1. Death of a Salesman
Contrast between 1940s and 2000s Salesmen,
And a brief history from 1880-2013
By Josh Deutscher
“And it’s a measly manner of existence. To get on that subway on the hot
mornings in summer. To devote your whole life to keeping stock, or making
phone calls, or selling or buying. To suffer fifty weeks of the year for the sake of a
two-week vacation, when all you really desire is to be outdoors, with your shirt
off. And always to have to get ahead of the next fella. And still — that’s how you
build a future.”

2. A Brief History: 1880-2013
1883: Brooklyn Bridge in New York City finished
1885: Statue of Liberty gifted by France
1891: Birth of Basketball
1899: Invention of Aspirin
1901: First vacuum cleaner invented
1914: Beginning of World War I
1919: 19th Amendment gives women the right to vote
1924: Invention of Television
1932: Amelia Earhart is first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic
1939: Beginning of World War II
1945: U.S. drops atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
1949: NATO Established
1954: First atomic submarine launched
1958: NASA Founded
1962: Cuban Missile Crisis
1963: JFK Assassinated
1971: VCRs Introduced
1984: Poison gas leak in Bhopal, India
1986: U.S. bombs Libya
1991: Soviet Union collapses
1993: Use of the internet grows exponentially
1997: Scientists clone sheep
2001: 9/11 terrorist attack in the U.S.
2005: YouTube is launched
2009: Barack Obama becomes first black U.S. president
2010: Haiti is hit by devastating earthquake

3. Linda Loman: Housewife, Mother
Willy Loman: Age 63,
Father and Husband, Salesman
The Loman Family
Of 1949
Happy Loman: Age 32,
Willy and Linda’s Younger Son
Biff Loman: Age 34,
Former High School Football Player,
Willy and Linda’s Older Son

4. Willy Loman is the father of two boys, Biff and Happy
Loman, husband to Linda Loman, but above all, a
salesman. He is highly delusional, proud, and
unstable; he often has flashbacks of memories of his
children and his wife when he was proud of them.
During conversations, he often imagines his dead older
brother, Ben, giving him advise and speaks to both his
imaginary mentor, and his real family and friends at the
same time. Willy often talks about what it means to be
successful, and in his mind, it is more important to be
well liked than honest, hard working, or respected.
Many times throughout, Willy uses forgotten
subconscious thoughts as argumentative points with
Linda and his son Biff. For example, he is angry with
Linda whenever she mends stockings because it Willy Loman
reminds him of Linda’s stockings, which he gave to a
woman that he had an affair with. He is often angry “And when I saw that, I realized that selling was the
with his son Biff for wasting a few years since high greatest career a man could want. ’Cause what could
school jumping from job to job, and later expresses his be more satisfying than to be able to go, at the age of
anger at Biff for not attending summer school and eighty-four, into twenty or thirty different cities, and
ending his football career, even though it was pick up a phone, and be remembered and loved and
helped by so many different people?”
discovery of Willy’s affair that caused this. Willy’s
-Willy Loman
purpose in his life, according to him, is to be successful
and raise his sons to be successful to the standard that
he considers success.

5. “I stopped in the middle of that building and I
saw – the sky. I saw the things that I love in this
world. The work and the food and time to sit and
smoke. And I looked at the pen and said to
myself, what the hell am I grabbing this for?
Why am I trying to become what I don’t want to
be? What am I doing in an office, making a
contemptuous, begging fool of myself, when all I
want is out there, waiting for me the minute I
say I know who I am!"
- Biff Loman
“Pop, I’m nothing! I’m nothing, Pop. Can’t you
understand that? There’s no spite in it any
Biff Loman
more. I’m just what I am, that’s all.”
- Biff Loman
Biff Loman is Willy and Linda’s eldest son, and was a big football star in high school. However, when
Biff visited Willy in Boston while he was away on business to tell him how he flunked Math, Biff
discovered his father with another woman. Devastated by his father’s true nature, Biff didn’t take
summer school and drops out of high school, losing his big opportunities and scholarships. In the next
several years, Biff tries to stay home as little as possible and works in the west as a farm hand, and
jumps from place to place and job to job. He steals a suit, among other things, in order to impress
Willy and ends up in jail for three months.
Biff often changes from lying to try make his father proud, and hating him for the things he’s done and
the person Biff has become because of his father’s influence. In the end, Biff becomes tortured by
who he is and what he’s becoming, and finally reveals the truth to his family about himself and his
father.

6. Linda Loman
Linda Loman is Willy’s wife and the mother of their
two sons. She is often concerned with the affairs of
her sons but ultimately supports and calms her
husband when Biff and Willy argue. Willy often yells
at her when she makes small, upbeat comments
about what Willy is speaking about, telling her to not
interrupt. She does her best to love and care for her
husband, despite how he treats her, and lectures
her sons when their arguing worsens Willy’s
condition. She’s also is the first to discover that
Willy has tried to commit suicide and uses it to
convince Biff and Happy to stop the arguing with
their father.
Happy Loman
Harold “Happy” Loman is Willy and Linda’s
younger son, who is much more stable than both
Willy and Biff, but also more dishonest and
preoccupied with women. He is generally
supportive of his mother and father, but often
spends his time focused on women and ways to
advance to a greater position in his job, rather
than the poor condition Willy is currently in.
Happy is also fairly optimistic and ambitious,
especially while around his parents and while
keeping the peace between Willy and Biff.

7. Important Side Characters
Charley: Bernard: Uncle Ben:
Willy Loman’s next door neighbor Charley’s son and childhood Willy Loman’s dead older
who jokes with Willy while they friend of Biff and Happy. Willy brother, who Willy admires
play cards together. He lends pictures him as a nerd, but turns and often hallucinates about.
Willy money because he isn’t out to be much more stable, In his daydreams, Willy asks
making much on commission as independent, and successful than Ben to tell him what to do and
a salesman anymore. Willy’s sons. to inspire his sons, just like
Ben inspires him. To Willy,
Ben is successful in everyway
Willy wishes to be.
“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.”
- Uncle Ben

8. Why Success is so Important to Willy Loman
Willy is a hard working salesman, but he directly associates popularity with success; the concept that by
being well liked, the “sky’s the limit”, and that it doesn’t matter what you say, but how you say it, and who you
know. Willy is partially correct in that presentation is very important in the business world, and people you
know can open up opportunities, but it is always better to be honest and respectable rather than following
conformity in order to be popular. Happy is like his father in many ways; willing to be dishonest to get ahead,
trying to make others think well of him, and being loose with women. Willy’s two life goals have been to be
successful, and for his sons to be successful. The lie that Willy and Happy have been living, however, is that
being well liked isn’t everything. Willy thinks that Biff and Happy will be ahead of Bernard in the business
world, but Bernard, like his father Charley, ends up respected and successful, even though he isn’t well liked.
Willy’s desire to be successful is tied with admiration of his brother, Ben, and uses his thought of being well
liked to become his role model, and wishes the same for his sons.
“Without a penny to his
name, three great
universities are begging for
“I bet he’d back you. him, and from there the sky’s
‘Cause he thought highly the limit, because it’s not
of you, Biff. I mean, they all what you do, Ben. It’s who
do. You’re well liked, Biff. you know and the smile on
That’s why I say to come your face! It’s contacts, Ben,
back here, and we both contacts! The whole wealth
have the apartment. And of Alaska passes over the
I’m tellin’ you, Biff, any lunch table at the
babe you want…” Commodore Hotel, and
- Happy Loman that’s the wonder, the
wonder of this country, that a
man can end with diamonds
here on the basis of being
liked!”
- Willy Loman

9. Linda Loman: Middle aged
wife, works at home
The Loman Family
Of 2013 Happy Loman: Young
Willy Loman: Salesman
business man, meets a lot of
women
Biff Loman: Young man, doesn’t know
what he wants to be yet. Troubled past.

10. 1950s: Sales in the 1950s were struggling to recover because of World War II starting
to settle down, but sales of the black and white television were through the roof, as 77%
of households purchased one.
1960s: Luxury items began to become more popular with musicians such as Elvis and
the Beatles becoming relevant. The invention of color TV was also a big seller for
salesmen.
1970s: Video games started to become a bigger market as new popular games, such as
Space Invaders and Pong, entered the scene. In households, things like the new VCR and
the such started to be produced and sold cheaper, and being a salesman became more
relevant.

11. 1980s: Much of the developed world lost the desire to purchase and consume luxury
items as the world entered a global recession. In the latter half, the markets began to re-
stabilize and salesmen started selling new popular items, such as home console video
games and the personal computer.
1990s: The global economy had recovered but the places where a salesman could
make a living were decreasing. Sales were becoming more popular over the internet and
over the phone as new technologies were developed, such as the portable CD player.
2000s: Salesmen have become all but extinct in the 21st century, an age of smart
phones and tablets, online buying, and over the phone transactions. The few salesmen
that remain stick to car dealerships and television infomercials as the sheer intensity of
consumer buying has skyrocketed in a digital age.

12. The Evolution of the Salesman: 1949-2013

13. Works Cited:
Miller, Arthur, and Arthur Miller. “Death of a Salesman” 1949. Print.
Shmoop Editorial Team. "Death of a Salesman Respect and Reputation
Quotes Page 1" Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 2
Apr. 2013.
SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on Death of a Salesman.” SparkNotes.com.
SparkNotes LLC. 2002. Web. 14 Mar. 2013.