Death Of A Salesman

Question 1

Themes - The American Dream

Answer 1

• The play exposes the american dream as an illusion that breads false hope and despair
• Willy believes success is about being well-liked, rather than hard work and skill -> has a fixation with qualities of attractiveness and likeability compared to hard work
• Charley and Bernard (who willy childishly dislikes) prove that success comes from hard work, whereas Willy’s approach fails.

Question 2

Themes - Reality vs Illusion

Answer 2

• Willy constantly confuses past and present, shown through flashbacks and hallucinations
• Willy’s refusal to acknowledge Biff’s true nature leads to misunderstandings and conflict

Question 3

Themes - Betrayal

Answer 3

• Willy’s life follows a pattern of abandonment, which increases his despair, his father leaves him and Ben at a young age, depriving Willy of a financial and historical legacy
• This leads Willy to desperately want his family to conform to the american dream - he raises his sons with false expectations as a failute to conform with reality
• Willy’s affair shatters Biff’s belief/respect for his father - Biffs rejection of Willy’s values

Question 4

Theme - Capitalism and Exploitation

Answer 4

• The play highlights how businesses disregard workers when they are no longer useful
• Howard Wanger’s treatment of Willy demonstrates the inhumanity of corporate culture

Question 5

Motif - Mystic Figures

Question 6

Motif - Seeds and Growth

Answer 6

• Willy’s planting of seeds represents his last attempt to leave a legacy
• The barren garden reflects the futility of his efforts and his failure as a provider

Question 7

Motif - Stockings

Answer 7

• The mending of Linda’s stockings symbolises Willy’s guilt regarding his affair
• The new stockings he gives to his mistress contrasts with Linda’s worn ones, highlighting his betrayal

Question 8

Motifs - Ben and the Jungle

Answer 8

• Ben represents the success Willy never achieves, reinforcing his delusions
• The jungle is a metaphor capitalist opportunity, where only the ruthless can succeed

Question 9

Willy Lowman

Answer 9

• the deeply flawed but sympathetic protagonist whose delusions and insecurities drive the plot
• obsessed with being ‘well-liked’, equating popularity with justice
• trapped in an illusion of past glory - unable to adjust to modern realities
• life defined by abandonment

Question 10

Linda Lowman

Answer 10

• devoted but tragic wife, enables willy’s fantasies of love
• most emotionally grounded character, aware of willy’s decline but unable to stop it
• unwavering support for willy contrasts with his self-destructive delusions

Question 11

Biff Lowman

Answer 11

• once idolised by willy, biff realises his fathers ideas of success is a life
• his moments of anagorsis occurs when “a dime a dozen”, rejecting willy’s expectations
• symbolises freedom with delusion, as he chooses to forge his own path rather than follow his fathers doomed dream
  -discovery of willy’s affair is a pivotal movement, shattering his illusions about his father and fuelling years of resentment

Question 12

Happy Lowman

Answer 12

• unlike biff, happy remains trapped in willy’s dream - striving for empty success
• his womanising + obsession with status mirrors willy’s flaws
• tragic in his own right as he refuses to acknowledge deeper issues within the family