Death of a salesman Themes
Storyboard Text
- The American Dream and the Purchase of success
- Opportunity
- Delusions and failures
- I'm not gonna put my money on someone who can't play cards !
- Willy’s blind faith in his version of the American Dream, the purchase of success, leads him to his psychological decline and then his suicide. Happy Loman is talking to Biff at their father's graveside and Biff claims he never really knew him. The belief in the American dream is the only legacy he left to his sons. In his grief and anger, Happy is determined to pursue and fulfil it.
- The American Dream and the Purchase of success
- Willy's main lost opportunity is not to have gone with his brother to Africa where he could have known wealth and success. But here, the boss of his salesmans' company, Howard Wagner, gives Willy an opportunity to be modern and to be a more successful salesman while Willy asks for a job in New York. Unfortunately, Willy does not see this modernity as an opportunity to improve himself professionally and gets fired. Howard knows that Willy is not a match to modernity and sees it as an opportunity to find new hands.
- Opportunity
- Willy and Charley are playing cards at Willy's. Uncle Ben, Willy's brother, enters but he's just a projection of Willy's memory. Willy talks to Ben and at the same time to Charley which creates confusion and makes Willy angry : he accuses Charley of cheating. This anger comes from Willy's lack of success and regrets of the life he could have had if he had work with his brother in Africa.
- Delusions and failures
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- Biff and Happy are visiting their parents and sleeping in their old bedroom. As they try to fall asleep, Biff shares with Happy his own version of the American Dreamwhich is owning a ranch out West. Happy’s reference to the Loman Brothers suggests that the dream of owning a ranch is a fantasy but also an expectation they can hold on to. They realize that they are both very unhappy with their lives.The scene shows that both boys have learned the American Dream from their father by always being in the purchase of success and even though Happy is more successful, he's not content with his life.
- "The Loman's brothers, eh?"
- Bernard, Charley's son, and Biff both had similar opportunities, but one decided to exploit it, while the other did not. In this scene, Bernard talks with Willy and mentions that he has a case to argue in Washington, D.C. Willy lies by replying that Biff is working on a very big deal in town but then he breaks down and asks Bernard why Biff’s life seemed to end after his big football game. Bernard mentions that Biff went to see Willy in Boston, but after he came back, he burned his sneakers with the University of Virginia’s insignia : this is the symbol of his rennouncement to his opportunities because of what he found out there. Bernard asks him what happened in Boston that changed Biff’s but Willy take this as an accusation. In the novel, Charley and Bernard foreshadow a successful family because of the opportunities they took in the contrary of Willy and Biff.
- When the young Biff finds out about Willy's affair with the Woman, he feels so betrayed that he drops on Willy’s great ambitions for him . Biff’s inability to succeed in business accentuates his estrangement from Willy. When, at Frank’s Chop House, the dinner where Willy meets his sons, Willy finally believes that Biff is on the cusp of success, Biff shatters Willy’s illusions and, along with Happy, abandons Willy, babbling alone in the restroom.
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