unwilling to actually work to make

anything positive happen in his life. He prefers to wait for outward success to fall into his lap

rather than to act as an agent who makes things happen. Evidence of this can be found in Willys

description of an experienced salesman he met back before his career started. Dreamily, Willy

commented, When he diedand by the way he died the death of a salesman, in his green velvet

slippers hundreds of salesmen and buyers were at his funeral (Miller 81). From the moment

Willy decided to become a salesman his eyes have been set on the finish line. He never had a

realistic understanding of how to build a life that would eventually rise to that moment, rather he

wanted his entire life to be spent lounging in slippers, beloved by everyone.

As the culminating moment of the play, the audience finally understands why Biff and

Willy had such a terrible falling-out. In this final remembrance of the past Willy thinks back to

the day when Biff came to find him at the hotel. Biff failed his math class, so he needed Willy to

help him convince his teacher to change his grade and let him graduate. With every ounce of

trust and faith, Biff tells Willy, Oh, Dad, good work! Im sure hell change it for you! (118).

However, soon after, Willys mistress walks out of the bathroom and the big secret is revealed.

Biff stared, open-mouthed and horrified at The Woman, while his father tried to shoo her out

(119). In regards to his failing grade he then decides, Never mind He wouldnt listen to you

(120). Within a matter of seconds Biffs perception of and devotion to his father have changed.

As this imagining concludes and Willy is brought back to the present, the audience sees a

rare consistency in the overlapping stories. This is the only vision that has remained true in real

time. While all the others have possessed exaggerated contentment and success, this

remembrance fuses flawlessly with the present circumstances. It helps the reader finally
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understand the current tensions between Biff and Willy, rather than seeing only Willys personal

thoughts and desires.

Coincidentally, this is also the first time the reader can rely on what Willy has seen

because Biffs actions support the content of the vision. Professor Robert Cardullo from Izmir

University of Economics further questions the truthfulness of Willys narration. Cardullo points

out, For who is to say that Willys flashbacks are objectively true, as they are always assumed

to be? Might they not be the subjective or expressionistic visions, even hallucinations, of a

feverish mind on the verge of collapse, instead of a mere device for explicating past events that

the Lomans otherwise do not, or do not want to, talk about? (Cardullo 127). This idea has never

been more apparent than when Willy is found in a frazzled state in the garden of his home during

his final scene. This time rather than having a normal imagining where some version of former

Ben is present, Willy is hallucinating that a contemporary Ben is physically standing in his

garden, having a real-time conversation with him. In this moment Willy has reached the

culminating point of his self-imposed misery. As he sporadically plants vegetable seeds

throughout the yard, Willy tells Ben, What a proposition A man cant go out the way he came

in, Ben, a man has got to add up to something. You cant, you cant Ben moves towards him as

though to interrupt. You gotta consider, now. Dont answer so quick (Miller 126). Not only is

the conversation intended to simulate a possiblerealdiscussion between two brothers, but

Miller has gone so far as to include stage cues that integrate seamlessly and add to Willys

realistic hallucination. He has officially lost touch with what is real in life and what is imagined,

thus clearly exhibiting what Cardullo calls, a feverish mind on the verge of collapse (Cardullo

127).
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Willy goes on to plead, Now look, Ben, I want you to go through the ins and outs of this

thing with me. Ive got nobody to talk to, Ben, and the woman has suffered, you hear me?

(Miller 126). In addition to the memories he has relived, Willy now believes that they are more

real than the world around him. He somehow concludes that Ben is the only person he can trust

to talk to. Rather than turn to his willing wife, friends, or sons, Willy consults with a figment of

his own imagination.

In the end, after a confrontation with Biff, Willy Loman decides to commit suicide by

crashing his car. Surprisingly, rather than being motivated by depression, Willy takes his own

life because he believes it to be courageous. He thinks his family will see his sacrifice and love

him for it, and that Biff will be financially secure and ahead in life. As always, Willy refuses to

look at the situation from more than one angle. He stubbornly chooses to only view the positive

outcomes, and in turn acts irrationally. Though death is not traditionally viewed as a form of

success, Willy saw it as his only way out of the miserable life he was living. As Charley says in

the final moments of the play, Nobody dast blame this man. You dont understand: Willy was a

salesman. And for a salesman, theres no rock bottom to the life (138). Sadly, this was the one

time he was willing to actually do anything to improve his situation.

Though its impossible to know whether or not Willys visions were always accurate, it is

clear to see that their presence in his life contributed to his ultimate demise. He could have

chosen to learn from past mistakes, and built a better life. Instead, he let his regrets carve their

way into his well-being until they overcame all rational thought and ability. Memories took the

place of real conversations, and history repeated itself just as Willy feared most. His obsession

for the ideal life of a salesman overshadowed his natural desires and tendencies. Because of these

inconsistencies, in the end Biff comments, He never knew who he was (138). Though Willys
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big dream of being a salesman may have seemed harmless at the start, Miller proved that his

miserable indecisiveness would actually become his silent killer.

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Works Cited

Cardullo, Robert. "Death of a Salesman and Arthur Miller's Religious Identity." Journal of

Modern Jewish Studies, vol. 11, no. 1, Mar. 2012, pp. 127-130. EBSCOhost,

doi:10.1080/14725886.2012.646706.Martin, Mike W. "Happily Self-Deceived." Social

Theory & Practice, vol. 35, no. 1, Jan. 2009, p. 29. EBSCOhost,

byui.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search-ebscohost-

com.byui.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=36576927&site=eds-live.

Martin, Mike W. "Happily Self-Deceived." Social Theory & Practice, vol. 35, no. 1, Jan. 2009,

p. 29. EBSCOhost, byui.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search-ebscohost-

com.byui.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=36576927&site=eds-

live.Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. Penguin Plays, 1999.

Narayanan, Gunasekaran. "Stream of Consciousness Technique in Arthur Miller's Death of a

Salesman." Consciousness, Literature & the Arts, vol. 14, no. 1, Apr. 2013, p. 1.

EBSCOhost, byui.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search-ebscohost-

com.byui.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edo&AN=100965110&site=eds-live.

Stephen A. Lawrence, author. "The Right Dream in Miller's Death of a Salesman." College

English, no. 7, 1964, p. 547. EBSCOhost, doi:10.2307/373244.