Chapter III V the metodology and the analysis

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CHAPTER III

RESEARCH OF METHOD

Conducting the analysis, the writer is performing the descriptive quantitative

method. The method is applied by describing the data and analyzing them, related to the

focus of analysis, Ratna states in his book, Teori, Metode, dan teknik Penelitian Sastra

dari Strukturalisme Hingga Prostrukturalisme Perspektif Wacana Naratif (2004:46)

about descriptive analytical method:

Metode deskriptif analitik dilakukan dengan cara mendeskripsikan fakta fakta yang kemudian disusul dengan analisis. Secara etimologis deskripsi dan analisis berarti menguraikan. Meskipun demikian, analisis yang berasal dari bahasa Yunani, analyesies (ana=atas, lyesies=lepas, urai), telah diberikan arti tambahan, tidak semata mata menguraikan, melainkan juga memberikan pemahaman dan penjelasan secukupnya. Analytic descriptive method is done by described facts caught up with the analysis. etymologically description and analysis mean to elaborate. Nevertheless, analysis coming from Greek, analyesies (" ana"=as, " lyesies"=lepas, decompose), have been given a connotation, not only to elaborate, but also give the understanding and clarification sufficiently.

There are several steps in applying this method. The first step is collecting the

books which relate to Marxism. The second step is reading the collected books, including

journals, notes and relevant sources to the thesis. Death of a Salesman is treated as

primary source. The third step is marking the text related to the idea of Materialism as the

main data of analysis. The next step is quoting the data and describing them into the

analysis which will be performed by explaining Marxism as reflected in Arthur Millers

play

Universitas Sumatera Utara

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Marx states in Sargents book Ideologi-ideologi Politik Kontemporer (1987-

80) that :

The system of value or philosophy of life of somebody is influenced by the condition of social economy. In the Capitalist country, individuals are separated from them self, family, friends, and jobs, People could not be the real person. So, people competes to get material or money.

Marx also states in Damonos book Sosiologi Sastra Sebuah

Pengantar Ringkas (1279:27) that The function of money is making human become materialistic so he will be alienated from himself and society (my own translation). The idea of Materialism becomes the main idea of the analysis.

III.1 SOURCE OF DATA

There are several books used as source of data. The books are incuding

journals, notes, and commentaries related to the analysis. These sources books are

classified into 2 categories, which are primary data and secondary data. Here they are:

III.1.1 Primary Data

There are 3 books used as the primary data. The books are Edgar V Robert

and Henry E. Jacobss Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing (1956) which

contain Arthur Millers play Death of a Salesman, Lyman Tower Sargents Ideologi-

ideologi Politik Kontemporer(1987), and Sapardi Djoko Damonos Sosiologi Sastra

Sebuah Pengantar Ringkas. These books contain the main data analysis sources,

including theory of Marxism and its application on literature.

Materialism as the theory of Marx will be treated as the main theory and

the application of theory will be conducted to the analysis of Death of a Salesman play.


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III.1.2 Secondary Data

In order to support primary data, the writer uses several addition books as

secondary data. The books are journal, notes or commentaries related to the analysis.

Some of them are Richard Schachts Alienasi:Sebuah Pengantar Paling Komprehensif

(1970), Michael Spindlers American Literature and Social Change: William Dean

Howells to Arthur Miller (1983) and Cliff Slaughters Marxism, Ideology and Literature

1980.

These books are used to support Marxs theory about Materialism and

complete the analysis of Materialism as reflected in Arthur Millers Death of a Salesman.

An internet explorer source is also conducted as the supplement data for the analysis. All

of these are intended to fulfill a reliable source of data and achieve a precise analysis.

I have always held that any method which could produce the meaning of a work of literarture was a legitimate method....I came to the conclusion that....the critics task was....to procure a viable meaning approriate to the critics time and place. Practically, this meant employing not any one method in interprating a work of art but every method which might prove efficient. (Guerin/1987:2)

Adi Triyono in Metodologi Penelitian Sastra (2001:25) says that in

implementation, literary research is divided into three procedures, data collecting, data

identifying, and data analyzing (my own translation).

III.2 DATA COLLECTING PROCEDURE

The beginning of thesis procedure is to collect the books related to the title of

thesis. Thus the writer tries to select the relevant books to the analysis only, which is the

study of Materialism. These selected books are separated into primary and secondary

books as explained above. Thus, I read the text of Arthur Millers Death of a Salesman,


23

next I underlined some parts of the text that I think have close connection with

materialism and they become the data.

III.3 DATA IDENTIFYING PROCEDURE

After underlining some parts of the text that I thing have close connection

with materialism and they become the data, I does data identifying procedure. The

procedure is done by selecting the most suitable data from the underlined text to find the

most support the idea of materialism.

The selected marking text becomes the main data of analysis. The writer is

using a purposive sampling method that the selected marking text refers to the most

appropriate of Materialism. Hartono (2003:91), says that:

In purposive sampling, the selection of groups of subject is depends on the characteristics of population appearance which have been known before. Purposive sampling is depends on the earliest information and this information is couldnt be argued again (my own translation).

Afterward, the selected marking texts become the analysis of the thesis by

describing and analyzing the data. All of analysis data refers to Materialism as the theory

of Karl Marx. The explanation of this theory will be the analysis of the thesis.

III.4 DATA ANALYZING PROCEDURE

This procedure is the process of describing the data and analyzing them into

the thesis analysis. The data are including Materialism as theory of Karl Marx and Death

of Salesmans text.


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CHAPTER IV

THE ANALYSIS OF MARXISM IN ARTHUR MILLERS

DEATH OF A SALESMAN

Willy Loman is an insecure, self-deluded traveling salesman. Willy believes

wholeheartedly that material and being well-liked are the standard of success and wealth,

but he never achieves it. Nor do his sons fulfill his hope that they will succeed where he

has failed. When Willys illusions begin to fail under the pressing realities of his life, his

mental health begins to unravel, and Willy himself gets alienated from the reality. Big

tension which is caused by the disparity between fantasy and reality, as well as those

caused by the societal imperatives of capitalism that drive Willy, form the essential

conflict of Arthur Millers play.

While he achieves a professional understanding of himself and the

fundamental nature of the sales profession, Willy is alienated from his truth personal

failure and the real condition of his family especially his son. He cant comprehend the

true personal, emotional, spiritual understanding of himself as a literal loman or low

man. Willy is too driven by his own willy ness or preserve willfulness to recognize

the bad reality that his desperate mind has forged.

Still many critics focusing on Willys defence in lies, delusions, and self-

deception. Willys failure to recognize the anguished love which is offered to him by his

family is crucial to the climax of his story, and the play presents this alienated personal

incapacity which is caused by Materialism as the real tragedy.


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Miller doesnt only make Willy as the victim of materialism in this play but

also the entire of family especially his children Happy and Biff. Both of them have

different problem because of the societys pressure that put materialism in the high

position.

Biff is always desperate because he cant fulfill his father expectation and

unhappy because could not be just the way he is. For example: the tragedy is not only

happens to Willy, but also influences the entire of family especially Willys boasted son:

Biff. Biff is always desperate because he cant fulfill his father expectation, and he also

unhappy because could not be just the way he is.

Here, we can see that Linda urges Willy to understand that Biff must take time

to find himself, Willy reaction is as follows,

Willy: How can he find himself on a farm? Is that a life? A farmhand? In the beginning, when he was young, I though, well, a young man, its good for him to tramp around, take a lot of different jobs. But its more than ten years ago now and he has yet to make thirty-five dollars a week! Willys reaction to Biffs primary choice of lifestyle illustrates to the reader

Willys emphasis of success in the economy. Without success as a salesman, Biff is seen

as a drifter, an unacceptable choice, because it does not follow the norm.

Willy forces Biff to have a better job than being a farmer. Willy believes if a

man at the age of thirty has had a good job and fine salary, that man will be truly alive.

Then, if a man still searching the fine job at same time, will be nobody. Willy, as usual, is

influenced by his opinion that fine job is equal with good salary. And $35 a week is not

enough to be a rich man.


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Willy puts a big expectation towards his son, so that he wants his son get the

highest level of education and get the fine job with the fine salary. No matter how, the

children should be what the parents want. Well, the will of parents in good career

opportunities is good, but sometimes the children do not want it.

Willy to Biff: Walk in very serious. You are not applying for boys job. Money is to pass. Be quiet, fine, and serious. Everybody likes a kidder, but nobody lends him money. (page 1330)

We can see also how Willy emphasizes in sentence money is too pass .

What Biff really wants to do as his job, it is not important. Money is the priority.

Willy: I see great things for you kids, I think your troubles are over. But remember, start big and youll end big. Ask for fifteen. How much you gonna ask for? Biff: Gee, I dont know Willy: And dont say Gee. Gee is a boys word. A man walking in for fifteen thousand dollars does not say Gee .(page 1330)

Willy actually want Biff to reach his own prosperity by asking big money for

his salary. By stating 15000 dollars as Biffs going to be salary, Willy think that it will

make Biff can live his life well. By getting fifteen, Biff can pay for house, live with his

wife, if it possible will be sufficient to pay the cost of Lomans life and the fact is that Biff

has no courage to ask that much although he is not sure it is what he wants.

Willy Loman as the central figure in this play is a victim of American

capitalism. Willy represents the working class who struggle to be upper class but

unfortunately he got fired by Bourgeois or the capital owner as the consequence of


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capitalism system although he has dedicated his life to his company but Howard is so

easy to fire him as he says to Howard, his boss,

Willy: Im talking about your father! There were promises made across this desk! You mustnt tell me youve got people to see- I put thirty-four years into this firm, Howard, and now I cant pay my insurance! You cant eat the orange and throw the peel away- a man is not a piece of fruit! (1338) To Howard and the world he represents, Willys history with the Wagner

Company and Howards father cannot keep Howard from firing Willy. Miller try to show

in capitalism, humanity is not the first priority, the logic about business is the most

important.

Howard: But where am I going to put you, kid? Willy: Look, it isnt a question of whether I can sell merchandise,

is it? Howard: No, but its a business, kid, and everybodys gotta pull his

own weight Willy: Just let me tell you a story, Howard Howard: cause you gotta admit, business is business(1337)

Howard becomes the owner of Willys company after his father dies. Howard

is not sympathetic with Willy when the salesman asks for a New York job, telling him

that theres no place for him in New York. Miller uses Howard to represent the cruel

nature of capitalism.

Believing that his family will benefit more from his life insurance policy than

from his continuing to live, Willy seems to accept the implication underlying Howards


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statement- That the value of person can be quantified according to actual wealth or

earning potential. As he says to Charley,

Willy: Funny, y know? After all the highways, and the trains, and the

appointments, and the years, you end up worth more dead than alive

Willy Loman is not the only victim of the capitalist society in this play, His

son Happy also gets the bad impact from what happen with his father. In this play, Happy

Loman is distinguished by his exorbitant insecurity. He constantly relies on other

peoples opinion to make his own decisions. His degrading attitude towards woman

makes him immature man. The reason, that he is so insecure is because of the example

that is set by his father, Willy.

Happy is always following the opinions of other people. Whether its his

father, or his mother Linda, he consistently makes sure that his opinion coincides with

everyone elses. When Willy asks Biff if Oliver gave him a good welcome,

Willy: What kind of a welcome did he gave you? Biff: H e wont even let you work on commission Willy: So tell me, he gave youre a warm welcome? Happy: Sure, pop, sure (1350)

When Happy and Biff come home after deserting their father at the restaurant,

Happy attempts to cool his moms anger by saying:

Linda: You are apair of animals! Not one, not another living soul wouldnt have had the cruelty to walk out on that man in a restaurant!

Biff: Is that what he said ?


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Linda:He didnt have to say anything. He was so humiliated he nearly limped when he came in"

Happy: But, Mom he had a great time with us (1358). Happy thinks that he will be well liked and accepted if he tells the people

what they want to hear.

Happys approach to woman is quite despicable. Rather than trying to settle

down with someone, he goes through one girl after another. All that he cares about is

having sex with woman, not about having relationship. Happy brags to his brother about

his conquest of sleeping with woman, not about having relationship. Happy brags to his

brother about his conquest of sleeping with woman who are engaged to be married.

Biff : Naa. I d like to find a girl-steady, somebody with substance. Happy: Thats what I long for. Biff: Go on! Youd never come home. Happy: I would! Somebody with character, with resistance! Like

Mom, y know? Youre gonna call me a bastard when I tell you this. That girl Charlotte I was with tonight is engaged to be married in five weeks.

Biff: No kiddin!(1311) In a conniving attempt to pick her up, he lies to the girl in the restaurant

saying:

Happy: I sell champagne, and Id like you to try my brand. Bring her a champagne, Stanley (1314). He eventually deserts his father at the restaurant, rushing the girls out, eager to

make a move on one. Happy needs to grow up and start treating woman like people, not

pieces of meat. Happys insecurity stems from his fathers behavior towards him. When

Happy is in high school, Willy doesnt pay as much attention to him as he did to Biff. In


30

Willys eyes, Happy isnt enough. Therefore, Happy is always trying live up to his

expectation and please him. He would repeat such comments as,

Happy: I m losing weight, you notice Pop? (1313, 1315).

The need for attention continues as an adult, but Willy and Linda continue to

brush Happy off in the same way they did when he was younger

Happy: Im gonna get married, Mom. I wanted to tell you Linda: Go to sleep, dear (page 1332).

With these kind of values being taught to him by his father, its no wonder

why happy acts so insecure and lonely. He feels empty and unfulfilled.

Happy: My own apartment, a car, and plenty of woman, and still, god damit, Im lonely

Happy needs to find better ways of dealing with situations other than lying his

way through it. His philosophy is that your own happiness comes before everyone elses.

He should focus on his own views, not persistently try to match the views others.

Although Happy grows up to become more financially successful than his

older brother, he lacks even a spark of self-knowledge or capacity for self-analysis. He

does however share his fathers capacity for self-delucion, declaring himself as the

assistant buyer at his store, when, in reality, he is only one of the assistants to the

assistants buyer.


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Biff: You big blow, are you the assistant buyer? Youre one of the two assistants to the assistant, arent you? Happy: Well Im practically Biff: Youre practically full of it! (1361) This problem also impacts in his troubled illusion relationship with his other

son, Biff. It seems Biff, who is at home again for an extended visit after spending several

years out west, hasnt found financial success or even a decent paying job. Willy (who

wishes for the success of his sons in part because he hasnt found success himself)

blames Biffs laziness for these problems.

Willy: The trouble is he is lazy, goddammit! Linda:Willy, please! Willy: Biff is a lazy bum! (page 1307)

Yet only a few lines later, Willy contradicts himself, maintaining that Biff is a

very hard worker.

Willy: Biff Loman is lost. In the greatest country in the world a young man with such-personal attractiveness, gets lost and such a hard worker. Theres one thing about Biff-hes not lazy, (page 1307).

When Willy learns that Biff has stolen a football from the high school, Willy

shrugs it off

Willy:Whered you get a new ball? Biff:The coach told me o practice my passing Willy:That so? And he gave you the ball, heh? Biff: Well, I borrowed it from the locker room. Willy: I want you to return that Biff:Well, Im bringing it back! Willy:Sure, hes gotta practice with a regulation ball, doesnt he? To Biff: Coachll probably congratulate you on your initiative! (page 1314)


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These example show us, how Willy got confused and alienated by his dream

about his son. Horney in Our Inner Conflicts (1945:110-111) states that:

Human alienation is characteristic when someone forget with what the truth feeling of himself or what the truth person he is. Someone who has got alienated means he has forgot what the truth person he is. This is happen when someone develop the ideal picture of himself which is very different with the reality This incident is just a further example of Willys illusions about his sons.

Willy :Bernard is not well liked, is she? Biff : Hes liked, but hes not well liked Happy: Thats right, Pop Willy : Thats just what I mean. Bernard can get the best marks in school understand, but when he gets out in the business world, understand you are going to be five times ahead of him. Thats why I thank Almighty God youre both built like Adonises. Because 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. You take me, for instance. I never have to wait in line to see a buyer. Willy Loman is here! Thats all they have to know, and I go right through. (page 1315) Willy not only underestimates Bernard (Charleys son) as not well liked but

also says that being well liked is the key of success. Willy is alienated by thanking God to

give him son like Adonise (God which is loved by Aphrodite) that always well-liked by

everyone. He adds it with a bubbling that people really respect on him. But the truth is

Biff feels guilty that hes not lived up to his fathers expectations.

Biff :Hap, Ive had twenty or thirty different kinds of jobs since I left home before the war, and it always turns out the same. I just realized it lately. In Nebraska when I herded cattle, and the Dakotas, and Arizona, and now in Texas. Its why I came home now, I guess, because I realized it. This farm I work on, its spring there now, see? And theyve got about fifteen nem colts. Theres nothing more inspiring or-beautiful than the sight of a mare and a new colt. And its cool there now see? Texas is cool now, and its spring. And


33

whenever spring comes to where I am, I suddenly get the feeling, my god, Im not getting anywhere! What the hell am I doing, playing around with horses, twenty eight dollars a week! Im thirty-four years old, I oughta be makin my future. Thats when I come running home. And now, I get here and I dont know what to do whit myself. Ive always made a point of not wasting my life, and every time I come back here I know that all Ive done is to waste my life, the older brother admits.(page1310).

Willys vision of success has drove to destroy himself as well as the future

of his sons. Biff, in particular has suffered through big shame derived from his fathers

failed dream. Early in his life, Biffs entire perception of self-worth is completely

dependent on his fathers expectation towards him. Biffs dependence for his fathers

respect got a huge backflash when Biff makes the surprise visit to his father in a Boston

hotel. In seeking out his father for answers to his problems, Biff uncovers his fathers

inability to cope with failure, when he sees that his father is using a womans sexuality to

cover up his shame

Biff: Somebody in there? Willy:No that was next door

Biff: Somebody got in your bathroom!(page 1355) You-you gave her Mamas stocking! Willy: I gave you an order Biff:Dont touch me, you-liar! Willy: Apoligize for that! Biff:You fake! You phony little fake! (page 1356)

His first reaction to the hidden characteristics of his father makes Bill has

fragile sense of identity and steal his way out of every job since high school. And He is

really shock when he knows that her father Willy gives her mothers stocking. Stocking

in that time is a very expensive thing. It is a symbol of luxurious thing. So the people who

gives this to someone else must be a rich man.


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The Woman: You just kill me. You kill me. And thanks for the stockings. I love a lot stockings. Well, good night

Willy: Good Night. And keep your pores open! The Woman: Oh, Willy! (page 1355)

Linda: You are, Willy. The handsomest man. Youve got no reason to feel that

Willy:Ill make it all up to you, Linda, Ill Linda: Theres nothing to make up, dear. Youre doing fine, better than---

Willy: Whats that? Linda: Just mending my stocking. Theyre so expensive Willy: I wont have you mending stockings in this house! Now throw them out! (page 1318)

Later, when the scene returns to the present and Willy finds Linda mending

stockings, he feels very guilty.

Willy fills his sons so full of this concept of being well-liked that when Biff

fluks math he goes to Boston to search for his father. He thinks that since Willy is so

well-liked, that he will be able to convince the math teacher to change the grade

Biff: Dad, I flunked math Willy: Not for the term? Biff: The term. I havent got enough credits to graduate. Willy: You mean to say Bernard wouldnt give you the answer? Biff: He did, he tried, but I only got a sixty-one Willy: And they wouldnt give you four points? Biff: Birnbaum refused absolutely. I beffed him, Pop, but he wont give me those points. You gotta talk to him before they close the school. Because if he saw the kind of man you are, and you just talked to him in your way, Im sure hed come through for me. The class came right before practice, see, and I didnt go enough. Would you talk to him? Hed like you, Pop. You know the way you could talk. Willy: Youre on. Well drive righ back. Biff: Oh, Dad, good work! Im sure hell change it from you! (1355)


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It is during this time that Biff encounteres his father in the hotel room with a

woman. Willys strong desire to be well-liked is what drove him to have an affair in

Boston. Biff couldnt accept that his father has committed adultery, and from that point

on, he see his father as a fake.

The adult Biff eventually realizes the errors in his fathers view of the world,

and believes he has found where he belongs, working outside on a ranch. After going to

unsuccessful meeting to secure funding for a business venture after much goading by his

father, Biff asks Willy,

Biff: What I m doing in a office, making a contemptuous, begging fool out of myself, when all I want is out there, waiting for me the minute I way to know who I am

If Willy did not possess such a warp view of the world, he would be proud of

his son, because in fact the adult Biff has attained a high level of truth and self-realization

in his life. Biff has figured out what Willy could not, that being well liked and successful

in business is not the ultimate existence.

Willys life begins to close in on him and he has nothing more to live for

except his illusions and finds memories of the past.

Therefore Willys entire life has been lived according to his ideas about

personal attractiveness and being well-liked. He never questions these values and never

realized that he lived in a world of capitalism which full with illusions and dreams. He try

to bring up his children in that same world but he could not keep up the false front, and

Biff would not live that way after the incident in Boston.


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Charley is the only friend of Willy that has a huge impact on W illy in this

play. Willy is jealous of Charleys success. Repeatedly, Willy would go to Charleys to

borrow money to pay the bills. Biff and Happy are failures; Willy refuses to recognize

this because Bernard, Charleys son was so successful. Charleys effect on Willy has

caused him to become extremely spiteful. At the end of every week, Mr. Loman found

himself at Charleys feet, begging him for money. Charley continually gives him the

money to keep him quiet. This is ironic because Willy thinks that he is so much better

then Charley, when in fact he is just incredible jealous. When Willy gets fired from his

job, his only friend Charley offered him a job

Charley: Why dont you want to work for me? Willy: whats the matter with you? Ive got a job Charley: Then whatre you walking in here every week for? Willy: Well, if you dont me to walk here Charley: I am offering you a job Willy:I dont want your goddam job!(1345) Willy reprimanded Charley for insulting him. Charley: you want a job? Willy:I got a job, I told you that, What the hell are you offering me a

job for? Charley: Dont get insulted Willy: Dont insult me (page 1320) This made a very clear assertion of Willys jealously Willy:I just cant work for you, Charley Charley: Whatre you, jealous of me? Willy: I cant work for you, thats all, dont ask me why Charley:You been jealous of me all your life, you damned fool! Here,

pay your insurance.(1345) In Willys eyes, his children are remarkable. They are, popular, good at sports,

and intelligent. When in reality Biff and Happy are rapidly declining. Charley would try

to tell Willy about his kids. Willy never listens because it pains him to see Bernard more

successful then Biff and Happy


37

Willy: Thats just what I mean. Bernard can get the best marks in school, y understand, but when he gets out in the business world, y understand, you are going to be five times ahead of him (1315). Charley is content with his life. His son was happily married with two sons.

His job is going great. Willy on the other hand is scared of life itself

Willy: Yeah, Biffs in. Working on a very big deal, Bernard Bernard: Whats Biff doing? Willy: Well, hes been doing very big things in the west. But he

decided to establish himself here. Very big. Were having dinner. Did I hear your wife had a boy?

Bernard: Thats right. Our second. Willy: two boys! What do you know! Bernard:What kind of a deal has Biff got? Willy: Well, Bill Oliver-very big sporting goods man- he wants Biff

very badly. Called him in from the west. Long distance, carte blanche, special deliveries (1342)

He lies to his family and Charley about everything. If Willy just listened to his

family and his friends, then he might still be alive. Willy ignores reality. He is a jealous,

selfish person. He likes to make things bigger than they were. Charley helps Willy realize

this. However, it is already too late. There is no turning back, he is going to kill himself,

and no one could stop him.

In the first page of analysis, I have told that Willy Loman is just a salesman

which is always has desire to be a rich man as the impact of materialism even though it is

really contrastive with the reality. He always acts like he is a rich man. He thinks too

much about what the people say. As we know, golf is a sport for a high class and the


38

member of golf club must be a rich man too, but Willy wants to show by saying this

sentence that he is a man that knowing this sports so much.

Willy: Now, all you need is a golf club Even the clothes of their children are managed by him. It means that they do

not want everyone have been put low on them.

Willy: Hes heading for a change. Theres no question, there simply are certain men take no longer to get-solidified. What he dress?

We know that Willy is only a salesman but he has a desire to buy a general

electric and refrigerator. I think, it is not a primary needs but he wants to show to the

others that he can buy these things and it will show that he is equal with the others. It can

be said that he lies to himself.

Linda : Well, its old, dear. Willy: I told you we shouldve bought a well-advertised machine. Charley bought a General Electric and its twenty years old and its still good, that son-of-a bitch Willy: Whoever heard of Hastings refrigerartor? Once in my life I would like to own something outright before its broken! Im always in race with the junkyard! I just finished paying for the car and its last legs. The refrigerator consumes belts like a goddam maniac. They time those things. They time them so when you finally paid for them, theyre used up. (page 1333) When Willy has died, Biff tells everyone how big Willys desire, dream and

his effort to have a house. He died after he finishes to built the extra bathroom, making

the stoop etc. He didnt enjoy it when he still alive


39

Biff: There were a lot of nice days. When hed come home for a trip; or on Sundays, making the stoop; finishing the cellar; putting on the new porch; when he built the extra bathroom; and put up the garage. You know something, Charley, theres more of him in that front stoop than in all the sales he ever made.

Willys mind also seems to be going. Though near the beginning of his

conversation with Linda he says that his Chevrolet is the best car ever built, moments

later he contradicts himself.

Linda: Howd the Chevy run? Willy: Chevrolet, Linda, is the greatest car ever built. To the boys: Since when do you let your mother carry wash up the stairs?

. Linda:No, they did a wonderful job. Then you owe Frank for the carburetor Willy: Im not going to pay that man! That goddam Chevrolet, they ought to prohibit the manufacturer of that car.(page 1316) Willy always show that he is a hard worker and one of his purpose is to get

the house. But when Willy finally can own home, he feels upset when children hangout

the house

Willy: Figure it out. Work a lifetime to pay off a house. You finally own it and theres nobody to live in. (page 1307)

It is not easy to have a house in America, because of the flood of population.

The sense of Materialism appears when Willy works hard to get the material but finally

he is upset because nobody lives in. How hard he struggles to get the house. Everything

becomes nothing. Miller seems like to advice American what is the truth purpose of


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having a thing, in this case: a house. How hard you pay off a house, it is useless if it just a

house. What you need is a home.

The obsession of Material makes Willy fails with reality and it makes himself

think that he is really well liked. It is the symbol of how he puts the good outside

personality as his characteristic. Willy always wants to look as a famous people until he

got alienated from the reality and lies to himself.

Willy:You and Hap and I, and Ill show you all the towns. America is full of beautiful towns and fine, upstanding people. And they know me, boys, they know me up and down New England. The finest people. And when I bring you fellas up, therell be open sesame for all of us,cause one thing, boys: I have friends. I can park my car in any street in New England, and the cops protect it like their own, (page 1314)

By the example of self illusion. I want to show that How Willy want to let his

family thinks that their father is successful and well known in America. Miller looks like

want to show that in America, being well known and having many friend is the form of

success. He even exaggerates that cops will protect his car because He is Willy Loman.

Willy imagines himself as the important person in town. For example, his

bubbling about sitting with the major of Providence.

Willy:Well, I got on the road, and I went north to Providence. Met the Mayor. Biff:The Mayor of Providence! Willy:He was sitting in the hotel Lobby. Biff:Whatd he say? Willy:He said,Morning! and I said You got a fine city here, Mayor. And then he had coffee with me. And then I went to Waterbury. Waterbury is a fine city. Big clock city, the famous Waterbury clock. Sold a nice bill there. And then Boston-Boston is the cradle of the Revolution, A fine city. And a


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couple of other towns in Mass, and on to Portland and Bangor and straight home. (1314)

The same condition with his illusion friend with Bill Oliver

Willy:.Give my best to Bill Oliver, he may remember me

When explaining why they cant leave the crowded city to live in New York,

Willy tells his wife,

Willy: Im the New England man. Im vital in New England.. (page 1306) Linda: But youre sixty years old. They cantt expect you to keep traveling every week. Willy: Ill have to send a wire to Portland. Im supposed to see Brown and Morrison tomorrow morning at ten oclock to show the line. Goddammit, I could sell them! (1306)

Willy is at the bottom pole in a capitalistic world. He owns nothing, and he

makes nothing, so he has no sense of accomplishment. He develops the theory that if a

person is well liked and has a great deal of personal attractiveness, then all doors will

automatically be opened for him. Thats the main key to the success of marketing person.

Willy build his life around these theory. However, for Willy to live by his ideals

necessitates building or telling many lies, and these illusions replace reality in Willys

mind. He tells lies about how well liked he is in all of his towns, and how vital he is to

New England. At many times Willy even believes his own lies and becomes enthusiastic

when he tells his family that he has made more money than he actually does.


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Willy: What do we owe? Linda: Well, on the first theres sixteen dollars on the refrigerator Willy:Why sixteen? Linda:Well, the fan belt broke, so it was a dollar eighty Willy: But its brand new Linda:Well, the man said thats the way it is. Till they work

themselves in, y know Willy: I hope we dont get stuck on that machine Linda: They got the biggest ads of any of them Willy: I know, its a fine machine. What else? Linda: Well, theres nine-sixty for the washing machine. And for the

vacuum cleaner theres three and a half due on the fifteenth. Then the roof you got twenty-one dollars remaining

Willy: It dont leak, does it? Linda: No, they did a wonderful job. Then you owe Frank for the

carburetor (1316) Capitalism in Death of a Salesman, is undermining to the human spirit and

human condition. In this play, money was the Lomans biggest issue. Thats not to say

that if he had money it would not have made things better. Willy left home with financial

problems, he came home with financial problems. To Willy it is never enough. He never

make enough, he isnt the man that he is portrayed to be to the children. But with Willy it

has been always his bills, bills, bills and we can see here that Willy blames Howard as the

symbol of capitalism where the money owner as the role regulator

Linda: Why dont you go down to the place tomorrow and tell Howard youve simply got to work in New York? Youre too accommodating, dear. Willy: If old man Wagner was alive Id a been in charge of New York now! That man was a prince, he was a masterful man. But that boy of his, that Howard, he dont appreciate. When I went north the first time, the Wagner Company didnt know where New England was!


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Miller use this scene to show Willys confusion. The aging salesman is unable

to asses his situation or come to any rational conclusion as to what to do to remedy his

failures. He blames his financial problems in part on Howard, the new owner of Willys

company and son of the former owner. According to Willy, Howard doesnt appreciate

his ability the way his father did. Despite these setbacks, however he still believes in his

ability and value as a salesman.

Willy has this dream of having a big, spectacular funeral.

Willy:But the funeral. Ben, that funeral will be massive! Theyll come from Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, ! All the old-timers with the strange lisence plates-that boy will be thunder-struck, Ben, because he never realized-Iam known! Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey-I am known, Ben, and hell see it with his eyes once and for all. Hell see what I am! (page 1359).

In the end when Willy dies, at his funeral, Linda says.. Linda: Why didnt anybody come? Charley:It was very nice funeral Linda: But where are all the people he knew? Maybe they blame him. ( page 1364)

All his life, he holds on to this fantasy, but he never faces the reality of how he

could have made it come true.

The success is attained by Willys role models, his father, Dave Singleman,

and Ben, is what capitalism try to offer.

Willy:No Ben! Please tell about Dad. I want my boys to hear. I want them to know the kind of stock they spring from. All I remember is a man with a big beard, and I was in Mamas lap, sitting around a fire, and some kind of high music. Ben: His flute. He played the flute.


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Willy: Sure, the flute, thats right! Ben: Father was a very great and a very wild-hearted man. We would start in Boston, and hed toss the whole family into wagon, and then hed drive the team right across the country; through Ohio, and Indiana, Michigan, Illinois and all the Western states. And wed stop in the towns and sell the flutes that hed made on the way. Great inventor, Father. With one gadget he made more in a week than a man like you make in a lifetime. He only visualizes the end product, being successful, and not the process they

may have gone through to achieve that success. Willys father sells flutes and make that

his living. In an encounter with his thoughts of the past, Willy listens to Ben, his brother

by saying, Great Inventor, Father. With one gadget he makes more in a week than a man

like you could make in a lifetime. Willy assumes that by being a salesman, like his father

was, he is automatically guaranteed success, and that it isnt something that he would

have to work for.

Willy returns to his illusions-this time, of his rich brother, Ben. Throughout

the play, Miller uses Ben to represent the symbol of capitalist potential and the

benchmark for Willys success as a businessman. Ben is the perfect symbol of capitalist

which is quite opposite with Marxism. Miller try to show how Willy always alienated

himself by talking with unreal Ben. According to Willy Ben has made a fortune mining

diamonds in Africa.

Willy: Like a young god. Hercules-something like that. And the sun, the sun all around him. Remember how he waved to me? Right up from the field, with the representatives of three colleges standing by? And the buyers I brough, and the cheers when he came out-Loman, Loman, Loman! God Almighty, hell be great yet. A star like that, magnificent, can never really fade away!


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Alone again, Willy returns to his imagined conversation with his brother Ben.

When Ben says that the jungle is dark but full of diamonds, Willy seems to believe that

his brother is advocating his decision to commit suicide for the life insurance money.

Willy: That boy- that boy is going to be magnificent! Ben: Yes, outstanding with twenty thousand behind him.

In this way, it seems as though the death of this salesman is near and Willy

want to leave something that he thinks worth it to his family. Seeds represent for Willy

the opportunity to prove the worth of his labor, both as a salesman and a father

Willy: Theres no question at all. Gee, on the way home tonight Id like to buy some seeds (page 1333)

His desperate, nocturnal attempt to grow vegetables signifies his shame about

barely being able to put food on the table and having nothing to leave his children when

he passes. Willy feels that he has worked hard but fears that he will not be able to help his

offspring any more than his own abandoning father helped him. The seeds also symbolize

Willys sense of failure with Biff. Despite the American Dreams formula for success,

which Willy considers infallible, Willys effort to cultivate and nurture Biff went awry.

Realizing that his all-American football star has turned into a lazy bum, Willy takes

Biffs failure and lack of ambition as a reflection of his abilities as a father.

Miller uses these motifs throughout his play to symbolize Willys need and

desire for success. They also represent the legacy that Willy never leaves with his family.

Though Willy attempts to plant his garden near the end of the play, this is too little too


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late. His life has already been a failure and he has left nothing remarkable by which to be

remembered.

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. The

garden functions as a last-ditch substitute for Willys failed career and Biffs dissipated

ambition. Willy realizes, at least metaphorically, that he has no tangible proof of his lifes

work. While he is planting the seeds and conversing with Ben, he worries that a man

cant go out the way he came in, that he has to add up to something. His

preoccupation with material evidence of success beliefs his very profession, which

necessitates the ability to sell ones own, intangible images. The seeds symbolize Willys

failure in other ways as well. The fact that Willy uses gardening as a metaphor for

success and failure indicates that he subconsciously acknowledges that his chosen

profession is a poor choice, given his natural inclinations.

Willy: He started with the clothes on his back, walked into the jungle and come out enormously rich at the age of twenty-one owning several diamonds mines. Willy continues: That man was a genius, that man was success incarnate! (1319)

To Willy, diamonds represent real wealth and hence both validation of ones

labor (and life) and the ability to get material goods, two things that Willy desperately

craves. Correlatively, diamond, the discovery of which made Ben a fortune, symbolize


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Willys failure as a Salesman. Willys belief that he has passed up the opportunity to go

with Ben to Alaska, the dreams promise of financial security has eluded Willy. Ben-

Willys wealthy older brother. Ben has recently died and appears only in Willys

daydreams. Willy regards Ben as a symbol of the success that he so desperately craves

for himself and his son.

Material success, such as money, luxury, and wealth, and popularity are his

goals and his definition of success. On the other hand, self-fulfillment and happiness

through hard work is not. His constant preoccupation with being successful, being well-

liked, and attaining that dream with the perfect job, the perfect family and the

perfect life never leave his mind.

In the other hand, Linda; Willys wife confesses that her husband lives in his

own dream and it feels distressed.

Linda: Dont say hes a great man. Willy Loman never made a lot of money. His name was never in the paper. Hes not the finest character that ever lived. But hes human being, and a terrible thing is happening to him. So attention must be paid. Hes not to be allowed to fall into his grave like an old dog. Attention, attention must be finally paid to such a person.

Willy:..There was respect, and comradership, and gratitude in it. Today, its all cut and dried, and theres no chance for bringing friendship to bear or personality

When Willy realizes that his request has been turned down, he begins to lose

his bearings again and he soon launches into his green slipper fantasy, which eventually

forces Howard to kick him out of the office. Willy explains his green slipper illusion by


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telling Howard the reason he became a salesman in the first place: he thinks that he

would die the death of salesman, namely that he would die after living a life of luxury,

having been a famous, loved and respected salesman who didnt even have to leave his

hotel room to make his deals. Willy elaborates on the business world he knew as an

eager, young salesman, lamenting to Howard.

Miller allows the viewer to see that Willy in fact realizes that his philosophy

of life has failed him, through a serious of contradictions that Willy makes throughout the

play. One of the most notable contradictions between Wills idealized version of life and

reality is demonstrated during a conversation between Willy and his wife Linda.

Willy: Oh Ill knock em dead next week. Ill go to Hartford. Im very well liked in Hartford. You know, the trouble is, Linda, people dont seem to take me Here, its obvious that Willy no longer has a place in the commercial

marketplace. In many ways, Miller indicts society for being too commercial and money-

oriented.


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CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION

V.I CONCLUSION

After doing the analysis, I found several conclusions. They are:

1. Death of a Salesman shows Willy Loman as the victim of Capitalism. It supports

the main point of Marxism that is struggle of the working class which becomes

the antithesis of Capitalism. Willy gets fired by his new boss because of getting

older although he has dedicated his life to the company.

2. Death of a Salesman contains Materialism and Alienation of Willy Loman and

Happy Loman. It supports Marxs idea where Capitalism makes people to become

materialistic and alienated from them self and society. Willy has big desire to be a

rich man and alienated himself because on this thing. Happy relies his opinion to

other people to make his own decision and gets ignorance from his father.

3. Death of a Salesman symbolizes Ben and Howard as the representative of

Capitalist. Ben is unreal person of Willys imagination who are very rich and

Howard is the new boss who fires Willy because he is getting older.

4. Death of a Salesman contains the effect of Materialism toward Biff Lowman. He

cant fulfill his father expectation to get the job which can produce much money

and it makes him unhappy because could not be just the way he is.


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V.2 SUGGESTION

This is very interesting play to read because it deals with human problems and

may happen in a real world. It represents the attitude of the American in 1920th, when

The Great Depressions (big economic depressions) runs down America. I hope this thesis

will improve our knowledge in literature.

Last but not least, I will be happy if this thesis can give a great contribution to

everyone who wants to write a thesis, and I know this thesis is still far from being perfect.

Therefore, any constructive criticism and suggestion will be warmly accepted.


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Chapter III V the metodology and the analysis

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