Chapter Summary and Analysis

Act I

The play begins with a flute memory that is reminiscent of nature, as the curtain rises.

The salesman’s house is surrounded by tall, towering apartment buildings and looks fragile and small, in comparison. It has a dreamy quality about it and a rudimentary table, three chairs and a refrigerator serve as kitchen props, center stage. At the back, a curtained entrance leads to the living room; to the right of the kitchen is a bedroom with a single athletic trophy on the pedestal above the bed. Behind the kitchen, is a small bedroom for the boys, just above the living space.

The entire apartment setting is mostly transparent for the audiences to see, like a doll house. In front of the house is a small area that nearly comes up to the orchestra—this is where the protagonist Willy has most of his imaginings and city scenes, enacted.

Willy enters the stage, looking aged and exhausted, carrying two large sample bags and sighs as he puts his bags down. His wife Linda wakes up, in the bedroom, and listens for more noises from her husband—who she respects, adores and admires for his resilience and ambition. She suffers through his tempers and little cruelties because she can only admire his “American dream” from a distance—she lacks the courage to pursue it herself.

Linda calls out to her husband and is surprised to hear that he is back earlier than expected. Willy admits that he was too tired to drive, despite having a coffee on the way. Whilst Linda thinks Willy needs a mental break from work, the latter is convinced that he is merely physically tired from having just come back from another long road journey.

Willy still has the imagination to admire the countryside scenery, even though he has been driving along these roads for over thirty years. Linda urges him to ask for a transfer to New York but he is adamant that he is needed in New England.

Linda is pleased that her sons, Happy and Biff, left together for a double date and shared the camaraderie of brothers but Willy is curt and dismissive—he knows his sons will inherit the house that he spent a lifetime to earn.

Biff has been admonished by his father for not earning any money and now, Willy and Linda argue over this—a typical representation of a father’s firm hand versus a mother’s nurturing love. Biff is thirty-four years old and has been a farm-hand, with odd jobs, for the past decade, and makes less than thirty-five dollars a week—this is reasonably upsetting for his father.

Willy cannot accept that a young man in a growing America—replete with opportunity, is “lost” even though he is not lazy and has a lot of personal attraction. He wonders why his son is back home again. Willy now resolves to get his son a salesman’s job and reminisces how, as a teenager, Biff’s personal charm drove people to him like a magnet.

Willy and Linda reminisce a time when their home and locality was a haven of trees and seasonal flowers and is now just a concrete giant replete with apartments. Willy states that over-population and competition are killing people and the land.

Willy suddenly looks upon his wife Linda with tenderness and asks her not to worry too much about him; he also tenderly acknowledges her as his “foundation and support”. He also has a change of heart towards his son Biff, saying he can return to Texas if he so wishes; after all, even men like Thomas Edison had a late start in life.

Linda plans a warm Sunday afternoon drive and lunch which sends Willy’s thoughts into a memory spiral—he remembers driving a red Chevrolet which did eighty thousand miles. As his memories of the past collide with facts of the present—we are given our first peep into Willy’s psychological chaos.

Biff and Happy wake up and come downstairs, onto the stage. Biff is the older, more worn out and less successful brother whose self-assuredness diminishes with each passing day. Happy, on the other hand, is tall and powerful; he does not understand or accept defeat and is hugely popular with women.

The two brothers discuss their father’s mental degeneration and how it affects his driving when his mind wanders. They worry but also make fun of their old man. They move on to remembering their childhoods and more recently, women who would love to know what the two brothers talk about.

Biff complains to Happy that their father has misgivings about the former and he wishes he could change that; Happy reassures his older brother that this is merely because their father Willy worries about his sons’ future. Biff admits that he has tried a variety of job profiles—from a shipping clerk to a salesman, and in all forms of employment he found the same rigor of being a cog in the wheel—a cog that sweats all year to afford a two-week vacation and is always trying to get ahead of the other person. Biff seems to be critical of the competitive nature of society and the constant striving it entails.

He admits to having tried his hand at twenty to thirty odd jobs and whilst he enjoys being a farmhand—it keeps him close to nature, every spring he is overcome with self-doubt and inherent ambition. This is when he returns home and falls, hopelessly, into despondency.

Happy calls his brother a poet and an idealist and Biff’s self-doubt becomes more acute. He considers getting married as a way to “settle down” and to shoulder his responsibilities as a man. He asks his brother if he is content and successful, which Happy denies.

Happy has a decent job, an apartment and his choice in women and yet, he is lonely. He compares himself to his senior manager, who too, cannot settle.

The two brothers dream of opening their own ranch and indulging in honest, physical labor. Happy admits to being unhappy about taking orders from weaker men and having to consistently lower his ideals. However, before doing as his heart desires, Happy wants to prove to his company that he is far more capable and intelligent than his boss. The American dream is so deeply etched in the minds of these young men that they would rather prove a point to the world than chase their own true dreams.

Both brothers wish to settle down with a woman. Happy desires a partner who has character and resistance, like their mother Linda. He dislikes senior executives in his company so much that he has been physically intimate with the fiancées of three of them and yet, even though it disgusts him morally, it also gives him a sense of accomplishment over these men.

The two brothers fall asleep to sounds of their father mumbling and Biff reluctantly promising Happy that he will try to find a job in their hometown and also have an honest, open conversation with Willy, their father.

In the night, Willy is talking to himself, having an imaginary conversation with his older son Biff. He is warning his son about women, teaching his boys how to clean a car properly and discussing trimming a tree that threatens to fall on their roof. Willy’s imaginary conversation seems to be happening with a much younger Biff and Happy. He buys his sons a punching bag and jokes about football practice—all along in the conversation, Willy is also imparting principles of honesty and diligence to his children.

He describes his travels to the cities of Providence, Waterbury, Boston and a few other towns. In this imaginary conversation, we are introduced to Bernard—who seems to be Biff’s classmate. Bernard is worried that Biff spends too much time on football and does not study enough—he is convinced that the Maths teacher will fail Biff and the latter will be unable to graduate. However, Biff has scholarships to three universities so no one in his family has any patience for Bernard’s fears.

Willy tells his teenage boys that he is grateful that they’re handsome and tall because looks matter in business and help one get popular; if you are well-liked, you will be successful without a doubt.

Biff orders his waiting friends to do chores for him—signaling again, his popularity; but one must remember that all of this is a figment of Willy’s imagination or memory.

Young and hopeful Willy and Linda discuss Willy’s earnings for the week and household expenses; Willy vows to make even more money the next week. Even though he lied to his sons about being popular himself, Willy now shares his misgivings with Linda—he is fat and invisible to people and has to work a lot harder than other salesmen to earn his keep. Linda convinces him that he is the handsomest man in the world to her and very lucky to be idolized the way he is, by his young sons.

Whilst the husband and wife talk, another character known as “the woman” makes an appearance. She is seen laughing and dressing in front of the mirror. She talks to Willy—she is his imaginary lover in Boston—who admires him and chose him for his humor.

Typical of most travelling salesmen who spend time apart from their families, Willy too has a lover. He buys her silken stockings and returns home to see his doting wife mending her own stockings since they are expensive. Willy gets upset about this, perhaps from a feeling of guilt.

Bernard enters the room again, worried about Biff failing his exams. Linda too complains that Biff is rough with girls whilst Willy defends his son, in anger, saying that he at least has spirit and a strong personality. But, he is also angry and wishes to whip the boy to punish him.

Happy now walks into the room, out of Willy’s imaginary world, and shakes his father out of his reverie. Willy complains about Linda exhausting herself with waxing floors; he wishes he had left for Antarctica with his brother Ben, who started out as an ordinary man and ended up owning diamond mines.

Willy explains to his younger son that diligence and a go-getter attitude are what bring success in a man’s life. They are interrupted by their neighbor Charley who complains of noise; Happy leaves the two men alone.

Charley and Willy bicker over a game of poker; Charley offers Willy a job to which the latter takes offence and then begins to complain about Biff taking off for Texas again. Clearly, Willy is worried about his older son.

Willy is reminded of his brother Ben, looking at Charley. He hallucinates often and it seems to be a symptom of his tiredness. He shares the news of Ben’s death in Africa which he heard of only a few weeks ago. He has no inheritance from Ben as the latter had seven sons.

Simultaneously, as Willy and Charley converse, Ben is also seen on stage. He is a memory, of the last time Willy saw his brother. Ben is seen looking around Willy’s apartment, complaining that he only has a few minutes. In their last meeting too, Ben had urged Willy to come to Alaska with him.

Willy’s hallucinations are so bad that he is confusing reality—his conversation with Charley with that of an old memory and conversation with Ben.

Charley leaves in frustration at Willy and the latter is left alone in his thoughts of Ben. His memory is of a time when Ben had just returned, a wealthy man, from Alaska. He showed little reaction to the news of their mother passing but he is cordial and happy to meet Willy’s wife Linda.

Ben shares that although he had set out for Alaska, in search of their father, he had ended up in Africa. He was only seventeen at the time but was a rich man in a mere four years’ time, having made his money in diamond mines.

Their father left when Willy was young so Ben, on his urging, shares memories of their father. He was a big man who played the flute; this explains why in the play, the flute plays in all of Willy’s scenes. He was a wild-hearted man with a passion for travel. He was an inventor too.

Linda does not appreciate Ben teaching his sons how to box and is fearful of the man. Willy’s reverie continues with thoughts of his son and wanting approval and appreciation from his brother Ben.

In reality, Linda walks into the living room but Willy is still talking to Ben, in his imaginary world. Willy has seen hard economic times and had to pawn a diamond watch too—a gift from his brother.

As Willy walks around his yard, talking loudly to himself, Linda is joined by her sons Biff and Happy who are greatly worried by their father’s crumbling mental health. Linda confesses that Willy’s behavior is the worst when Biff comes home and she gently tries to persuade her son to settle down and find a job where he can grow.

Linda also mildly threatens her son—if he cannot respect his father, he is not welcome in their home anymore. She professes intense love for Willy—and cannot see him broken. Biff, however, is disgusted by his father’s behavior and how he treats Linda; he compares his father to the neighbor Charley which only makes his mother angrier.

Linda recognizes Willy’s mental degradation as exhaustion and a fear of failure—combined, unfortunately, in his old age. She tells Biff that Willy has worked for his company for thirty-six years and now, they gave him a pay cut.

Linda compares her sons to the cruel company Willy works for. When Willy was young, he was encouraged and treated well—he made money; now, in his old age, no one gives him any business. His sons too, doted on their father when he was young and now, one is a philanderer whilst the other refuses to get a steady job. Both sons feel terrible now about their parents’ situation.

Linda also admits that Willy has tried to commit suicide, multiple times—by crashing his car and by causing short circuits in the house electricity connection. Linda is a strong wife who says nothing but sees and understands everything. She plays along with Willy’s whims but the stress of it has aged her and turned her hair gray.

Happy too turns on his brother Biff, who seems to be the cause of all of Willy’s misery. Biff relents, and agrees to get a job in the city—to keep his father alive.

The bickering within the family continues with Willy and Biff fighting again. Happy comes up with a business proposition that would keep them all together and also make them rich—he toys with the idea of selling sporting goods under the banner of the Loman Brothers and his idea is met with great enthusiasm from all, especially his father Willy.

Biff also wants to go see Ben Oliver—a successful businessman in the city and Willy is enthused by this idea. However, he keeps yelling at Linda for interrupting their conversation, which greatly irks Biff. In the end, Willy walks away, subdued and guilty.

As the family wishes each other good night, talk returns to Biff becoming a great and successful man. It seems that Willy’s hopes for the future are entirely reliant on his older son’s success.

Analysis

In Act I, we are introduced to all the major characters of the play—the ageing salesman Willy Loman, his devoted wife Linda, his older struggling son Biff and his younger, charming and successful son Happy.

Willy’s principal focus in life is to see his sons’ become great, respected and wealthy men—a dream that he was unable to fulfill for himself. Willy is over sixty years old, and works as a travelling salesman on commission. Despite giving thirty-six years to his company, he no longer receives a salary but is expected to work on commissions—like an intern or a new employee.

Willy and Linda have a typical marriage—they have been in love and have now accepted each other fully. Their financial woes, worries for their children, tenderness for each other all stem from having aged together. But they also bicker and Willy tends to yell at Linda often. Linda takes it, stoically, and makes excuses for her husband because she sees his stress and his hurt at being a failure. The “American Dream” that Willy has chased so long and so desperately is now out of his hands. It is but natural that he then expects his sons’ to achieve it.

Willy is mentally diminishing—he talks to himself, imagines people in the room when there are none and has been increasingly suicidal. Linda shares with her sons that Willy’s supposed “accidents” with the car have actually all been attempts at suicide which failed. He has also tinkered with the gas stove in the house kitchen so that he might die in his sleep, from the fumes. Linda is an extraordinarily strong and supportive partner because whilst she has caught his trick, she doesn’t let him know that she knows. She quietly supports Willy but also protects him from harm.

Biff and Happy, their sons, are young men in their thirties and as most siblings at that age, they get along. Whilst they converse about women and their own younger days—both men also share their insecurities about having to work in a world where money is the only goal; having to work under managers who do not deserve their respect and having to pursue careers that ensure professional growth and money, but make a man miserable in living a life of fulfillment.

Happy still looks up to his older brother Biff, who was a respected athlete in high school. Now, the tables have turned. Biff is a farmhand, who has tried dozens of jobs and failed whilst Happy is doing well at work and can afford his own apartment and is very popular with women.

Both the Loman brothers are handsome, tall and physically well-built. This is a source of great pride for Willy but also makes him unhappy that his sons do not use their personalities to their advantage. Willy remembers his own older brother Ben fondly but is hugely upset at himself for not having followed in his brother’s footsteps—again, the unhappiness stems from not having made the same financial wealth as his now deceased brother, who owned diamond mines. It is no wonder then that Willy spends a lot of his time in an imaginary world, where his brother is the principal focus of his attention.

Linda is upset with her sons for always irking their father’s fury and stress. She thinks they are no better than the company which has so coldly put one of their oldest employees on a pay cut. The company wanted and appreciated Willy Loman as a young man but it does not care about him anymore. This is similar to how the two sons doted on their father when they were children, but are now only aware of his faults. When Willy Loman was a young and successful salesman, his sons would run to his car when he returned home after a long period of travelling and they would do their father’s bidding—whatever it may be. It is ironic then, that now, Biff is annoyed and constantly walks out of the house every time Willy asks him to use his personality and get a stable job.

This family’s story is the story of many families and individuals; not everyone tastes capitalist success of the kind that is sold to each individual in America. However, their story is not glamourized or openly shared with society—hence, everyone thinks they’re the only misfits in a world where material success is of utmost importance.

Willy and Linda are unable to see their son’s joy in working on a farm; they only see it as a temporary job with less money, not worthy of respect and not worthy of their son who was a famous athlete in school. Perhaps the problem is also that whilst parents goad on their children, they tend to also put their own aspirations onto them—without respect or understanding for their children’s individual personalities and aspirations.

Biff eventually gives in to the idea of finding a proper job in the city, to protect his parents from ignominy and financial crises; this greatly enthuses a tired Willy and a worried Linda. Biff only agrees, primarily because he himself sees his father’s suicidal tendencies worsening with time.