Death of a Salesman Personification Quotes

A melody is heard, played upon a flute. It is small and fine, telling of grass and trees and the horizon. The curtain rises. Before us is the Salesman’s house. We are aware of towering, angular shapes behind it, surrounding it on all sides. Only the blue light of the sky falls upon the house and forestage; the surrounding area shows an angry glow of orange.

– Arthur Miller

Death of a Salesman, Act 1. Even before a character enters or speaks, we are introduced to some of the important themes and figures of speech in these stage directions, the first words of the play. Music is heard and flute is personified, as it tells of a pastoral and idyllic scene of grass and trees. This sets a peaceful tone. When the curtain rises, the house of salesman Willy Loman is revealed. Having a home of one’s own is one of the most frequently cited examples of having attained the American Dream. But the Loman dream and home appear to be under threat. The city has encroached on the house, now surrounded on all sides by towering skyscrapers, suggesting that Willy is trapped in his big dreams. The "angry glow of orange" contrasts with the image of the blue sky, creating an unsettling atmosphere and foreshadowing future events. The color orange is personified here. The passage’s theme of nature vs city symbolizes the conflict within Willy. His love of the great outdoors competes with his salesman’s dream of finding prosperity and building success in the artificial and materialistic world of the city.

We see a solid vault of apartment houses around the small, fragile-seeming home.

– Arthur Miller

Death of a Salesman, Act 1. Willy’s home is the only one left on the block, which is now full of suffocating and towering apartment buildings. The home is personified as "fragile," reflecting Willy’s own emotional and mental state. Just as the vulnerable house appears under siege from urbanization and encroachment of tall apartment blocks, Willy’s hopes and dreams are under threat of being overpowered by reality.

An air of the dream clings to the place, a dream rising out of reality.

– Arthur Miller

Death of a Salesman, Act 1. Air is personified in these opening stage directions, which describe the Loman family house. The dream is the American Dream that once seemed attainable, but has become detached from reality. The line deals with the important theme of illusion vs reality and the Lomans’ tendency towards self-deception. They are unable to distinguish between reality and they facade they live behind and this ultimately leads to their downfall.

Once in my life I would like to own something outright before it’s broken! I’m always in a race with the junkyard! I just finished paying for the car and it’s on its last legs. The refrigerator consumes belts like a goddam maniac. They time those things. They time them so when you finally paid for them, they’re used up.

– Arthur Miller

Death of a Salesman, Act 2. Willy’s distorted American Dream of having household goods that last and don’t break down is illustrated here, as he complains about his clapped out fridge and car. These items represent the shallowness of Willy’s dream, which is entirely materialistic based. Refrigerator is personified here, having the ability to consume belts like some crazy person.

Why? Why! Bernard, that question has been trailing me like a ghost for the last fifteen years. He flunked the subject, and laid down and died like a hammer hit him!

– Arthur Miller

Death of a Salesman, Act 2. Willy responds to Bernard’s question as to why Biff failed math in high school and dropped out of summer school. Personification is used by Miller to describe how the question trailed Willy like a ghost, emphasizing his anguish and puzzlement over his son’s behavior. In a simile Willy compares Biff’s depression and giving up on everything to a hammer hitting him.
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