Death of a Salesman

1. Death of a Salesman Quote Identification

2. Who said it? • “I'm the New England man. I'm vital in New England.” • Willy Loman • What theme applies to this quote? • False Pride

3. Who Said it? • “The man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead. Be liked and you will never want.” • Willy Loman • Theme? • Appearance

4. Who said it? • “I don't say he's a great man. Willie Loman never made a lot of money. His name was never in the paper. He's not the finest character that ever lived. But he's a human being, and a terrible thing is happening to him. So attention must be paid. He's not to be allowed to fall in his grave like an old dog. Attention, attention must finally be paid to such a person.” • Linda Loman • Theme? • Gender Relations, Success / Failure

5. Who said it? • “Before it's all over we're gonna get a little place out in the country, and I'll raise some vegetables, a couple of chickens…” • Willy Loman • Theme? • American Dream

6. Who said it? • “You can't eat the orange and throw the peel away - a man is not a piece of fruit.” • Willy Loman • Theme? • Abandonment / Madness

7. Who said it? • “After all the highways, and the trains, and the appointments, and the years, you end up worth more dead than alive.” • Willy Loman • Theme? • Success / Failure

8. Who said it? • “I realized what a ridiculous lie my whole life has been.” • Biff Loman • Theme? • Lies and Deceit

9. Who said it? • “I've got to get some seeds. I've got to get some seeds, right away. Nothing's planted. I don't have a thing in the ground.” • Willy Loman • Theme? • Dreams / Hopes / Plans

10. Who said it? • I'm gonna show you and everybody else that Willy Loman did not die in vain. He had a good dream. It's the only dream you can have - to come out number-one man. He fought it out here, and this is where I'm gonna win it for him. • Happy Loman • Theme? • American Dream

11. Abandonment • His father deserted Willy Loman at a young age. • Ben’s expedition to Africa • Biff and Happy abandon Willy at the restaurant • Willy abandons his family by taking his own life

12. Betrayal • Biff betrays his father by not succeeding in life • Willy betrays Biff and Linda by having an affair • Howard betrays Willy by firing him • Willy’s mind betrays him throughout the play

13. Character Analysis • Willy Loman • Willly Loman is an elderly salesmen lost in false hopes and illusions. • As Willy has grown older, he has trouble distinguishing between the past and present - between illusion and reality - and is often lost in flashbacks where much of the story is told. These flashbacks are generally during the summer after Biff's senior year of high school when all of the family problems began.

14. Character Analysis • Linda Loman • She is always trying to stand between Willy and her sons to ease the tension. She is protective of Willy. She knows that Willy is tired and is a man at the end of his rope - the end of his life and, as he put it, "ringing up a zero." • Linda knows that Willy has been trying to commit suicide, but does not intervene because she does not want to embarrass him. She lets it continue because she is not one to cause trouble.

15. Character Analysis • Biff Loman • Biff was a star football player in high school, with scholarships to two major universities. He flunked math his senior year and was not allowed to graduate. He was going to make the credit up during the summer but caught Willy being unfaithful to Linda. This shock changed Biff's view of his father and everything that Biff believed in. • Biff finally sees the truth and realizes that he is a "dime a dozen" and "no great leader of men." He tells this to Willy who is outraged. Willy shouts, "I am not a dime a dozen! I am Willy Loman and you are Biff Loman!"

16. Character Analysis • Happy Loman • Hap has always been the "second son" to Biff and tries to be noticed by his parents by showing off. • In the end of the play, Hap cannot see reality. Like his father, he is destined to live a fruitless life trying for something that will not happen.

17. Character Analysis • Charlie • Charlie is the Loman's next door neighbor, and owns his own sales firm. He and Willy do not get along very well, but they are friends nonetheless. Charlie is always the voice of reality in the play, trying to set Willy straight on the facts of Willy's situation, but Willy refuses to listen.

18. Character Analysis • Bernard • Bernard is Charlie's goody-two-shoes son who was a childhood friends of Biff. Bernard always studied and eventually became a successful lawyer, something that Willy has trouble dealing with.

19. Character Analysis • Uncle Ben • Uncle Ben:Ben is Willy's dead brother who appears to Willy during his flashbacks and times of trouble. Ben was a rich man who made it big in the diamond mines of Africa. Willy once was given the chance to become partners with Ben, but refused and instead choose the life that he currently lives.

20. Flashback • The use of flashbacks is fundamental to the structure and understanding of the play. • Each flashback is somehow related the present. Very often, the contents of the flashback offer essential background knowledge for understanding why the present-day problems in the Loman family are occurring. • For example, when Willy is thinking about Biff and Biff's problems, Willy is transported to the summer of Biff's senior year. The events that took place in the past expose for the reader the situations that have led up to the present-day boiling point in