Death of a Salesman - Kennedy

While reading a book with complex and profound themes, I often find it helpful to see how the book is interpreted by someone with a different perspective. Other opinions and interpretations give me insight into elements of the book I had missed and clarify things I had misunderstood. There are many ways to become exposed to other interpretations of a book, such as discussing it with a friend or reading a book review. The resource I use for this the most often is SparkNotes, both because of its convenience and reliability. SparkNotes was especially helpful to me while reading and analyzing the themes of Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller.

One thing I would have completely missed without reading SparkNotes’ analysis was the play on words incorporated into the characters’ names. Willy Loman is literally a low man because he is not important to the world around him and has little wealth or belongings to leave to his family. SparkNotes also goes on to say, “While Willy and Happy willfully and happily delude themselves, Biff bristles stiffly at self-deception.” Although this is not a connection I would have drawn on my own while reading, it is an interesting observation and makes me wonder if Miller put other hidden meanings into names of the characters in Death of a Salesman.

Throughout the play Willy is shown to be obsessed with the past and be unwilling to accept his failures. SparkNotes touches on this, but I feel that they do not place enough emphasis on Will’s broken mental state. He would rather live in the past with delusions and hallucinations than accept that he has failed, both professionally and in raising his children. However, SparkNotes did do a good job analyzing Willy’s suicide and thought of it in a different light than I had. I had interpreted it as done in the shame of not being able to give anything to his sons after he had died and highlighted his inability to give up on his twisted view of the American Dream by believing his sons were destined to be great. SparkNotes, alternatively, describes the suicide as “a final skewed ambition to realize his full commercial and material capacity” and that Willy “achieves a professional understanding of himself and the fundamental nature of the sales profession.” It was interesting to see a different interpretation of Willy’s character development, and I think that both are plausible.

There are many recurring symbols throughout Death of a Salesman, and SparkNotes does a good job of explaining their meaning and significance. Seeds are used often throughout the play to represent a way for Willy to “prove the worth of his labor, both as a salesman and a father” (SparkNotes). The seeds act as analogy to Willy raising his sons, and the fact that seeds will no longer grow in the yard parallels how Willy’s sons no longer listen to him and how it is too late for him to parent and nurture them. However, SparkNotes also describes Willy’s attempt to plant seeds as signifying “his shame about barely being able to put food on the table and having nothing to leave his children when he passes.” This added another layer to the symbolism that I had not recognized at first. One symbol that I felt was left out by SparkNotes was the flute. Willy’s father was a flute maker, and the flute music is used as a motif throughout the play primarily when Willy is lost in the past or hallucinating. Also, the music and tempo of the flute shows Willy’s mood or the feelings he has associated with the memory he is seeing. The flute is an important aspect of Death of a Salesman and I felt it should have been including in SparkNotes’s analysis of the play.

Overall, SparkNotes does a good job analyzing the main themes, symbolism, and character traits in Death of a Salesman. I think that it is a very helpful tool to use while reading, both for Death of a Salesman and for other literary works, but it should not be used in the place of actually reading the book. Also, while it does give another perspective, it is not as effective as discussing the book with a friend or peer. The best way to be exposed to a multitude of diverse opinions is with a classroom discussion or debate, but SparkNotes is a good substitute when lacking the time or ability to do this.