'Death of a Salesman': meant for you?
鈥淗e works for a company thirty-six years this March, opens up unheard-of territories to their trademark, and now in his old age they take his salary away.... For five weeks he鈥檚 been on straight commission, like a beginner, an unknown.鈥�
That鈥檚 Willy Loman鈥檚 wife, Linda, enlightening and admonishing her irresponsible and inconsiderate sons. Their 63-year-old father, who has worked for the same company all those years, is about to be terminated. 听One termination leads to another.
Tragically, in addled desperation, Willy Loman drives himself to bequeath a death benefit to his irresolute sons. 听Dramatically, with the text of 鈥�Death of a Salesman,鈥� Arthur Miller set up what might well be thought of as a literary inter vivos 听trust 鈥� and a gift in perpetuity 鈥� with millions of theater-goers and script-readers as beneficiaries.
鈥淒eath of a Salesman鈥� debuted at the Morosco Theatre in New York, February 1949, with Lee J. Cobb as Willy Loman; with direction by Elia Kazan. 听The play has been translated into more than 29 languages and has been performed throughout the world (including China) with a resonance and impact transcending cultures and borders.
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听In 1975, the play was brought to Manhattan鈥檚 Circle in the Square with George C. Scott in the lead.
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听In 1984, the play returned to Broadway, at the Broadhurst Theatre, with Dustin Hoffman as Willy.
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听In 1999, the play had still another Broadway revival, at the Eugene O鈥橬eill Theater, with Brian Dennehy in the lead.
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听This month, Philip Seymour Hoffman is delivering Willy鈥檚 sorrowful and sorrowing self-doom at the Barrymore Theater, under the direction of Mike Nichols.
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听In January 1999, before a standing-room-only audience at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan, Arthur Miller responded to a question about the state of the theater by observing that a play鈥檚 chance of success can turn on a casting decision. 听A finely-crafted work, thoughtfully-staged, deftly-directed, and brilliantly acted may nevertheless disappear (if it appears at all) if the lead performer is not a hot young property, or at least a notable marquee name. 听My recollection is that Miller rued that, 鈥淲e鈥檙e always discovering new people; we鈥檙e never discovering old people.鈥�
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听That concern would not seem to apply to the various high-profile stagings of 鈥淒eath of a Salesman.鈥� 听But, the lament surely does apply to Willy Loman鈥檚 employment plight 鈥� and to the plight of thousands and thousands who (at least in some respects) feel Willy鈥檚 woes. 听In the play, we fear the worst; we see it coming. Nevertheless, the delivery is crushing:
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听Employer: 听 听 听 听 听 Willy, you can鈥檛 go to Boston for us.
听Willy: 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听Why can鈥檛 I go?
听Employer: 听 听 听 听 听 I don鈥檛 want you to represent us. 听I鈥檝e been meaning to tell you for a long time now.
听Willy: 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听... are you firing me?
听Employer: 听 听 听 听 听 I think you need a good long rest, Willy.
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听That most unsettling exchange speaks to so many of us who, tired as we may be, cannot afford to take a rest.
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听The play can be a preview; serve as a simulation, a crystal ball, a premonition, or a mirror for those who:
鈥撎� believe they still have something to prove at their workplace
听鈥撎� thought they had already proved, at their workplace, everything that had to be proved
听鈥撎� have fallen victim to the 鈥渨hat-have-you-done-for-me-lately鈥� way of thinking
鈥� 听 have been passed over in the awarding of perks and promotions
鈥撎� weren鈥檛 able to see things at work as they really were, or as they really are
鈥撎� held on to understandings that weren鈥檛 to be honored or even understood
鈥� 听 hold on to 鈥渨hat ifs鈥� and 鈥渨hat might have beens鈥�
鈥撎� haven鈥檛 been honest with themselves
鈥� 听 haven鈥檛 registered reality
鈥� 听 have had to absorb the frustrations and disappointments, exhaustions and indignities of a job search
鈥淒eath of a Salesman鈥� also speaks to anyone who has ever:
鈥撎� doubted a dream they held dear, wondered if the dream was the wrong dream, and wondered what the right dream would be
鈥撎� dreamed of a better way of making a living
鈥� 听 missed a good career opportunity
鈥撎� 鈥渓ost鈥� a job
鈥撎� 听 had to prepare for a job interview
鈥撎� 听 left a job interview regretting what he said, how he said it, and how he conducted himself
鈥撎� 听 left a job interview disappointed
鈥撎� 听 left a job interview humiliated
鈥撎� 听 wondered if there would ever be another job interview
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听Willy, himself, is beyond resurrection, but the unsentimental, close-to-the bone account of his final 24 hours (laced with revealing flashbacks and telling hallucinations) can be revived on stage, and screened via videotape (Fredric March in the 1951 film) and DVD (1985, Dustin Hoffman; 2000, Brian Dennehy) 鈥� and can be refrained from the shelves of any public library or book shop worthy of being called a library or a bookshop.In the family realm, Arthur Miller鈥檚 gift speaks to parent-child alienations, depicting the strains and stresses of:
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听鈥撎� a parent whose labors, efforts, endeavors and struggles have not been sufficiently appreciated, a parent who has suffered a child鈥檚 ingratitude
鈥撎� a child who did not appreciate a parent鈥檚 predicament, when it would have been helpful to recognize that predicament
鈥撎� a parent who has a hard time abandoning a special hope for a child鈥檚 future
鈥撎� a child who has had a hard time living up to a parent鈥檚 very special hopes and expectations
鈥撎� a parent who can鈥檛 relinquish a dream even though it does not square with reality
鈥撎� a child who hasn鈥檛 been able to get a parent to pull back from exaggeration, and relinquish a fantasyFor those of us who have the great good fortune to be lovingly appreciated by our children 鈥� children who have done so nicely by us and their respective communities 鈥� the Loman family鈥檚 disappointments, dysfunctions, and despair provide a stark contrast. 听And much cause for gratitude.
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听Like banks, families are subject to stress tests. 鈥淒eath of a Salesman鈥� reminds of how much human capital we have in reserve 鈥� and how friendship, self-awareness, and good fortune keep us mentally and emotionally solvent.
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听Without shame or embarrassment, we can admit that the missteps and misadventures, the embarrassments and shame of others can serve to make us all the more grateful for what we have and what we have been spared.
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听Reading Willy 鈥� reading the Lomans 鈥� can serve as a cautionary tale for anyone harboring regrets, resentments, reservations. The play is a reality-based fable for anyone who doesn鈥檛 want to live a life of regret.
Joseph H. Cooper was editorial counsel at The New Yorker from 1976 to 1996. 听He teaches ethics and media law courses at Quinnipiac University.
