Death of a Salesman Summary

Willy Loman is an old salesman, who just got back from his car crash. He has being working for the company for many years. And now he is at his declining moment. Biff, Willy’s elder son just came back from a long journey in the outside world argues with Willy on almost everything. Linda, Willy’s wife, tries to convince or rather persuade Willy to control his temper and tries to make Willy stop acting so emotional all the time.

Willy constantly has flesh backs about Biff in high school, and when he himself was still a star of his company. In his flesh back he talks about how great Biff will be one day. And how Biff is the star, and he has to act like the star. Step on top of other people, and shine before everyone else. Then he would be dragged back to reality. Where he has to admit that he is getting old, and that everything is different from how it was back then.

Biff and his brother Happy talks about getting a life out in the country, away from Willy and away from the city. They talk about how easy it would be if they were to live outside and have a life on their own.

The next day, Willy goes to ask his boss for a job in town while Biff goes to make a business proposition, but neither is successful. Willy gets angry and ends up getting fired when the boss tells him he needs a rest and can no longer represent the company. Biff waits for hours to see a former employer who does not remember him and turns him down. Biff then steal a fountain pen. Willy goes to the office of his neighbor Charley, where he runs into Charley's son, Bernard, which is now a successful lawyer. Bernard tells him that Biff originally wanted to do well in summer school, but something happened in Boston when Biff went to visit Willy that changed Biff’s mind. Bernard told Willy how he tried to reason with Biff, and get him to finish school. But they ended up beating each other to the ground.

Happy, Biff, and Willy meet for dinner at an old restaurant that the family used to go to. When Willy arrives, he was expecting good news from Biff, but instead Biff blows at him with a crap load of bad news. Happy tries to get Biff to lie to their father. Biff tried Happy’s method and failed miserably, and finding his father getting angrier. And ends up in a flashback of what happened back in Boston, the day that Biff came to visit Willy. Willy’s flashback of him cheating on his wife with another woman, and was caught by Biff. This action was the factor that ended the relationship and the trust between Biff and Willy.

Biff leaves the restaurant in frustration, followed by Happy and two girls that Happy has picked up. They leave a confused and upset Willy behind in the restaurant. When they later return home, their mother angrily confronts them for abandoning their father while Willy remains talking to himself outside. Biff goes outside to try to reconcile with Willy. The discussion quickly escalates into another argument, at which point Biff forcefully tries to convey to his father that he is not meant for anything great, that he is simply ordinary, insisting that they both are. The feud culminates with Biff hugging Willy and crying as he tries to get him to let go of the unrealistic dreams he still carries for Biff and wants instead for Willy to accept him for who he really is. He tells his father he loves him.

Rather than listen to what Biff actually says, Willy realizes his son has forgiven him and thinks Biff will now pursue a career as a businessman. Willy kills himself intentionally crashing his car so that Biff can use the life insurance money to start his business. However, at the funeral Biff retains his belief that he does not want to become a businessman. Happy, on the other hand, chooses to follow in his father's footsteps.