The death of a salesman, which was written in 1949 by Arthur Millar attempts to explain to the readers the unfamiliar glimpse into the thoughts of Willy Loman. The play focuses on Mr. Loman, who was a salesman in his early sixties who is starting to have a forgetful mindset and wants get a grasp on reality and his family as well. The play is based on memory play where we see the memories switching from current to previous and vice versa whenever Willy has a moment of insanity and switches his mind. These memories show us how things unfolded and how the golden times were. It might not have been a care welcoming time after all. Along with the memory, the play brings out the characters of the family and topics such as power and money, reality and illusion and the American dream. This easy will look at how different traits of the characters are and how each of them relates to the themes portrayed. In the beginning, the author brings out Willy Loman as a misguided and troubled man (DiYanni, 2004). At heart, he is a dreamer and a salesman. Willy worked hard all his life and should already have retired at to enjoy life with his family. He recently entered in a self-loss situation to the point of impairing his eyesight. He is clinging to his beliefs and ideals of having the American dream and he is still travelling as a salesman in a job that does not even pay enough. Willy is shown as being an unlucky man. Willy Loman’s character brings him as full of resentment and his actions assume a magnificent history than was the case. He sentimentalizes about his neighborhood as it was in the past. He also becomes nostalgic about working his former boss, Frank Wagner, who died because his former boss’s son, Howard is not treating him well. The author brings out Willy as a boisterous and strong man but has little vigor in his impression to back his vitality, which is ironic. He is perpetual and shows signs of contradicting himself, dementia and having loss of memory. As is naming Loman shows, he is a low man on his emotions and is a person who is low in the social ladder and is not likely to succeed.

Biff Loman, who is the second son to Willy and Linda, is a thirty four year old man who was at one time an athlete with a college scholarship. Biff did not graduate from high school nor join college. According to DiYanni (2004), He did this out of spite because he found his father with another woman in one of his sales trips in Boston. Sine that incidence, Biff, has always been in constant downfall, spending in jail and stealing at every job he has been. Biff it depicted as having a kleptomaniac character that has a constant desire to steal things. This character was when he decided to steal a pen in one of the jobs seeking expedition to show to his family as evidence that he succeeded in getting the job. In the play, Biff is also pictured as having a childish trait. According to his mother Linda, Biff seems not to have yet found himself. At thirty-four years, he remains in some point as an adolescent as he cannot hold any job he has. He and Happy also brought out as immature since when they went temporarily to stay with their parents, they slept in their old twaddle beds, despite this reminded their mother the good old times. Another trait that is from Biff is that he is a hardworking and optimistic person. Biff likes working with his hands and being outdoors. He is a strong lad; therefore, he believes in himself doing hard jobs with his hands. In addition, the fact that he was talented in football shows his prowess in outdoor activities. He is optimistic where he wants to be a salesman as his father was in order to make Willy proud.

Illusions are portrayed from the beginning to the end of the play. As Biff revealed that, no truth has ever been told in their house for ten minutes (DiYanni, 2004). Happy is a good example of a character living life full of illusions. He brags about being the rich assistant in his company when he says that he is waiting for the wealthy trader in the company to die and he can take over the reins. It is later in the play it is that he is only one of the two subordinates to the assistant buyer. He gets girls by telling illusions around them. It is shown in the play where he lies to the girl she was with about owning a brand of champagne while they were in the restaurant then brags that his brother Biff is a quarterback in the New York Giants. He pauses while lying to ask her if she has any idea about football before proceeding. As shown by the author, Happy is portrayed as a successful individual who has a good job, an apartment and a good car.

In conclusion, the major theme of the play is the lost opportunities that were faced by the characters. Willy’s wife Linda remembering those days her boys were young and having a bright future ahead were having good relations with their father. Now she is regretting the state of frenzy her family has tumbled. Lowman’s family is at disarray now. Willy in the end commits suicide so that Biff can take the insurance money to start up a business. The end is tragic since it had shown a lot of promise in terms of Biff forgiving his father for the mistakes and constant conflict.

Reference
DiYanni, R. (2004). Literature: Approaches to fiction, poetry, and drama. Boston: McGraw-Hill.