Death of a salesman theme
The Trap of his illusions and dreams is so strong that even his son Happy is infected with it.
DEATH OF A SALESMAN THEME FREE
He was destroyed by the ravages of Free Enterprise and Democracy because other people were younger and more vigorous than he was soon taking over. People no longer have the ravenous appetite they once had for the goods he peddled and he is so locked into the old program that he could not stake out new selling territory or try and make a new source of income. Willy is obviously on the short end of that stick. However, this had to come to an end eventually. People were buying up stuff and trying to live a good life to forget the nightmares they endured during the war. Consumerism was at its height at the end of the war. Death of a Salesman was set toward the end of the post-war boom of the late-forties. While the depressing theme can be pressed hard upon Willy and by extension his unfortunate sons the theme is also a commentary on the ‘American Dream’ as it existed at the time. His only saving grace is that after decades of paying for it, he finally owns his house and his wife continues to love him and supports him, for reasons known only to her. The reality is that he is a decrepit old man with no future and is forced to live a life of penury because of his past failures. He still thinks he is the successful up-and-coming salesman from his children’s High School days a good provider, a successful father, and sharp enough to have a mistress on the side well on the way to becoming like his idol. His efforts have been so dry and fruitless that he has even stopped going to some of the places where he used to ply his trade because no one buys anything from him there. This is a disconnect with reality since he HAS no worthwhile prospects. When he talks to Charley he speaks as if he is at the top of his game and that his prospects are gleaming more than ever. Speaking of Charley, when he asks for loans from Charley he keeps referring to some future deal or event which will make him rich. He is so poor that he is forced to ask Charley his friend for loans just to pay for his insurance. Earlier in his life he even uses stockings as an incentive for the woman he used to be unfaithful to his wife with. This is severe because stockings are one of the wares he sells. He is so poor that despite being a Salesman he cannot even afford to give his wife stockings and she is forced to darn stockings. Contrast this with Willy in the “Present” of the play. When that man died at the age of Eighty tens of thousands flocked to his funeral to give their last respects. Obvious this man was rich and well respected.
All the guy had to do was make phone calls. He doggedly clings to the story of his idol salesman who was so successful that he didn’t even have to go to his clients to make sales anymore. Willy is trapped in his belief that there is a future to be made in being a Salesman. However, the true Ostrich with his head in the sand is Willy. Even Linda is still trapped in her belief that her husband is a good provider. Happy gives the illusion of being happy and successful when in fact he has a little achievement to substantiate his claims of being a successful person. For example, despite years of being a bum and a loser, Biff is still referred to by his father as a leader of men and a future football star. Locked in their beliefs, they are unable to transcend them even when the reality is already so far separated from the illusion. The Theme of Death of a Salesman is one of the Loman family trapped in its illusions.