Max Totzke

Miss Young
English 11
7 May 2019

Highschool students all over the world should read the story Death of a Salesman.

Highschool students should read this story because of the symbolism, characteristics and

message. Death of a Salesman involves four main characters who are Willy, Biff, Happy, and

Linda Loman. These characters have unsteady relationships throughout the story as Biff and

Happy try to make their father, Willy content along with their mother Linda.

Symbolism is learned in this story through stockings, a trophy and garden. Stockings

symbolize Willy regretting and feeling guilt about his past choices about his family and affair

because he gave his mistress new stockings instead of his wife. When he sees his wife's old

stockings it reminds him of what he did. The trophy symbolizes that Biff has accomplished

something all though he always feels like a failure. The trophy that Willy put in his room is

always going to be there to remind him that he is a winner. The garden consists of fresh seeds,

these fresh seeds represent Willy’s spirit after his death. Even though Willy dies the garden will

continue to grow and represent him.

Characteristics are another reason all high school student should read Death of a

Salesman. The characteristics of the story are what giving true reading value. Through

characteristics of settings and characters, people are able to establish an understanding for the

story that they would otherwise not have. The characteristics give meaning to the plot along with

establish the storyline. Without characteristics like Willy being a hard worker and Biff being an

underachiever the story would not have as much meaning.

 The underlying message in Death of a Salesman is that the American dream is real, and

some people will do anything to achieve it. From the start of the story characters such as Biff and

Happy’s intent is to impress their dad. Biff comes as a disappointment to Willy because he is

unsuccessful at being a salesman and Happy has a nice job, but it’s not the best he could have.

The American dream is described as an equal opportunity for everyone to succeed. Willy’s boys

had more than enough opportunity to succeed and it just never happened for Biff. Biff was too

caught in the social aspect of things and sports. This meant that Willy needed to help his family

in any way possible. For Willy, this meant killing himself because he would earn $20,000 from

his life insurance. Willy’s social ranking and money meant more to him than it seemed his

family did. The message of Death of Salesman is to achieve the American, but do not go to

insane lengths. This is because after Willy died, the family did not need any more financial help

they had paid off the house even after Willy is fired from his job.

In conclusion, students should read Death of a Salesman because of the symbolism,

characteristic and message. Willy, Biff, Happy and Linda Loman will give high school students a

better understanding of the American dream.