Death of a Salesman: Use of Memories and Hallucinations to Define Characters

In the play Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller recounts the story of a man named William Loman and his family. The story mainly concerns Willy's determination to become the success he once was and to pass on his success to his oldest son Biff. Written in both the present and the past, the story unravels via Willy's memories and hallucinations. Miller uses the past as a means of explaining what caused the characters to …

…the time periods, they are the ones who have changed. Willy went from simply believing success is weighted by being well liked to believing that being a salesman is the only way to be successful. Biff on the other hand went from following his father blindly to becoming a individual who stands up and works for himself. The use of past memories and hallucinations accomplishes this by showing how the characters have developed over time.