The Role of Time (History, Memory, The Present, The Future) In Death of a Salesman

History

Historically, Miller uses time to show changes occurring in people’s lives as time goes by. Willy, his job, and family are an example of this change, as witnessed in the play. Although set a few hours to the death of the main character Willy, Miller uses the history of the family in the form of flashbacks, engaging the audience. In these instances, the author addresses the significance of a person’s past in determining their future. To Miller, the main character, his history as a salesman, his relationship with the son and his ambitions then act as a performance indicator for his progress in his subsequent days. As an ambitious young salesman, Willy believed that it was his own efforts that determined his success. As such, he put numerous efforts in his sales job, becoming relatively successful by conquering New England.

In the dream, he remembers congratulating his two sons Biff and Happy at their young age washing his cars. Then, he was proud of his son Biff, who was then a footballer, winning a scholarship. In his conversation with Linda, he praises his son’s past, “Remember how they used to follow him around in high school? When he smiled at one of them, their faces lit up” (Miller 5). Presently, however, Biff and his father had an antagonizing relationship. After Biff’s realization that his father had had an affair with another woman, he lost his respect for his father, dropping his ideologies and considering him as a failure. He considers his father’s ideologies as resulting from his personal failures. On the other hand, his father considers Biff a failure after failing to complete high school. “Biff Loman is lost. In the greatest country, in the world a young man with such — personal attractiveness, gets lost” (Miller 5). The once proud father who had high hopes for his son Biff changes, seeing his son as a failure who could not sit for a simple math test.

In his dream, Willy remembers his boastful character after successful business trips. Despite these successes, he was desperate for wealth. He considered himself as a potential rich man, who was only unlucky, as people did not like him very much. Similarly, Charlie in Fitzgerald (213), while having dinner at the Lincoln’s boasts about his riches. Out there, he argued, there were better opportunities than back home.

In his dreams, Willy remembers how by putting his family first, had turned down his brother’s request of finding their father in Alaska. At seventeen, however, Ben left home on a mission of finding their father, only to end up in Africa, where he discovered a gold mine, returning as a wealthy man at twenty-one. “Opportunity is tremendous in Alaska, William. Surprised you’re not up there” (Miller 35). Further Ben adds, “Why, boys, when I was seventeen I walked into the jungle, and when I was twenty-one I walked out. And by God I was rich” (Miller 35). Fitzgerald 213).

Memory

luate people’s dreams, living standards, and ambitions in their yesterdays and their current situation. By criticizing the American Dream, Miller compared people’s thoughts about their lives in the early 1940s and later days. The capitalistic nature of people’s thoughts then and the allure of materialism saw every American dream of wealth and success. Owning businesses and becoming wealthy were dreams crowding people’s thoughts during Miller’s time. However, as time went by, looking back to their lives, fewer people had achieved their dreams. Willy, years after conceiving the idea of owning a more successful business than his neighbor Bernard owns, he still an average American. He could not afford all the bills; leave alone the thought of success. The effect of this was resentment of his own charisma, as he argued, “he was less liked by people” (Miller 22). The desire for competition saw him believe that Biff would be more successful than their neighbor’s son, who was brighter in school. In his comparison, Willy believes “Bernard is not well liked, is he?” (Miller 16). With time, Biff lost hope in his son, who dropped out of high after flanking a math test. Hemingway 17).

However, few managed to achieve these dreams, driving their lives into jeopardy. Biff also has a memory of his father with the mistress in the hotel room, which changed his mind and perception about his father. This shows the unwillingness of Americans to forgive each other for mistakes. Further, he remembers opportunities he lost of being wealthy, culminating to his desperate state of affairs. He resents his failure to follow his elder brother Ben to Alaska in search of their father. Although Ben never found their father, he discovered goldmines in Africa, becoming a wealthy man at a young age. Fitzgerald (210) supports the nature of life in the 1920s, where most of the people travelled all over the world in search for wealth. In a conversation between Charlie and Wales, Wales makes it known to Charlie that while Campbell, though the sick man was in Switzerland and George was back in America to work. Hotels in Paris, and especially the Ritz bar had become less crowded with fewer people taking time for leisure.

The present

his daydreams, he likes looking at his young family, full of joy and highly ambitious father. In his dreams, Willy envisions a successful Biff as a businessperson, owning a big business and a happier Linda. He appears more comfortable in these dreams rather than his reality. Not a single instance is Willy content with his present. His son Biff dropped out of school and never considered taking business as a career, just as his father wished. He was still an ordinary man in America, with dreams of owning a business and becoming successful. (Miller 130). Willy wished that his son Biff could be as successful as his neighbor’s son and have a better relationship with his son. This, however, was not true, as Biff could not forgive his father for having cheated on his mother, Linda with a receptionist. In Fitzgerald

The future

“Bernard is not well liked, is he? (Miller 16)” he asks his wife, Linda. Further, he hoped that one day, he would be a rich man, providing his family with everything they required. Charlie also hopes to give his daughter a good future, by being a good father. His turning down of the two friends who appeared at the Lincoln’s during lunch was an indication of his desire to reform. Desperately, he wanted to win the love of his daughter back, hoping for a reunion in the future. On the contrary, Harry does not see any future ahead. As he lay on his cot with a wounded leg, he hopes the death would catch up with him. Contrary to this, his wife believes that the rescue aeroplane would come from Nairobi, taking them back to Paris. Hary’s lack of hope in the future compares to Willy’s decision to crush his car towards the end of the play. Although the motives behind the two men’s actions differ, their ultimate result is the same, tragedy.

In conclusion, time plays a significant role in the play, “Death of a Salesman” as Miller analyzed the character of Willy and his desire to live the American Dream. While historically, miller uses time to gauge the performance of people by considering their present and their dreams in the past, the present on the other acts as an indicator of the extent to which the person remained true to achieving the dream. Memory, on the other hand, keeps the dreams alive within a person, so that they do not die within the course of a person’s life. Finally, the future gives a Hemingway and Fitzgerald.

Works Cited

Fitzgerald, F S. Babylon Revisited, and Other Stories. New York: Scribner, 1960. Print.

Hemingway, Ernest. The Snows of Kilimanjaro, and Other Stories. New York: Scribner, 1961. Print.

Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. Oxford: Heinemann, 1994. Print.