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Crisis of identity in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman

Published : Saturday, 14 October, 2017 at 12:00 AM  Count : 2460
Mohammad Jashim Uddin
Untill 19th century, people did not search the meaning of life. In 19th century European philoshopers tried to realize what it actually meant. Their first attempt was to know without having 'selfness' of a man, whether he/she should have any meaning and existance. If everyone followed the same pattern of life, had the same foods, used the same foods, got the same success, and even accepted the religious confinment without any question, how one could distinguish one's identity from the other.
People started thinking that their lives and existances are insignificant as they have no individality because of family, social, religious, and state restrictions and continuous guidness. Apperantly they are free but they are enchained everywhere. They act how they are instructed in the name of decipline. Inevitably, people may have wondered: 'Why do so many bad things happen to good people?' And if there was an omnipotent being, why did that being seem indifferent rather than interested in what happened to us?
Moreover, it is a vital question how a man can lose his own identity, or why he is indifferent than that of the other. The question becomes more critical after the industrial revolution. Because of scientific advancement and industrial revolution, some people have started denying the existence of God. So, the clear conflict arose between believers and non-believers.
Besides, capitalism controls the world market and mass people's identity. Capitalism for its own interest pursues people to follow a luxurious life to be a member of upper class people. It makes people to compete such a way that is unhealthy. In addition, the competition makes people into two groups: central and marginalized; suppressed and suppressors. So, capitalism is a trap to destroy someone's identity and existence.
Regarding it, after the Second World War, existential writers started to think of human beings in more individualistic terms, as confused and powerless as they might be in the universe. Instead of focusing on society's expectations of a person, existential philosophers and literary figures aimed to explore the meaning individuals created for themselves. They were not interested in painting a rosy or optimistic picture of the world; instead, they were willing to point out challenges that often had no solutions.
In Existentialism, we have some core features which are almost as following: a) freedom of will that is "I want my way, now!" or "It is not my fault!" mentality, b) freedom of choices through the nature, c) freedom of struggling in establishing individualism, d) feeling of taking individual responsibilities and discipline i.e. the individual is controlled social values and structure ,
e) "society is unnatural and its traditional religious and secular rules are arbitrary", f) wealth, pleasure, or honor making the good life, g) tendency of accepting what is and that is enough in life, h) because of science, life will be better,  and so on.
Existentialism is a philosophic development in the last one hundred years. Beyond philosophy, the spirit is used in different literary texts. Arthur miller is one of the playwrights who have aesthetically used the philosophical features.
Arthur Miller (October 17, 1915 - February 10, 2005) is one of the five leading playwrights of the American theatre; the others being Eugene O'Neill, Thornton Wilder, Tennessee Williams and Edward Albee. Of the five of them only O'Neil's renowned status grew over a long period of time.
Literary critics believe that "perhaps more than any other American playwright of his time, he constructs situations that not only highlight a particular historical circumstances but also translate themselves into the larger ontological conundrums facing individuals in the last half of the twentieth century."
Arthur Miller creates a renowned character named Willy Loman, the protagonist of Death of a Salesman (1949), in which Loman feels his crisis of identity in his last age. Loman starts his career as salesman and has been working for Wagner Company more than thirty six years and has contributed to the company's economic progress. He dreams he must be appointed in the corporate office in New York as he is unable to move on the road with his car selling the goods.
Strangely, when he approaches to the Chief of the company, he is directly fired and is denied to get the acknowledgement of his labour. He is trapped by Capitalism and its new version, American dream. So, at the age of sixty two he realizes that he has no freedom of will, choice, no way of seeking rights in struggling to establish his individualism.
He now fails to take his responsibilities and is about to be dependent on the man-maid cruel circumstances. His brother Ben even suggests him to join another job. The suggestion hints that he has no rights to think him free. Moreover, his individuality cannot control social values and structured. Rather, he is structured by so-called social design.
The conversation between Willy Loman and Linda Loman is the best to identify the crisis of identity of Lomans as they are victimized by American Dream, a new tool of Capitalism. When everyone becomes sure about the downfall of Loman, he is trying to make Lomans ensure the illusion of American Dream saying:
"You [Linda] and Hap [Happy] and I, and I'll show you all the towns. America is full of beautiful towns and fine, upstanding people. And they know me, boys, they know me up and down New England. The finest people. And when I bring you fellas up, there'll be open sesame for all of us, 'cause one thing, boys: I have friends. I can park my car in any street in New England, and the cops protect it like their own. This summer, heh?"
When the tension is in its apex, Linda for the first time exposes her feelings why she takes part of Willy, "The man don't know who we are! The man is gonna know! [To Willy]: We never told the truth for ten minutes in this house!"
Finally Linda requests to the other, "Don't say he's a great man. Willy Loman never made a lot of money. His name was never in the paper.  He's not the finest character that ever lived. But he's a human being, and a terrible thing is happening to him. So attention must be paid. He's not to be allowed to fall into his grave like an old dog. Attention, attention must be finally paid to such a person."
The words are enough to say that willy Loman feels crisis of identity and we can conclude with a remark of Derek Parker Royal, who opines, "Miller protagonists are faced with the inescapable project of defining themselves through a series of Promethean choices. Biff, in Death of a Salesman, realizes that Willy "never knew who he was" and refuses to follow him into a similar life of bad faith.

Mohammad Jashim Uddin is Senior Lecturer,
Department of English,
Northern University Bangladesh


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