Death of a Salesman (Penguin Plays) by Arthur Miller
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Book Reviews of Death of a Salesman (Penguin Plays)
Book Review: The Life and Times of Willy Loman
Summary: 5 Stars
Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman," while confusing when just read through the text alone, is an awesomely crafted play that takes drama to the next level. Now being interested in plays, I decided it was time to read this one, being that this is considered a classic by many (which I could easily see why). Reading this play makes me want to write plays. Reading something like this makes me believe that I can some up with something great too. I am glad that I finally took the time to read it.The story is about a broken-hearted salesman, Willy Loman. He is a man no longer living in the real world but is mostly trapped in his own delusional world. He can't let go of the past no matter how hard he tries, and it's eating him up inside. He wants to believe that his family is a shoe-in for greatness, no matter how lonely and sad his wife is, or how much of a player/swinger his youngest son is, or how confused and anti-business his oldest son is. You put all of this together and you get a glimpse of an American tragedy that is so powerful and sad that it makes you think these things happen all the time. From Page 1 you know it's not going to end on a happy note, but you decide to take the path anyways. And a path worth taking it is.
I admit that I was confused at certain points, because through the text alone it is very hard to separate Willy's reality from his imagination. There are places where Willy departs from reality and goes back to the past and it makes it very hard for us to figure out what is going on if we're only reading it. When I saw the movie version after reading this, I was able to appreciate the play more. I understood what confused me and I was able to figure out what was happening. Despite some confusing moments it is still a tremendous play that is very involving from start to finish. You are able to sympathize with the main character, and with the rest of the characters as well. You know a writer has done the job right when you are able to feel or care for every single character (or at least almost all of them, being there will be a few minor characters you're really not supposed to care for that much. This is something that always happens in the world of fiction and is to be expected). Arthur Miller did an amazing job of writing such a realistic and emotionally driven play. The characters were realistic as well as the dialogue.
"Death of a Salesman" is more than just simply a stunning play; it is a beautiful portrait of a family dealing with hardships and troubles. As soon as I began the play I was unable to put it down until it was finished. If you want to read a great play and are interested in great works of drama, this is the one for you.
(Note: If you are confused by the play, see the movie afterwards. It really helps.)
Book Review: Missed Dreams and Unrealized Hopes
Summary: 5 Stars
Money and materialism are strong themes in Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman". One gets a real sense of this from beginning to end. In the first scenes, already the importance and pursuit of wealth and money are key in understanding what the play is about, and we see this in the frustrated dialogue exchange between the husband and the wife. The main character (the husband) is an aging door-to-door salesman named Willy Loman, who is obsessed with the American dream of financial prosperity as epitomized through his exceptionally successful big brother, Ben, but he's hounded by bills because he doesn't make enough money on commission; he says to his wife Linda: "I just ain't makin' the sales I used to." Therefore, he's forced at one point in the play to go to Howard, his employer, for a raise to get a more convenient position at the sales firm as a desk sales clerk. But Howard doesn't believe in Willy's ability to make enough money for him and refuses to give him the job, or any raise. In fact, he fires Willy on the spot. "Go home, Willy," he says, "take a vacation", in an attempt to get Willy out of his office. Willy feels humiliated and more desperate than ever. He goes straight to his friend and neighbor Charley to borrow money but refuses to take a good job offer from him because he's too proud to be dependent on Charley for his income. "Here's the 500 dollars, Willy," says Charley, to which Willy is quick to respond: "You know I'm good for it, Charley." Willy is hounded by debt and he begins to wish he had gone to Alaska with Ben as a young man and made a fortune mining for gold, but instead he settled for the life of a salesman and its hard, unrewarding occupation. Willy is full of regret and feels he has wasted his life. Throughout the play, from beginning to nearly the end, Willy is left wishing his older son, Biff, had succeeded as a football player and been accepted at a college, but he came just short of graduating and that was the beginning of the end of Willy's dream of fulfilling his own materialistic dreams through Biff. And he is constantly reminding Biff of his failure and blaming himself for it just as much. "If only you had passed your math, things would have turned out different," he says to Biff in the hotel room after he's caught by Biff in adultery. But instead, Biff, for whom Willy had such high hopes, turns out to be an even bigger failure than himself. This play is one big story of missed dreams and unrealized hopes in terms of money and the materialistic pursuit of wealth in a capitalist system.David Rehak
author of "A Young Girl's Crimes"
Book Review: Death of a Salesman
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a wonderful book about a play written by Arthur Miller. The drama consists of many diffrent events that occured in the story; as in the struggle of a man named Willy Loman to support and want the best for his family, especially his sons. Willy a committed, hard working, aging, middle class man, always had a dream; to be rich and successful. He has very high expectations and strived to strike it rich and famous as Ben; his long time friend did. Every time Willy was at his low point in life; he had flashbacks of Ben saying: he was only 17 when I entered the jungle and struck it rich, by the time I became 21. This phrase is sort of a metaphor for Willy to push himself, and make something of himself.
Willy went through alot of hardships as in paying expenses off, borrowing money, hiding things from his wife, getting fired, his sons; that are old enough to work, and are lazy to go out in the real world. Biff and Happy are pushed or literally forced into his fathers' "want" of them being bussiness men which they were really not into. Because of the fact Charlie and Ben was.
So this was a puzzling sitution. Willy has had suicidal thoughts and repeatedly fell asleep at the wheel while driving. Linda his worried wife just tries to comfort him. And gives him the up most support possible. She is really dedicated to keep the family together, but of course sometimes because of issues that is not possible.
Willy always went out with a positive outlook when he went out looking for a job. It sort of seemed like he developed too much convidence. That made him realize that definately he got the job. And sure, even arguing with the boss to get his point across.
But however sad to say poor Willy didn't get the job. From that point on he felt depressed and streesed he has bills to pay. but no money so this took a struggle. Although when Willy was offered a job for lower pay he refused it cause his expectations were to high in his head.
Willy basically was a dreamer with a wild imagination. Because of the way things didn't go the way he wanted them to go. He came out of the door in his house. Sat in his car and drove into a brick wall.
Easily speaking commited suicide. The outcome became a tragic tradegy. It was sad that it ended up to death. As a result I think Willy was a hero. He was brave,outgoing and persuasive. At least he tried and had motivation to motivate his sons. To being somebody and the best that you can be. I personally give this book a rave review!
Book Review: The quintessential American play
Summary: 5 Stars
Why has the play moved so many people? Why does it seem to say so much about America? Why is it so great?
One, I think it is because it is about the American dream of success. And it is about the tragic failure of its realization. And it is because it is about the whole question of honesty-dishonesty in the pursuit of success. And about family life and love , and what is really important in this.
It is too because the work is written in a beautiful, restrained American colloquial. The language of the book is a quiet poetry which moves with great great lines.
I think I saw the play on television, and perhaps in the movies long before I read it. The image of Lee J. Cobb as a floundering Willy Loman, a confused hero struggling for his life and dignity remains in mind. I believe it was Mildred Dunnock who played the faithful wife, the betrayed wife, the loving wife so effectively.
The story of Willy , the traveling salesman at the end of his career, fighting to maintain himself on a ' shoestring' and a
'story' cannot help but move. The real complication is Willy's relation to his family to the great promise of his son Biff who somehow fails in the same way his father does. Too much show, too much promo , too much trying to make it seem more and better than it really is.
And then too of course the painful reason, the central event told in flashback of the young man's coming to see his father on- the -road and discovering him with another woman in a shoddy hotel room. The sexual and familial betrayal is too a part of the tragedy which is of the family as a whole.
What Miller does however is not simply depict a faulty, failing Willy Loman he leads us to feel sympathy for him. This is the American dreamer (" A man's got to dream boy , it comes with the territory") And his wife's understanding even at the end also moves and adds a dimension of dignity . It seems to tell a lesson beyond success and failure i.e. that human dignity and respect should not depend upon ' making it' but must be given to each and every human being , and perhaps most especially precisely to those who fail.
This is a heartrending deep and beautiful play. And however haunted we may be by the fall of Willy Loman we come away from it with the sense that his life too, that each life too has a special meaning of its own.
Book Review: Death of a Salesman (Josh S)
Summary: 5 Stars
Arthur Miller, a profound playwright who truly shows his amazing talent when he wrote Death of a Salesman. The story shows the depression that most Americans faced after World War 2 as they searched for their purpose in life. He paints a grey picture of life that we even still face today.
As a student in High School I am searching far and wide to find out what I want to do with my life. In his story he shows how we are all so caught up in the American dream to become rich and famous but when we finally realize that life isn't always going to be that way it tears us apart. The main character, Willy Loman, is an old salesman and realizes that everything he has worked so hard for has never amounted to any of his expectations. He says "I have worked all my life paying for a house that nobody lives in anymore" and this is saying that he works to keep up a house that when all is said and done the kids are moved out and you miss out on the most wonderful part of your life. Miller was also letting us know that every decision in life is important in the molding of our character. Willy states he once knew a salesman who became so famous that he worked from his home and when he died had a huge funeral with all his buyers and everyone attended his funeral these statements show why he decided to become a salesman. The reason for his unhappiness was because he received his happiness when people knew him and gave him a simple smile as he walked into the room. You cannot look for other people to make you happy because people will fail you at some time and you will be forgotten.
Death of a Salesman has taught me to enjoy every aspect of life because, it is short and precious. Life is not to be taken for granted and neither is anyone in your life. The people around you will come and go but your family will always be there for you. The one thing Willy did have was a loving wife that cared so much for him but he overlooked her kind, gentle, and compassionate heart. I recommend this play to anyone from High School and older because it is very easy to read and comprehend. The book will give you a newfound appreciation for everything around you. One of the most important things to remember is that you have one life to live and every decision you make has a consequence whether it will be good or bad you must think before you act on it.