Death Of A Salesman: Symbols :: essays research papers

Death of a Salesman SymbolsMany symbols are incorporated into the play "Death of a Sales man" and they inturn relate to both character and theme. The hose, mag tape recorder and the seedsare some of these symbols.The hose in Millers drama at a time relates to the theme of d eath. The hose isa line attached to the gas main in Willys house which allows him to snif f thegas. This action can be seen as Willys suicide wish, and escape from therealities of life. As seen in the loss of his job and his failure to succeed.The hose also represents grief and deception. For when Linda, Willys wife,finds the hose, she is distraught over its in tended purpose. The deceptive personality of the hose is apparent when Willy is confronted about it by Biff his sonand Willy denies its existence. A similar denial is also evident when Willy isconfronted with the tape recorder in Howards office.The tape recorder signifies the change in Willys life throug h the advancementof technology. It also re presents the end of Willys career. This is broughtabout when Howard, Willys boss and godson, shows the tape recorder to Willy andappe ars to be more concerned in the sound and technology of the machineinstead of Willy, who i s fighting for his job. Howard no longer need s Willysservices and without concern fires him. This , to Willy, was like, " consume theorange and throwing away the peel". However, Willy is partly to blame, as hedoes not accept change and wants to remain in the pas t. This is foreshadowed inthe scene where Willy is left totally with the tape recorder and is unable to shutit off. Willy believes in using his old techniques and style to succeed.Nevertheless, in his job, it is not what you know, but it is who you know. Willyis not up to date with the credit line nor technology. Yet, Willy still has hope,and wishes to leave some fo rm of support behind for his family as illustratedin his pose of the seeds.Willy feels that he must leave something behind somet hing for Biff. In Willys conceptional world he wants Biff to be magnificent and he symbolically plants seedsin his garden. In spite of such an action he is doomed to fail. Willy sta rtsplanting the seeds at night, but at night there is no sun shining and this seems