کوثر

 

Summaries

Miller divided Death of A Salesman into only three sections: Act I, Act II and a short Requiem. For purpose of examination and explanation, we have divided the work into seven smaller portions, or "chunks." We started a new chunk when new themes, characters, or plot points are introduced. The following table of contents gives the approximate page numbers of the start of each chunk

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Chunk 1

Willy Loman, an elderly failing salesman whose salary has been taken away and works on straight commission, returns home from a sales trip that he could not complete. He is weary and tired of life on the road. His two grown sons, Biff and Hap have returned home to visit. Biff has lost his way in life and has returned home after 15 years of drifting. Hap, who lives in his own apartment is also home to visit.

Willy has a conversation with his wife, Linda, as he gets ready for bed. Willy cannot understand why Biff is lost, with no job and no money to his name. Willy reminisces about the past and the reader sees for the first time that Willy sometimes lapses into another era, when he talks about opening the windshield on his car. Linda suggests Willy go to the kitchen have some whipped cheese before coming to bed.

Meanwhile, the boys are having a conversation in their old bedroom. They discuss their father and the fact that he is becoming senile in his old age. They have been on a date, and through their conversation we see that Hap holds himself to low moral standards. They talk about success, their hopes, and all the while Willy is downstairs having a conservation with no one. Willy is immersed in one of his flashbacks, where he relives conversations and scenes from the past. The boys are embarrassed for him, and the scene transforms into a fall day, 15 years ago

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Chunk 2

Chunk two begins as a transition from Willy standing in the kitchen having a flashback as an observer sees it, to the flashback as Willy sees and lives it. The reader is taken back to Biff's senior year of high school. Biff is the captain of the football team, and he is full of verve and life, much different from the drained and confused present-day Biff.

Biff is in the yard practicing his passing with a new football. Willy asks him where he got it. "… I borrowed it from the locker room," he says. All of the Loman's are good with their euphemistic view of situations. "Coach'll probably congratulate you on your initiative!" replies Willy.

Willy and Linda talk and Willy tells Linda that he feels he is foolish to look at, and this is possibly why he doesn't sell as much merchandise as he could. During this scene, Willy has a brief remembrance of a woman he has had an affair with. She is a young woman who he meets on his sales trips, and he gives her Linda's stockings as presents.

As Willy comes out of these guilty thoughts, Bernard, the next-door neighbor boy, comes in and tells Willy that Biff had better start studying for the Regents or he will not graduate from high school. Willy goes into a rage and begins storming around looking for Biff. As Willy paces around the house ranting, the scene switches back to present-day and Hap comes downstairs and discovers his father talking to no one

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Chunk 3

Willy is ranting in the kitchen, and Hap comes downstairs to quiet him down. Willy's mind returns to the present-day. Willy talks of his failure to make the trip to New England. He starts talking about his brother, Ben, now dead. Ben is a mysterious, almost god-like figure, whom Willy idolizes. Ben became rich mining diamonds in the jungles of Africa. Ben had asked Willy to come along, but Willy declined.

Willy begins to accuse Hap that he is too free with his money, his women, and his car. Charlie, the next door neighbor, comes over to see what's wrong. They sit down and play cards, while Hap goes upstairs. During the course of the game, Willy is cheating, and making fun of Charlie. Charlie, who owns a sales firm, offers Willy a job. Willy declines, and the reader gets the sense this conversation has taken place many times. They talk about Biff and how he wants to go back to Texas. Willy ends up insulting Charlie and begins to talk of his brother Ben. Willy begins to slip into another flashback and soon, Charlie is out the door and the scene is back to Biff's senior year in high school on the day Ben visited the family before leaving on a business trip.

They talk about their father, a man who deserted his family. He sold wooden flutes, and for some reason Willy idolizes his father. Willy believes his father was a rich and successful man. Ben challenges Biff to a fight, and Biff ends up on the ground.

Willy tries to show of the prowess of his sons by asking them to go steal some sand from a construction site to rebuild the front stoop. Ben tells them the simple story of how he became successful, and then is gone. The scene switches back to present-day

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Chunk 4

Willy is yelling, "I was right! I was right!" as the present-day Linda comes down and finds him in the kitchen. Willy decides to go for a walk and leaves the house. He continues yelling as he walks down the street, lost in the past. Biff comes downstairs and talks to Linda. He wants to know how long Willy has been acting strangely. Linda accuses of Biff of not being home enough, or at least in contact with Willy. Linda says that Willy is all smiles and perfectly fine when Biff writes. It seems that just thinking about a happy future is all it takes for Willy to be content.

Through Linda's dialogue the reader sees that Willy and Biff have been at odds since the summer after Biff graduated from high school. Biff has no respect for his father anymore, although he used to in high school. Happy comes downstairs and joins the conversation.

Linda accuses Biff and Happy of deserting the family. She tells them that Willy is exhausted. He has worked all his life for his boys, and now his sons have turned their backs. Linda shows the boys that Willy has been trying to kill himself. Willy's car accidents are no accidents, and he has fixed a hose up to the water heater in the cellar to suck gas.

Biff tells Linda that he will try his best to please Willy and make do. Hap and Biff begin arguing about why Biff has always failed in the business world. During this argument Willy walks in the door. Biff and Willy begin arguing. As the tension increases, Hap tries to smooth things over by telling Willy that Biff is going to see Bill Oliver - Biff's previous employer - to see if he'll loan them money to start a sporting goods business. Hap comes up with a fantastical plan to make money and Willy immediately becomes all smiles. Biff is being pushed into something he doesn't want to do, but goes along with it for now just please his father.

Near the end of the scene, they begin fighting again and Willy goes up to bed upset. The boys go up and try to cheer him up

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Chunk 5

It is morning the next day, and the beginning of Act II. Willy is very happy, knowing that his sons are going to see Bill Oliver and become successes. Nothing can ruin this. The boys have left the house, and Willy is preparing to go see his own boss, Howard, to tell him that he does not want to travel anymore and wishes to have a job on the sales floor in New York. As he leaves, Linda tells him that the boys are going to treat him to a big dinner that night at Frank's Chop House.

Willy has a long discussion with Howard, and finally Howard tells Willy that the firm is firing him. Willy is shocked. Howard is the son of the previous owner, who Willy was good friends with. Willy delivers a long monologue about sales, and eventually Howard leaves the office for a few minutes. Ben appears and Willy is transported back to Biff's senior year again. It is the day of the big football game. Biff has been asked to attend three Universities. Willy refuses Ben's business offer once more, and tries to defend his position as a "lowly" salesman. Still immersed in this fantasy, Willy leaves Howard's ranting as he walks down the street to Charlie's office.

At Charlie's office Willy runs into Bernard and they talk for a bit. Willy is almost in tears and asks Bernard what happened to Biff after his senior year. Biff had flunked math and was ready to complete the credit in summer school, but he did not and became a drifter. Bernard tells Willy that after Biff went to go see Willy on a business trip, he came back changed. Willy refuses to talk about what happened on the trip, and soon Bernard is off.

Willy and Charlie talk for a little while. Charlie gives Willy fifty dollars so that he can go home to Linda and pretend that it's his pay. Willy leaves the office almost in tears and we are then taken to Frank's Chop House where the boys are waiting for Willy

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Chunk 6

It is now the same evening and Hap has arrived at Frank's Chop House where he and Biff and Willy are going to meet for dinner. Happy starts hitting on a woman at the next table and Biff comes in, distraught. Biff did not land the deal with Bill Oliver that day, and now he has to somehow tell the bad news to Willy. Hap tells Biff that it would be best if they simply lie to Willy and make up a story about how Bill Oliver is going to think it over. Biff does not want to do this. Biff's experience that day with Oliver made him realize everything that is wrong in his life and how to fix it, but he knows Willy will not be pleased.

Willy arrives and Biff begins telling his story. Biff did not actually even see Oliver, in fact he accidentally stole Oliver's fountain pen. As Biff tries to tell the truth, Hap keeps interrupting, trying to turn the story around so Willy will not be upset. Willy ends up leaving the table, and goes to the restroom where he lapses into another flashback. Biff and Happy leave the restaurant with a couple of women.

The reader is taken back to the summer after Biff flunked math his senior year. Willy is in a hotel room on a business trip with a woman he has been having an affair with. Biff has decided to come visit his father to talk to him about flunking the math class and ends up discovering his father's infidelity. We are then transported back to Frank's Chop House, present day.

Willy leaves the restaurant in a daze.

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Chunk 7

Biff and Hap return home late that evening, after Willy. Linda is awake still, and none too happy that her sons abandoned Willy in the restaurant. She lambastes the boys about their behavior and Biff insists on seeing Willy. Linda will not permit it, knowing that an argument will ensue. Meanwhile, Willy is outside planting the garden and talking to Uncle Ben.

He talks to Ben about how his life insurance money will give Biff the start he needs to be success. They discuss this for a while and Biff comes out to talk to Willy. Biff has decided to simply leave the house and never come back or have any contact with his parents again.

Biff pulls Willy inside so he can say goodbye to both of them. A huge argument occurs. Biff pulls out the rubber hose that Willy has been sucking gas from the furnace with. The climax of the play occurs during this argument, and Biff goes to his room, promising to leave in the morning.

As the house settles down and Linda and the boys get ready for bed, Willy is in the kitchen. Ben appears again and tells Willy that his plan is sound. Willy tells Ben that Biff will finally realize how much he (Willy) is loved when Biff sees all of the hundreds of people that show up to his funeral. Ben leaves and Willy follows him out the door. Willy gets in his car and drives to his death.

The next scene is at the grave site after Willy's funeral. Only Biff, Hap, Linda, Charlie and Bernard are present. The play closes with just Linda onstage talking to Willy

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Character

Select a character from the play to learn more about their role in the story:

 Biff Loman
Charlie, Bernard and Uncle Ben
 Happy Loman
 Linda Loman
 Willy Loman

Biff Loman

Biff Loman is Willy's son and it is the conflict between the two that the story of the play revolves around. 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 then became a drifter and was lost for fifteen years. He was even jail for stealing a suit once. But now, he has come home and the problems begin.

Willy wants dearly for Biff to become a business success, although Biff has an internal struggle between pleasing his father and doing what he feels is right. Biff wants to be outside on a cattle ranch, and Willy wants him behind a corporate desk. Through the illusions that Willy believes, he cannot see that Biff is a nobody and not bound to be successful as defined by Willy. This conflict is the main material of the play.

Eventually, 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!"

At the end of the play, Biff realizes the illusions that Willy lived on. Biff is destined to no greatness, but he no longer has to struggle to understand what he wants to do with his life

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.

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

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

Happy Loman

Hap is the Loman's youngest son. He lives in an apartment in New York, and during the play is staying at his parent's house to visit. Hap is of low moral character; constantly with another woman, trying to find his way in life, even though he is confident he's on the right track.

Hap has always been the "second son" to Biff and tries to be noticed by his parents by showing off. When he was young he always told Willly, "I'm losin' weight pop, you notice?" And, now he is always saying, "I'm going to get married, just you wait and see," in an attempt to redeem himself in his mother's eyes. Hap also tries to be on Willy's good side and keep him happy, even if it means perpetuating the lies and illusions that Willy lives in.

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. "Willy Loman did not die in vain," he says, "…He had a good dream, the only dream a man can have - to come out number one man. He fought it out here, and this where I'm gonna win it for him

Linda Loman

Linda is Willy's wife and is the arbiter of peace in the family. 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." She wants him to be happy even when the reality of the situation is bad. 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.

Willy Loman

Willly Loman is an elderly salesmen lost in false hopes and illusions. The sales firm he works for no longer pays him salary. Working on straight commission, Willy cannot bring home enough money to pay his bills. After thirty-four years with the firm, they have spent his energy and discarded him.

Willy's sons, Biff and Hap, are also failures, but Willy doesn't want to believe this. He wants his sons, especially Biff, to succeed where he has not. He believes his boys are great and cannot understand why they are not successful. This is a major source of conflict throughout the play.

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.

Willy has had an affair with a women he meets on sales trips and once caught by Biff. Now, Biff does not respect Willy and they do not get along. Willy eventually commits suicide so that Biff can have the insurance money to become successful with

شخصيت­ها:

· Willy Loman ويلي لومن
· Linda Loman ليندا همسر ويلي
· Biff Loman بيف، پسر بزرگتر ويلي
· Happy Loman هپي، پسر كوچكتر ويلي
· Charley چارلي، همسايه ويلي
· Bernard برنارد، پسر چارلي
· Ben بن، برادر ويلي كه فقط در روياي او ظاهر مي­شود
· Howard Wagner هوارد واگنر، رئيس فعلي و پسر رئيس سابق ويلي
· The Woman معشوقه ويلي
· Miss Forsythe & Letta دوشيزه فورسايت و لتا، دختراني كه هپي با آنها ملاقات مي­كند

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Themes

Throughout the play the Lomans in general cannot distinguish between reality and illusion, particularly Willy. This is a major theme and source of conflict in the play. Willy cannot see who he and his sons are. He believes that they are great men who have what it takes to be successful and beat the business world. Unfortunately, he is mistaken. In reality, Willy and sons are not, and cannot, be successful.

Certain lines in the play point to this character flaw that is present in Willy, Hap, and (for a time) Biff. For example, Willy believes that to be well liked is the means to being successful. This is an illusion that Willy lives in. Also, on the literal level, Willy very often lapses into a flashback and appears to be reliving conversations and situations that occurred years ago. This itself is an inability to see reality.

This reality versus illusion problem eventually brings about Willy's downfall. In the end, Willy believes that a man can be "worth more dead than alive." Charlie, always the voice of reality tells Willy, "A man isn't worth anything dead."

Willy is also unable to see change. He is man lost in the modern era of technology. He says, "How can they whip cheese?" and is constantly "In a race with the junkyard."

Willy has lost at trying to live the American Dream and the play can be viewed as commentary about society. Willy was a man who was worked all his life by the machinery of Democracy and Free Enterprise and was then spit mercilessly out, spent like a "piece of fruit

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Motifs

Motifs are elements of a story (dialogue, symbols, situations, etc.) that keep reappearing throughout. In Death of Salesman, Arthur Miller uses several motifs. They are:

The woods/jungle and diamonds:
Uncle Ben is the character who deals with the motif of the jungle (sometimes referred to by Willy as 'the woods') and diamonds. These motifs are symbols. The jungle is symbolic of life, and diamonds of success. As Willy's life is crashing down around him, he says, "The woods are burning! I can't drive a car!" At the end of the play (and many other places as well) Uncle Ben refers to the jungle: "You must go into the jungle and fetch a diamond out."

The garden:
The idea of planting a garden is a major motif in the play. Willy is always discussing the idea of planting a garden, in Act I on page 17 he says, "The grass don't grow anymore, you can't raise a carrot in the backyard." At the end of the play, one of his last acts in life is his futile attempt at planting seeds in the backyard of his fenced-in house. The garden is symbolic of Willy needing to leave something behind for people to remember him by. Something that people will think about and remember him as a great man. Willy never achieved success in life, and he also never planted his garden. (He does in the end of the play, but it is assumed that will not grow.)

Moon, stars:
Willy is often seen looking and commenting on the stars or the moon. This is seen in the first act after a fight with Biff when Willy says, "Gee, look at the moon moving between the buildings." This motif is also seen elsewhere in the play

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Structure

The play is divided into three main parts, Act I, Act II, and the Requiem. Each section takes place on a different day in present-day. Within Act I and Act II, the story is presented through the use of Willy's flashbacks. This use of flashback is fundamental to the structure and understanding of the play.

The story starts at present-day and Willy then lapses in and out of the past. 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 the Loman household.

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نقد نمایشنامه

 مرگ یک فروشنده

آرتور میلر (2005 - 1915 آمریکا )

 چکیده

نمایشنامه‏ی مرگ یک فروشنده داستان فروشنده‏ی سالخورده در جامعه‏ای است که تمام ارزش‏های آن در واژه‏ی «موفقیت»خلاصه می‏شود. آشفتگی پیرمرد فروشنده به شکل هنری، آشفتگی جامعه‏ای را بیان می‏کند که آرمانهای اولیه‏اش را نابود کرده و افراد را در گریزی نافرجام برای کسب موفقیت به مسابقه واداشته است. شکاف عمیق میان خاطرات و موقعیت کنونی ویلی لومن به واقع فاصله‏ای را نشان می‏دهد که بین رویای امریکا در قرن نوزدهم و واقعیت زندگی مدرن در قرن بیستم اتفاق افتاده است. موفقیت مادی و بدست آوردن پول جانشین کمال روحی انسان شده است و این دوگانگی انسان‏های فراوانی مانند ویلی لومن را به نابودی کشانیده است. رفتار فردی و خانوادگی افراد در نمایشنامه بر مقیاس ارزش‏های جامعه تعریف می‏شود. در سراسر نمایشنامه، شخصیت‏ها نسبت به کسب آرامش روانی از طریق بیان عشق به یکدیگر بی‏اعتنا هستند. در واقع، تلاش برای سازگاری با ارزش‏های جامعه، افراد نمایشنامه را چنان گرفتار ساخته که هیچ یک نسبت به ارزش‏های انسانی لحظه‏ای نمی‏اندیشند. دوگانگی موجود میان نیاز انسانی شخصیت‏ها و تلاش برای برطرف ساختن نیاز ساختگی، زیر ایستای تمام تناقص‏های شخصیتی و موقعیتی در نمایشنامه است.

حرکت و گسترش موضوع نمایشنامه بر پایه‏ی رابطه بین ویلی لومن و پسر بزرگترش، بیف، استوار است. حس متناقضی پدر و پسر را به یکدیگر پیوند می‏دهد. از سویی آنها همدیگر را سخت دوست می‏دارند. هنگامی که دور از هم هستند برای دیدار بی‏تابی نشان می‏دهند. از یکدیگر متنفر نیز هستند. زیرا هر یک دیگری را عامل شکست خود می‏پندارد. پس این دو عضو خانواده نمی‏توانند روی در روی به بیان احساسات خویش بپردازند. رابطه‏ی عشق – نفرت بین پدر و پسر، رفتار دیگر شخصیت‏ها را نیز تعیین می‏کند. لیندا، همسر ویلی لومن، او را دوست می‏دارد، اما نمی‏تواند کمکی برای ایجاد تعادل روانی در زندگی ویلی طرح و اجرا کند. به سخنی، لیندا آرامبخشی است که با سکوت خویش در برابر ویلی او را به سوی ویرانی کامل پرتاب می‏کند. پسر جوانتر خانواده، هپی((Happy نیز در وضع دوگانه‏ای گرفتار آمده است. او نیز پدر را دوست دارد، اما برای موفقیت فردی خویش می‏خواهد ویلی وجود نداشته باشد. رابطة او با برادرش بیف نیز پایه‏ی محکمی ندارد. هنگامی که با بیف در یک جا قرار می‏گیرد، سخنگوی افکار آشفته‏ی پدرش می‏شود و رویاهای بی‏فرجام او را برای بیف طرح می‏سازد.

در کنار چنین خانواده‏ای، پدر و پسر دیگری (چارلی و برنارد) نیز زندگی می‏کنند. بنظر می‏رسد که آنها به آن موفقیت ارزشمند دلخواه جامعه دست یافته‏اند. پدر به ویلی می‏گوید که انسان موجودی فروشنده است و نباید عشقی نسبت به هیچ چیز در درون خویش پرورش دهدو برعکس ظاهر موفق آن پدر و پسر، عشقی در زندگی آنها دیده نمی‏شود.

استفاده‏ی میلر از روش اکسپرسیونیستی در پرداخت موقعیت‏ها، به کنش نمایشی و نیز به شخصیت‏ها اجازه داده است که به راحتی از حال به گذشته و از گذشته به حال و آینده سیر کنند. شخصیت عمو بن، تجسم مادی امکان موفقیت در گذشته را باز می‏نماید. عمو بن شکلی است که با حضور خود، گذشته‏ی ساده و سرشار از عشق را در مقابل دیدگان ویلی لومن قرار می‏دهد. ویلی لومن نیز تلاش می‏کند آن خوشبختی مرده با گذشته را باری دیگر زنده سازد، اما روشن است که کوشش او ویرانگر خواهد بود.

بیف و ویلی در بند یکدیگر گرفتار شده‏اند. بیف خود را تکرار پدرش می‏پندارد، پس برای رهایی از شکست مجسم، باید پدر را نابود کند. نیستی پدر به مفهوم هستی بیف است. پس پدر دست به خودکشی می‏زند تا بیف به موفقیت دست بیابد. نقشه‏ی پدر برای مرگش، بر پایه‏ی خیالی بنیان گذاشته شده است، پس نخواهد توانست آن موفقیت را نیز حاصل آورد. آرتور میلر در این نمایشنامه موفق شده است بنیادهای اساسی یک جامعه‏ی سرمایه‏داری یعنی خانواده، دفتر کار یک وکیل، دفتر کار یک بازرگان، رستوران، محل بازی بچه‏ها، ساختمانهای بلند فراسوی خانه‏ی حقیر لومن، باغ زیبای ویران شده‏ی قرن نوزده و گورگاه یک انسان را در یک صحنه گرد آورد. این نمایشنامه، بیان هنری آشفتگی‏های انسان در قرنی است که همه چیز در دسترس اوست، اما هر لحظه امکان از هم پاشیدن همه‏ی آنها و از جمله زندگی خود انسان وجود دارد.

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