Operation Management

Who am I?

"I realized what a ridiculous lie my whole life has been". The play by Arthur Miller, Death of a salesman can indeed be seen as a play of self-discovery. It is used to address the inability by a man to accept change within him and the society as well as to show loss of identity. The setting of the play depicts the last day of the life of Willy Loman characterized by dreams, memories, arguments and confrontations, which end with suicide and subsequent funeral of Willy.

The author uses this family to show cycles of denial, order against disorder and contradictions. For instance he shows how the affair by Willy while still married to Linda and its aftermaths can define an individual and how people can attempt to disguise such events. Before discovering the affair, Biff adores his father, believed in him and his philosophies that anything is possible. However, upon discovering the affair, Biff is forced to re-evaluate his father’s sentiments and perceptions of the world. He discovers that his father is living a lie and has created a false image of himself for the society and his family. Willy is not a faithful husband or a successful salesman, as he would rather have people believe. He fantasizes on his lost opportunities for fame and wealth while still blaming his son Biff for being lazy.

The play shows how a self-perpetuating cycle can expand to include other people. Willy effectively blocks out the affair from his memory and lives in self-denial, which explains why he cannot understand why his relationship with his son changed for the worst. Biff’s brother Happy is also caught up in the web of creating a favorable reality of himself or editing facts while manipulating the truth .He lies that he is an assistant while in reality he just assists the assistant buyer at work. Upon the discovery of the affair, Biff loses his faith in his father as a model and even his motivation to succeed.