Death of a Salesman

The theme of the play seems to be that Willy is getting dementia. He has grown tired from all the traveling he does as a salesman. Willy starts reminiscing about the past, only remembering the good times with his brother, memories of his father, and when his boys were younger and thought so highly of him. Willy talking to having conversations with himself, yet thinking he is talking to others symbolizes the fact that he is loosing his mind. The dialogue affects the readers because Willy speaks with such harshness not only to his wife, but to his son Biff. Perhaps he is this way with Biff because Willy feels as if Biff has moved on and forgotten him. They used to be so close and now they barely speak without an argument of some sort.

My reaction to the play thus far is that it started out kinda interesting but then became very confusing due to the flashbacks that Willy was having. I couldn't keep track of what was really going on in the play. After reading it a second time, I started to understand what was going on with Willy and the reasoning for the flashbacks. I believe he is very lonely and truly just wants people to notice him again. That is why he keeps having the accident in the car. I don't feel he is trying to kill himself, just get noticed. I predict that Biff will run off again to never return home and Happy will stay around to help his mother. Willy, because Biff has gone again, will continue to grow more depressed and his dementia will overcome him and eventually kill him.