Miller, Arthur: 1915-2005

Death of a Salesman, 1949 - Chapter Summaries

The chapters are grouped into manageable sections.
Section 1: Willy Returns Home
Willy Loman returns home early from a business trip because he is exhausted and has struggled to concentrate while driving. His wife, Linda, worries about his health, while Willy becomes frustrated with his own failures and begins criticizing his older son, Biff, who has returned home after years of uncertainty. Willy compares Biff unfavorably with his younger son, Happy, yet he also remembers Biff’s popularity and athletic success during high school. Through Willy’s conversations and memories, the audience learns that he values personal attractiveness and popularity more than hard work or practical achievement.
Section 2: Willy’s Memories of the Past
Willy slips into memories of Biff and Happy as teenagers, when he believed that Biff’s popularity and athletic ability would guarantee him a successful future. In these memories, Willy encourages his sons to be well liked and dismisses the importance of academic achievement and honest effort. Bernard, the studious son of Willy’s neighbor Charley, warns Biff that he may fail mathematics, but Willy mocks Bernard’s seriousness and assumes that Biff’s popularity will help him succeed. Willy also remembers his brother Ben, who became wealthy after venturing into the wilderness, and views Ben as proof that success can come quickly to those who take risks.
Section 3: Willy’s Career, His Affair, and His Family’s Problems
Willy continues to alternate between the present and the past, revealing his insecurities about his career and his relationships. He admits to Linda that he exaggerates his sales figures because he fears that he is not as successful or well liked as he pretends to be. In a memory of a business trip to Boston, the audience sees Willy’s affair with a woman who flatters him and accepts his gifts of stockings. Biff unexpectedly discovers the affair when he visits Willy after failing mathematics and asking for help with graduation. Horrified by his father’s betrayal of Linda, Biff loses his respect for Willy and abandons his plans to attend summer school. This discovery explains much of the bitterness between father and son in the present.
Section 4: Charley’s Offer and Linda’s Warning
In the present, Willy’s neighbor Charley visits him and plays cards with him, but Willy becomes confused when he imagines that his dead brother Ben is also present. Charley offers Willy a job, which Willy refuses because he cannot bear to accept help from someone he considers less successful than himself. Meanwhile, Linda reveals to Biff and Happy that Willy has been attempting suicide, including the discovery of a rubber hose connected to the gas line. She insists that the sons must recognize their responsibility to their father and treat him with compassion. Biff decides to remain at home temporarily and pursue a business opportunity with his former employer, Bill Oliver, while Willy becomes convinced that his son is finally on the path to success.
Section 5: Willy Asks Howard for a Job in New York
The next morning, Willy wakes up feeling more optimistic and believes that Biff’s proposed business venture will finally make the family successful. Linda encourages Willy to ask his employer, Howard Wagner, for a position in New York so that he no longer has to travel. However, Howard is more interested in demonstrating his new recording equipment than listening to Willy’s concerns. When Willy explains that he has worked for the company for decades and can no longer manage the demands of traveling, Howard refuses to give him a salaried position and eventually dismisses him. Willy is devastated because he has devoted much of his life to the company and expects his loyalty to be rewarded. He visits Charley’s office, where Bernard, now a successful lawyer, reveals that he is preparing to travel to Washington for a legal case.
Section 6: Willy Compares Himself with Bernard and Ben
Willy struggles to understand why Bernard has succeeded while Biff has not, especially because he once believed Biff was destined for greatness. Bernard reminds Willy that Biff’s life changed dramatically after his visit to Boston, when he discovered Willy’s affair, and that Biff subsequently abandoned his plans to attend summer school. This revelation helps Willy understand that the incident had a lasting effect on his son, although he continues to resist accepting full responsibility. Willy then imagines Ben, whose wealth and adventurous life represent the success Willy has always desired. Ben’s presence intensifies Willy’s belief that financial achievement is the ultimate measure of a man’s worth, even as his own career and family relationships deteriorate.
Section 7: Biff’s Meeting with Bill Oliver and the Restaurant Scene
Biff meets Bill Oliver, hoping to secure a loan for a sporting-goods business, but Oliver barely remembers him and refuses to offer financial support. Biff realizes that he has exaggerated the importance of his former position and that he was never as significant to Oliver as he had imagined. In frustration, he steals Oliver’s fountain pen before leaving the office. Later, Biff and Happy meet Willy at a restaurant, where Biff attempts to explain that the business proposal has failed and that the family must stop pretending they are destined for greatness. Willy refuses to accept the truth and retreats into memories of the past. Happy, meanwhile, tries to impress two women and avoids acknowledging his father’s distress. Eventually, the sons leave Willy alone in the restaurant, and a waiter helps him after Willy becomes increasingly confused.
Section 8: The Boston Memory and Biff’s Final Confrontation with Willy
At the restaurant and later at home, Willy repeatedly relives the memory of Biff discovering his affair in Boston. The audience learns that Biff had once admired his father deeply, but the discovery destroyed his trust and changed his attitude toward his future. When Biff returns home, he confronts Willy and insists that the family must stop lying to itself about its achievements and ambitions. Biff admits that he is not destined for greatness and wants to live according to his own abilities rather than continue pursuing Willy’s unrealistic dream. He breaks down in tears while explaining that he loves his father, despite their conflicts. Willy interprets Biff’s emotional response as proof that his son still admires him and mistakenly believes that Biff’s love confirms the importance of his ambitions.
Section 9: Willy’s Suicide
After Biff’s confrontation, Willy becomes convinced that his son’s emotional response proves that Biff can still achieve greatness. He reasons that his death will provide Biff with life-insurance money, which he imagines will allow his son to become successful and finally recognize his father’s value. Ben appears in Willy’s imagination and seems to confirm that suicide will be a courageous and profitable decision. Although Willy briefly considers the love his family has shown him, he remains trapped by his belief that financial sacrifice can secure his legacy. He leaves the house and deliberately drives away, causing the car crash that ends his life. Willy’s death is tragic because he sacrifices himself for a future he has imagined rather than accepting the reality of his family’s circumstances.
Section 10: Willy’s Funeral and the Family’s Future
At Willy’s funeral, Linda, Biff, Happy, Charley, and Bernard reflect on his life and the circumstances of his death. Linda is devastated that so few people attended, especially because Willy had believed that he was widely admired and respected. Charley explains that salesmen must maintain dreams and optimism to survive in a competitive world, suggesting that Willy’s tragic flaw was inseparable from his profession. Biff concludes that Willy pursued the wrong dreams and that his life was shaped by false expectations of success. Happy rejects Biff’s judgment and vows to continue pursuing the kind of success Willy wanted for him. Linda reveals that the family has finally paid off the mortgage on their house, but this achievement brings her little comfort because Willy is no longer alive to enjoy it. The play ends with Linda grieving and expressing uncertainty about why Willy chose to die just as the family became financially free.