【Abstract】： Frequently cited as a representative of realistic p1aywright in contemporary America， Arthur Miller （1915-2005） enjoys an established status in the worldwide. His masterpiece Death of a Salesman （1949） remains a classic since its first performance， in which the protagonist Willy is a tragic common American who is desperately eager to become a successful salesman and blindly keeps faith of prosperous future by creating grandiose illusions， wavering between fanciful dreams and harsh reality. Pursuing dreams is by no means equivalent to yielding to fanciful illusions， and facing real world doesn’t mean to give in to disillusions. Self-delusion can only lead to self-destruction.

【Key words】： Death of a Salesman; Deception; Reality

This play portrays the last twenty-four hours’ life of Willy Loman， an elderly traveling salesman， whose lifelong pursuit of unattainable success is smashed into pieces due to his complete failure both in society and at home. It has to this day remained a classic work and critical topic. “No other American writer has so successfully touched a nerve of the national consciousness” （Bigsby， 1984）. The reason why it touches the chord of so many people is that multiple thematic meanings are conveyed. This essay focuses on the illusion and disillusion， explaining how Willy’s daydreams are intertwined with reality and how reality crashes his fantasies. A self-deceptive man who lives in his own dream and ignores the harsh world is doomed to destruction， at the same time negatively influencing the whole family.

A “Devoted” Husband

It’s worth noting that Linda， Willy’s loyal and supportive wife， always shows consideration and understanding to him. Eager to live up to Linda’s expectations， he desperately wishes to promise her a prosperous life. Nevertheless， the better Linda treats him， the guiltier he feels， as a result of which， he creates comfortingly grandiose dreams to console her. Willy boasts about his successful sales， expresses his devoted love to Linda， and depreciates his friend Charley’s material achievement. Linda totally goes along with Willy’s fantasies， keeping Willy delusively powerful as a man. “She has nurtured the family through all of Willy’s misguided attempts at success， and her emotional strength and perseverance support Willy until his collapses” （Selena Ward amp; Brendan Greaves， 2003）.

When reality emerges and disillusion foams gradually， the fact is that Willy spends most of time traveling and endures stress， loneliness and fear for failure. There are only deception and infidelity instead of so-called good sale and great accomplishment. In Boston， Willy finds another woman for comfort， turning against his devotion to Linda who pathetically lives in the fair-sounding lies for so long. As man， Willy has every reason to be a strong support for Linda， but his choice of the least realistic way to cover up all is definitely not be what he dreams about.

An “Omnipotent” Father

Willy always remains an image of an omnipotent father as an idol admired and respected by his sons. He considers himself famous due to his son’s pride in him. For years， Willy has believed that both of his boys will be great success. Though Biff has done nothing with his life by the age of thirty-four and Happy is a womanizer and restless in life， but Willy still imagines a bright future in them. Willy’s vanity doesn’t last long. In Boston， accidentally Willy’s love affair with a woman is discovered by Biff. Suddenly， the perfect image of a father breaks up. The revelation of Willy’s love affair is a chance for Biff to see what the real Willy is， although Willy tries to redeem himself in the eyes of Biff by explaining immediately： “She’s nothing to me， Biff. I was lonely， I was terribly lonely” （Death of a Salesman， Act 2）. All of Biff’s beliefs of being a man like his father vanish away. There is one point unable to be ignored is Willy’s education to Biff. When Biff steals coach’s ball， Willy praises him instead of stopping him. When Biff finally realizes what consequences it will bring out， he is extremely doubtful to his father. Therefore， “Biff blames his father for betraying a son’s trust， for excusing boyhood thefts， which have recurred as adult kleptomania， and for instilling in him the credo of wealth as success making impossible the enjoyment of outdoor jobs” （Griffin， 1996）. There has been a huge gap between the father and the son which can’t be bridged without difficulty. Willy is aware that his omnipotence gradually fades away from his son’s minds. Disillusionment of his dreams is insufferable and he chooses to end his life cherishing the dream of helping his sons.

A “Successful” Salesman

Physically and psychologically exhausted as Willy is after a day’s work in vain， he is incapable of accepting himself as a mediocre salesman. The more fragmented and disastrous the reality becomes， the more necessary it is for Willy to create an illusionary world to stay and past memories to relive. He wishes to follow Dave Singleman’s footsteps whose mythologized success is Willy’s American dream. There isn’t a day when Willy stops dreaming of becoming him. In order to achieve this， Willy believes that to be well liked is the means to being successful. As Willy’s production slows up with increasing age， Willy is deprived of a steady salary and put back on straight commission like a beginner. At Willy’s funeral， his customers and friends are not present， which once again disillusions everyone from fanciful illusions.

Willy is just one of the common people who firmly believe that everyone in America has the chance to success by their own efforts. Actually， few can gain success simply by diligent work. Above all， Willy is an ordinary salesman whose philosophy of life proves to be unworkable in the society where he lives， but he is unable to give up all his beliefs indoctrinated by himself to which he still clings even when he is in his last moment of life. Willy lives his whole life imaging his success， but eventually， it can’t be denied that he isn’t successful.

References

[1]Miller， Arthur. Death of a Salesman. New York and London： Viking Penguin， 1966.

[2]Siebold， Thomas. （ed.）. Reading on Death of A Salesman. San Diego： Greenhaven Press， 1998.