Death Of A salesman // موت بائع متجول

شرح لمسرحية رائعه للكاتب الأمريكي
Arthur Miller
"Death Of A salesman"


هذه المسرحية أحداثها تتم في أمريكا و تحديدا في بيت الشخـصية الرئيسية ويلي لومان
لكن تمتاز انها متغيره الزمن وذلك لأن الشـخـصية تغرق في احلام اليقظه فيعود بها الزمن أحيانا الى الوراء
ويلي لومان هذا رجل و تاجر او بالأصح بائع متجول يتنقل بين المدن حتى يبيع بضاعته وتجري احداث القصه و ويلي قد كبر في السن و صار له فوق الثلاثين سنة يشتغل و يتجول
عنده زوجه ودوده وطيبه جدا اسمها ليندا و ولدين أكبرهم اسمه بف في الاربعه وثلاثين من عمره
و هابي اصغر منة بسنتين

من بداية المسرحية نشوف ان ويلي تعب من الشغل و نفسيته خاست و راجع بدري البيت فزوجته سألته عن السبب فقال بينما كان يسوق نسى نفسه و كاد يسوي حادث
طبعا من هنا نفهم ان ويلي عنده حاله مرض يمكن بداية خرف او أوهام
ويلي يحب اولاده حيل و من هم صغار كان دايما يشجعهم و يحثهم على النجاح و تحقيق الحلم الامريكي اللي هوا جمع الثروة و الشهره و نفخهم حيل خاصه ولده بف كان متأمل فية بقوة و هالولد كان كسلان بالدراسه بس شاطر في كره القدم
و عنده صديقه و نفس الوقت ولد جارهم برنارد اضعف منة جسديا بس جدا شاطر و كان محط سخرية ويلي فكان دايما يحبطه و يقول ولدي بيصير كذا وكذا واحسن منك و برنارد ماكان يقول شي بالعكس كان يفرح لأنة يحب صديقه
و بف كان شايف نفسه الا انة صار له موقف مع استاذ الرياضيات كان يقلد الاستاذ و شافه وحقد علية
ففي امتحانات الثانوية العامه بف رسب بتقريبا ثلاث درجات وانقهر بقوة
فراح يبي يقول حق ابوة و علشان يعوض بالصيفي لكن عرف ان ابوه في بوسطن يبيع السلع وساكن بفندق فلما وصل الولد الفندق دق الباب على ابوه
ابوه في هالوقت كان متعرف له على وحده قالت انها راح تساعده يترقى بشغله و يخون ليندا>>أعوذ بالله
فلما سمع دق الباب خباها بالحمام و فتح و شاف ولده الي قعد يبكي و يشكي لأبوة و فجأة سمع صوت و طلعت الحرمه وانفضح ويلي و بف شاف ابوة كذا فحقد علية وطاح من عينة بقوة كره دراسته و سافر الين بالمستقبل صار انسان فاشل جدا كبير بالسن ولا عنده وظيفه سنعه
نفس الشي اخوة هابي فية عقدة نقص و يحب شي اسمه البنات وفاشل في شغله يعني ويلي يصرف على نفسه والا على عياله؟
اما برنارد فكبر وصار اكبر محامي و مازال يحبهم و يزورهم.

الأسوأ ان ويلي راح لمديره بالشغل هذا ولد صديقه الي مات و قال له انة كبر بالسن ومحتاج يرتاح فبليز يدبر له شغل بنيورك لكن المدير قال له انت مطرود لأنك ماصرت تنفع و كانت صدمه كبيره لويلي



ويلي حث ولده بف يدور شغل عدل بس مافي فايده و غير كذا بف رجع يسكن مع اهله فصارت صدامات معه ومع ابوة لأجل السالفه القديمه و هالشي طحن نفسية ويلي اكثر ان ولده يكرهه ‏
لكن بف مايكره ابوة لكن يبي يفهمه انة غلط بتربيته
حتى صار فاشل كذا
و اعتذر وقعد يبكي

هنا ويلي حس بصدق مشاعر ولده و قرر الانتحار علشان يسدد ديونة و يوفر فلوس لأولاده يفتحوا بها مشاريعهم الخاصه عن طريق عائد التأمين على الحياه و فعلا هذا الي صار
عمل حادث و انتهت قصه ويلي بموته دون ان يحقق ‏
The American dream

Plot Overview

A s a flute melody plays, Willy Loman returns to his home in Brooklyn one night, exhausted from a failed sales trip. His wife, Linda, tries to persuade him to ask his boss, Howard Wagner, to let him work in New York so that he won’t have to travel. Willy says that he will talk to Howard the next day. Willy complains that Biff, his older son who has come back home to visit, has yet to make something of himself. Linda scolds Willy for being so critical, and Willy goes to the kitchen for a snack.

As Willy talks to himself in the kitchen, Biff and his younger brother, Happy, who is also visiting, reminisce about their adolescence and discuss their father’s babbling, which often includes criticism of Biff’s failure to live up to Willy’s expectations. As Biff and Happy, dissatisfied with their lives, fantasize about buying a ranch out West, Willy becomes immersed in a daydream. He praises his sons, now younger, who are washing his car. The young Biff, a high school football star, and the young Happy appear. They interact affectionately with their father, who has just returned from a business trip. Willy confides in Biff and Happy that he is going to open his own business one day, bigger than that owned by his neighbor, Charley. Charley’s son, Bernard, enters looking for Biff, who must study for math class in order to avoid failing. Willy points out to his sons that although Bernard is smart, he is not “well liked,” which will hurt him in the long run.

A younger Linda enters, and the boys leave to do some chores. Willy boasts of a phenomenally successful sales trip, but Linda coaxes him into revealing that his trip was actually only meagerly successful. Willy complains that he soon won’t be able to make all of the payments on their appliances and car. He complains that people don’t like him and that he’s not good at his job. As Linda consoles him, he hears the laughter of his mistress. He approaches The Woman, who is still laughing, and engages in another reminiscent daydream. Willy and The Woman flirt, and she thanks him for giving her stockings.

The Woman disappears, and Willy fades back into his prior daydream, in the kitchen. Linda, now mending stockings, reassures him. He scolds her mending and orders her to throw the stockings out. Bernard bursts in, again looking for Biff. Linda reminds Willy that Biff has to return a football that he stole, and she adds that Biff is too rough with the neighborhood girls. Willy hears The Woman laugh and explodes at Bernard and Linda. Both leave, and though the daydream ends, Willy continues to mutter to himself. The older Happy comes downstairs and tries to quiet Willy. Agitated, Willy shouts his regret about not going to Alaska with his brother, Ben, who eventually found a diamond mine in Africa and became rich. Charley, having heard the commotion, enters. Happy goes off to bed, and Willy and Charley begin to play cards. Charley offers Willy a job, but Willy, insulted, refuses it. As they argue, Willy imagines that Ben enters. Willy accidentally calls Charley Ben. Ben inspects Willy’s house and tells him that he has to catch a train soon to look at properties in Alaska. As Willy talks to Ben about the prospect of going to Alaska, Charley, seeing no one there, gets confused and questions Willy. Willy yells at Charley, who leaves. The younger Linda enters and Ben meets her. Willy asks Ben impatiently about his life. Ben recounts his travels and talks about their father. As Ben is about to leave, Willy daydreams further, and Charley and Bernard rush in to tell him that Biff and Happy are stealing lumber. Although Ben eventually leaves, Willy continues to talk to him.

Back in the present, the older Linda enters to find Willy outside. Biff and Happy come downstairs and discuss Willy’s condition with their mother. Linda scolds Biff for judging Willy harshly. Biff tells her that he knows Willy is a fake, but he refuses to elaborate. Linda mentions that Willy has tried to commit suicide. Happy grows angry and rebukes Biff for his failure in the business world. Willy enters and yells at Biff. Happy intervenes and eventually proposes that he and Biff go into the sporting goods business together. Willy immediately brightens and gives Biff a host of tips about asking for a loan from one of Biff’s old employers, Bill Oliver. After more arguing and reconciliation, everyone finally goes to bed.

Act II opens with Willy enjoying the breakfast that Linda has made for him. Willy ponders the bright-seeming future before getting angry again about his expensive appliances. Linda informs Willy that Biff and Happy are taking him out to dinner that night. Excited, Willy announces that he is going to make Howard Wagner give him a New York job. The phone rings, and Linda chats with Biff, reminding him to be nice to his father at the restaurant that night

Key Facts


full title
Death of a Salesman Certain Private Conversations in Two Acts and a Requiem


author
Arthur Miller


type of work
Play

genre
Tragedy, social commentary, family drama


language
English (with emphasis on middle-class American lingo)

time and place written
Six weeks in 1948, in a shed in Connecticut


date of first publication
1949


original publisher
The Viking Press


climax
The scene in Frank’s Chop House and Biff’s final confrontation with Willy at home

protagonists
Willy Loman, Biff Loman


antagonists
Biff Loman, Willy Loman, the American Dream


setting (time)
“Today,” that is, the present; either the late 1940s or the time period in which the play is being produced, with “daydreams” into Willy’s past; all of the action takes place during a twenty-four-hour period between Monday night and Tuesday night, except the “Requiem,” which takes place, presumably, a few days after Willy’s funeral


setting (place)
According to the stage directions, “Willy Loman’s house and yard [in Brooklyn] and . . . various places he visits in . . . New York and Boston”


falling action
The “Requiem” section, although the play is not really structured as a classical drama


tense
Present


foreshadowing
Willy’s flute theme foreshadows the revelation of his father’s occupation and abandonment; Willy’s preoccupation with Linda’s stockings foreshadows his affair with The Woman; Willy’s automobile accident before the start of Act I foreshadows his suicide at the end of Act II


tone
The tone of Miller’s stage directions and dialogue ranges from sincere to parodying, but, in general, the treatment is tender, though at times brutally honest, toward Willy’s plight


themes
The American Dream; abandonment; betrayal


motifs
Mythic figures; the American West; Alaska; the African jungle


symbols
Seeds; diamonds; Linda’s and The Woman’s stockings; the rubber hose

Quiz


1. What was Biff doing in the West before the play begins
(A) Laying railroad tracks
(B) Selling dishwashers
(C) Working on a farm
(D) Robbing banks

2. What did Biff steal from Bill Oliver’s store when he was a boy
(A) A crate of basketballs
(B) A wire recorder
(C) A suit
(D) A car

3. What does Biff steal from Bill Oliver’s office as an adult
(A) A trophy
(B) Seeds
(C) Money
(D) A pen

4. What product does Willy sell
(A) Bibles
(B) Appliances
(C) Sporting goods
(D) Miller doesn’t specify

5. For what region is Willy responsible in his sales
(A) New England
(B) Brooklyn
(C) Queens and Long Island
(D) New Jersey

6. How old is Happy
(A) 34
(B) 28
(C) 32
(D) 30

7. What did Willy’s father sell
(A) Flutes
(B) Dictionaries
(C) Pizzas
(D) False teeth

8. Where did Willy’s father go after he abandoned his family
(A) Alabama
(B) Spain
(C) Alaska
(D) Las Vegas

9. Where did Ben end up when he went looking for his father
(A) Africa
(B) Alaska
(C) Brooklyn
(D) Boston

10. Where does Biff find Willy with The Woman
(A) Manhattan
(B) Hartford
(C) Providence
(D) Boston

11. How old was Dave Singleman when he died
(A) 63
(B) 84
(C) 74
(D) 59

12. What is the name of the restaurant where Happy and Biff take Willy
(A) Frank’s Chop House
(B) Sam’s Hoagie Shack
(C) Divine Seafood
(D) The Carnage Deli

13. How much money does Charley usually give Willy each week
(A) $150
(B) $75
(C) $200
(D) $50

14. What subject did Biff fail in high school
(A) Math
(B) English
(C) Physics
(D) History

15. Where does Happy work
(A) In a factory
(B) In a store
(C) At a restaurant
(D) On Wall Street

16. What was Biff’s position at Bill Oliver’s store when he was a boy
(A) Salesman
(B) Manager
(C) Window dresser
(D) Shipping clerk

17. On what day of the week does Willy die
(A) Saturday
(B) Sunday
(C) Tuesday
(D) Monday

18. On the sales trip that immediately precedes the beginning of the play, which city did Willy reach before turning back
(A) Boston
(B) Hartford
(C) Buffalo
(D) Yonkers

19. How long has Willy worked for his sales firm
(A) Between thirty-four and thirty-six years
(B) Thirty-two years
(C) Forty years
(D) Twenty-five years

20. What does Howard show Willy in his office
(A) His pen
(B) His typewriter
(C) His wire recorder
(D) A picture of his family

21. What is Bernard’s adult occupation
(A) Police officer
(B) Lawyer
(C) Doctor
(D) Writer

22. What does Biff allow Bernard to carry to the Ebbets Field game
(A) His helmet
(B) His football
(C) His cleats
(D) His shoulder pads

23. What is the name of Charley’s secretary
(A) Michelle
(B) Jill
(C) Jenny
(D) Angela

24. What does Happy order from Stanley at the restaurant
(A) Lobsters
(B) Steak
(C) Veal
(D) Red snapper

25. To what kind of store does Willy ask Stanley to direct him
(A) A deli
(B) A shoe store
(C) A sporting goods store

(D) A seed store

Character List

Willy Loman - An insecure, self-deluded traveling salesman. Willy believes wholeheartedly in the American Dream of easy success and wealth, but he never achieves it. Nor do his sons fulfill his hope that they will succeed where he has failed. When Willy’s illusions begin to fail under the pressing realities of his life, his mental health begins to unravel. The overwhelming tensions caused by this disparity, as well as those caused by the societal imperatives that drive Willy, form the essential conflict of Death of a Salesman.


Willy Loman.

Biff Loman - Willy’s thirty-four-year-old elder son. Biff led a charmed life in high school as a football star with scholarship prospects, good male friends, and fawning female admirers. He failed math, however, and did not have enough credits to graduate. Since then, his kleptomania has gotten him fired from every job that he has held. Biff represents Willy’s vulnerable, poetic, tragic side. He cannot ignore his instincts, which tell him to abandon Willy’s paralyzing dreams and move out West to work with his hands. He ultimately fails to reconcile his life with Willy’s expectations of him.


Biff Loman.
Linda Loman - Willy’s loyal, loving wife. Linda suffers through Willy’s grandiose dreams and self-delusions. Occasionally, she seems to be taken in by Willy’s self-deluded hopes for future glory and success, but at other times, she seems far more realistic and less fragile than her husband. She has nurtured the family through all of Willy’s misguided attempts at success, and her emotional strength and perseverance support Willy until his collapse.


Linda Loman.
Happy Loman - Willy’s thirty-two-year-old younger son. Happy has lived in Biff’s shadow all of his life, but he compensates by nurturing his relentless sex drive and professional ambition. Happy represents Willy’s sense of self-importance, ambition, and blind servitude to societal expectations. Although he works as an assistant to an assistant buyer in a department store, Happy presents himself as supremely important. Additionally, he practices bad business ethics and sleeps with the girlfriends of his superiors.


Happy Loman.
Charley - Willy’s next-door neighbor. Charley owns a successful business and his son, Bernard, is a wealthy, important lawyer. Willy is jealous of Charley’s success. Charley gives Willy money to pay his bills, and Willy reveals at one point, choking back tears, that Charley is his only friend.


Charley.
Bernard - Bernard is Charley’s son and an important, successful lawyer. Although Willy used to mock Bernard for studying hard, Bernard always loved Willy’s sons dearly and regarded Biff as a hero. Bernard’s success is difficult for Willy to accept because his own sons’ lives do not measure up.

Ben - Willy’s wealthy older brother. Ben has recently died and appears only in Willy’s “daydreams.” Willy regards Ben as a symbol of the success that he so desperately craves for himself and his sons.
The Woman - Willy’s mistress when Happy and Biff were in high school. The Woman’s attention and admiration boost Willy’s fragile ego. When Biff catches Willy in his hotel room with The Woman, he loses faith in his father, and his dream of passing math and going to college dies.
Howard Wagner - Willy’s boss. Howard inherited the company from his father, whom Willy regarded as “a masterful man” and “a prince.” Though much younger than Willy, Howard treats Willy with condescension and eventually fires him, despite Willy’s wounded assertions that he named Howard at his birth.
Stanley - A waiter at Frank’s Chop House. Stanley and Happy seem to be friends, or at least acquaintances, and they banter about and ogle Miss Forsythe together before Biff and Willy arrive at the restaurant.
Miss Forsythe and Letta - Two young women whom Happy and Biff meet at Frank’s Chop House. It seems likely that Miss Forsythe and Letta are prostitutes, judging from Happy’s repeated comments about their moral character and the fact that they are “on call.”
Jenny - Charley’s secretary.