Book Report in English

Abigail Seperidad
Precious Dasigan
9 – Positron
Ms. Dorren Che Q. Sy
 Death of a Salesman
I. Elements
A.) Setting
Death of a Salesman is set in the late 1940s. The Lomans live in Brooklyn, and most of the play's action
occurs at Willy Loman's house. In addition, Willy experiences some dream sequences in which the time
and place of the action are not established. He also recollects a life-changing encounter with Biff in
Boston

B.) Characters
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.

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.

Linda Loman - Willy’s loyal, loving wife. Linda suffers through Willy’s grandiose dreams and self-
delusions. Occasionally,

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.

Charley - Willy’s next-door neighbor. Charley owns a successful business and his son, Bernard, is a
wealthy, important lawyer.

Bernard - Bernard is Charley’s son and an important, successful lawyer.

Ben - Willy’s wealthy older brother. Ben has recently died and appears only in Willy’s “daydreams.”

The Woman - Willy’s mistress when Happy and Biff were in high school.

Howard Wagner - Willy’s boss. Howard inherited the company from his father, whom Willy regarded as
“a masterful man” and “a prince.”

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.

Jenny - Charley’s secretary

C.) Plot
- Exposition
The Death of a Salesman started of when Willy came home from a bussiness trip because he had trouble
with his driving due to the lack of concentration. But rather than be concerned of his own self, he got
more concerned over the fact that his sons are not progressing in the bussiness world.

- Rising action
Willy can't drive any more and Linda urges him to work from home if possible.

- Climax
The climax of a plot is the major turning point that allows the protagonist to resolve the conflict. Biff,
Willy’s son, makes his father see that both he and Willy are failures, who will never obtain the American
Dream. Biff makes his father realize the emptiness of their lives and the unimportance of being well liked.
Willy Loman cannot face or accept this reality.

- Falling action
Willy starts talking to his dead brother, Ben.

- Denouement
This would be after Willy dies. Biff rejects his father’s misguided American dream while Happy still
thinks it is possible to achieve.

- Resolution:
both boys now know what it is that they want to do with their lives: Biff decides to follow his heart and
work outdoors, while Happy decides to start a business like his father.

D.) Conflict
The central conflict in "Death of a Salesman", is Willy's inability to accept that being well-liked is not the
only thing that gets someone through life. He is so set in his ways of thinking that it affects not only his
life but everyone around him as well, especially his children.

E.) Theme / Message

The falsity of the American Dream is the dominant theme of Arthur Miller's play. Willy Loman
represents the primary target of this dream. Like most middle-class working men, he struggles to provide
financial security for his family and dreams about making himself a huge financial success. After years of
working as a traveling salesman, Willy Loman has only an old car, an empty house, and a defeated spirit.
Miller chose the job of salesman carefully for his American Dreamer. A salesman does not make his/her
own product, has not mastered a particular skill or a body of knowledge, and works on the empty
substance of dreams and promises. Additionally, a salesman must sell his/her personality as much as
his/her product. Willy Loman falsely believes he needs nothing more than to be well liked to make it big.

II - Language
A.) Figures of speech
Death of a Salesman also contains several instances of foreshadowing, a literary device that provides
hints or clues about events that will occur in the future. The flute music that is associated with Willy
Loman is one example: It hints at a revelation that occurs later in the play. Willy's father, who abandons
his family at a young age, was a flute salesman.

B. ) Vocabulary
1. dormer - a gabled extension built out from a sloping roof

2. jovial - full of or showing high-spirited merriment

3. mercurial - liable to sudden unpredictable change

4. turbulent - characterized by unrest or disorder or insubordination

5. crestfallen - brought low in spirit

6. bashful - self-consciously timid

7. idealist - someone not guided by practical considerations

8. enthralled - filled with wonder and delight

9. pompous - puffed up with vanity

10. insinuate - introduce or insert in a subtle manner

11. approbation - official acceptance or agreement

12. incipient - only partly in existence; imperfectly formed

13. regulation - an authoritative rule

14. sensation - a general feeling of excitement and heightened interest

15. anemic - lacking vigor or energy

16. regent - acting or functioning as a ruler

 17. subside - wear off or die down

18. primp - dress or groom with elaborate care

19. incarnate - make concrete and real

20. laconic - brief and to the point

21. dispel - force to go away

22. ignoramus - an ignorant person

23. gallantly - in a heroic or brave manner

24. poised - marked by balance or equilibrium and readiness for action

25. audacity - aggressive boldness or unmitigated effrontery

26. imbue - spread or diffuse through

27. leeway - a permissible difference

28. remiss - failing in what duty requires

29. subdued - in a softened tone

30. monotonous - tediously repetitious or lacking in variety

III – Reaction
Rection 1.) Precious Dasigan
The death of a salesman came as a surprise to me, expecting an action packed story of a
salesman and his journey around the world which led to his death, I instead discovered a tragic play about
the life of an average American salesman and his struggle to keep his dreams and values "alive". The
characters of the play were incredibly well developed and easy to understand and allowed me to
comprehend the values and opinions Arthur Miller were trying to convey about the American dream
quite easily. The first read of the play was quite difficult because I was constantly lost between whether
the scene was a flashback or in the present and this caused many confusions on what was happening
within the play especially with Ben, Willy's dead brother. However upon rereading and researching the
characters and scenes online it was very simple to figure out the plot and complications the playwright
had intended to use to illuminate his values and opinions, namely how one's dream may corrupt oneself
and affect those around them.

The death of a salesman brought me a greater understanding to the fact that your life is not controlled by
the beliefs of those around you and you should never try and be something that you are not. This is seen
through Biff's inner conflict to become something his father wanted which is a working business man and
what he wants to be, a cattle ranch owner. Through following his own dreams Biff achieves greater
happiness and freedom which is the basis of the moral of the story. It didn't impact me heavily however it
did open my eyes to see what those in the working class have to face such as the financial problems,
family issues and the expectations others have of them.

Reaction 2.) Abigail Seperidad

Death of a Salesman is a very deep play written by Arthur Miller about a salesman struggling to
keep his grip on reality and his family. This play is a memory play, switching from present to past and
vice versa whenever Willy, the salesman and father of the family, has a moment of insanity and returns to
times gone by. Being memory, it allows for music to announce emotions and characters, and as well as
exaggerations and/or omissions. As Tom says in Tennessee William’s The Glass Menagerie: Being a
memory play, it is dimly lighter, it is sentimental, it is not realistic

Personally I found The death of a salesman to be a very intriguing and interesting play which
covered many domestic issues I can relate to such as the pressure from parents to want their children to
become successful or the financial strain and stress a family must deal with.