Death Of A Salesman Summary

Death of A Salesman Summary:
Death of A Salesman was written in 1949 by Arthur Miller, winning both the Pulitzer Prize and the Tony for best play.  It centers around the Loman family, with Willy being the main character (the father), Biff and Happy being the two sons, and Linda the Mom.  Biff had some talent in football and that was the "highlight" so far of his life in his father's eyes.  He can't seem to defeat his fathers influence, he wants to go out west while his father wants him to become a salesman, continuing some hope of the Loman familys "Willy like" version of a success.  Happy is always telling Linda that he's getting married, but of course never does.  He has a Madonna-Whore complex and will lie his way into bed.  His father completely ignores him.  Linda is a sweet and strong caring mother who lives for Willy entirely.  SHe's the glue that keeps everyone from killing each other (most of the time).
Biff failed out of school, not taking summer math and we latter learn has HUGE personal issues when he catches his Dad with another woman, and adding insult to injury, she's wearing stockings that Willy gave her (symbolic value WIN).
Happy in the end though decides to carry on the "family tradition" of getting swallowed by the belly of the "American Dream" as Willy sees it, no doubt putting a shadow on the rest of Happy's life.
Throughout the play, Willy shifts from reality to fantasy, with numerous allusions to him wanting to kill himself (what's in the basement eh?).  He drifts into the past where things didn't seem so bleak, a time when he could be hopeful about something, even if he never really understood his sons (or even tried on Happy).  Uncle Ben is one of the deep-seated reasons behind Willy's "dreams".  He is symbolic of the American success story. and apparently he , " walked into the jungle.  And by twenty-one, I walked out, rich!".
This is so rooted into Willy's mind that anything else isn't possible.  "...was rich!  That's just the spirit I want to imbue them with!  To walk into a jungle!  I was right!  I was right!
Arthur Miller was a communist, a person who didn't believe the hype about capitalism and through his magnum opus, makes a convincing argument on how the pursuit of blind success (without factoring in what people actually want to do with their lives), is wrong and is doomed from the start.

At the beginning Willy's suicidal tendencies are made clear.  They spend time uncovering Biff's troubles (and the incident), and Biff's struggle with his fathers wishes and his own dreams. Willy asks to get a desk job, and is fired (in a heated scene). They come up with a last minute dream of getting work, Biff snaps out of it upon entering the interview and they basically abandon their Dad at a restaurant, with Happy hopelessly lying to women.  Willy, in the end, simply says of Biff, 'He likes me", and drives off into the night, killing himself to Ben's voice calling him.

The play, unlike Shakespeare, uses many specific directions in achieving Miller's vision.  Everything is precise and there is less varying of interpretations then with Shakespeare's works.  The play slips between Willy's past and the present, his dream ends with his death and the death of the American Dream.