Open Prompt Response - 12/4

1988. Choose a distinguished novel or play in which some of the most significant events are mental or psychological; for example, awakenings, discoveries, changes in consciousness. In a well-organized essay, describe how the author manages to give these internal events the sense of excitement, suspense, and climax usually associated with external action. Do not merely summarize the plot.

            Insanity has many forms, many times presenting effects that only the victim experiences. In a play, where the audience must be a part of the story, mental developments and changes in a character’s mental state must be well thought out and be displayed in a way that the audience can appreciate. Arthur Miller accomplished this in his play, Death of a Salesman, where much of the plot revolves around the decaying mental condition of Willy Loman, the protagonist. Willy’s mind is put on display for the viewer through a nonlinear timeline, which allows Miller to show the flaws in his protagonist’s mental state and turn Willy’s eventual mental demise into a climactic moment for characters and audience alike.

            The play makes obvious early on Willy’s unfortunate mental deterioration. He talks to himself often, and his sons, Biff and Happy, as well as his wife, Linda, don’t quite understand Willy’s nostalgic bursts of insanity for what they are. Willy talks to himself because he wants to return to the past; a past that he remembers much differently than the reality. The other characters and the audience see a crazed father who talks as if other people are around when in fact he is alone, and this is how Miller conveys the mental musings of his protagonist.

Flashbacks are important in Death of a Salesman as a way to clarify Willy’s otherwise bizarre behavior. Willy often talks to himself before the scene cuts to what he’s imagining, so the audience can understand where his mind is. By doing this, Miller conveys the emotions that are running through Willy’s head as he realizes that his entire life has been a lie. His actions are frustrating to the other characters because they can’t see what he’s imagining, but the audience is more aware of this and thus can better sympathize with him.

The presence of Ben, Willy’s long-lost brother, creates another interesting opportunity to look into Willy’s thoughts. Ben serves as the model for Willy, everything that Willy aspires (but fails) to be, and thus Ben is a figment of Willy’s imagination. “Nothing’s planted. I don’t have a thing in the ground,” says Willy, regarding the shamble that his once-promising life has become. This shamble leads Willy towards depression and eventually suicide in the end of the play, a mental journey that the audience sees the entire progression of.

Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman revolves around the instability of Willy Loman’s mind, the causes of which become known to the audience through Willy’s self-talking and the flashbacks that accompany it.