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Jicheng Wang
10:12amJul 23 at 10:12am
"Cheese" in Death of a Salesman Act I first appeared when Willy and Linda went downstairs for something to eat whilst the rest of the family were sleeping. Willy just returned from Florida and Linda persuaded him to have a rest and she cared for his health that might be overlooked by Willy compared with the pursuit of his American dream. So they went downstairs for something to eat after talking about why Biff, their most attractive and promising son, got lost in such a promising big city. Willy believed that Biff's not lazy and Linda chimed in with Willy by saying "Never".
Then Linda offered him "a new kind of American-type cheese today...it's whipped". She tried to distract Willy from the reminiscence about the bright old days of Biff in High School - obviously a peer leader. However, Willy was not happy at all with the American-type cheese because he really loved Swiss cheese. He did not listen to Linda's explanation about maybe he wanted a change (with the cheese). My guess is that Swiss cheese is much more expensive than American-type cheese and Linda assumed that buying American-type cheese would both please the husband and save money for the family. I think this is evidenced by Willy's sudden change of topic - he went on blaming the windows and bricks. Willy did not continue blaming on Linda's change of cheese, which may be a face-saving strategy. His environment, an apartment in a crowded neighborhood then took the blame, indicating that Willy was not happy with the fact that he could not afford Swiss cheese or a big house in a much more comfortable neighborhood.
His complaints about this situation then turned into an analysis of why the society became so harsh to him despite he worked hard and his son was so charming - "There’s more people! That’s what’s ruining this country! Population is getting out of control. The competition is maddening! Smell the stink from that apartment house! And another one on the other side... How can they whip cheese." So people living in apartment house were living with the stinky smell, and that was why Willy denied the possible connection of Cheese (Swiss Cheese) with people in this social class.
Besides, from the conversations between Willy and Linda, we know that Willy felt especially irritated and anxious when he got contradicted by others. For one thing, this indicates that Willy expected natural obedience from his wife. For another, this indicates that he was often contradicted during work, for I think Linda was obedient enough to Willy. Cheese serves as a symbol of contradiction about the social status of Willy: he positioned himself as a guy in higher social class and could eat Swiss cheese as he wished. However, he was actually an ordinary American who could eat the American-type cheese but he could hardly move up in the social hierarchy.
Drawing inspirations from the trivial object of cheese in this play, I find one important theme of this play:
Theme: Willy was driven by the American dream to realize his life aspirations through hard work but his achievement was somehow limited by many objective factors of the society, such as the growth of population, intensified competition and limited personal capabilities and resources to help him move upwards the social hierarchy.
Jacob Grisaffi
10:16amJul 23 at 10:16am
In act 1 in Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller there are multiple motifs that can be analyzed but the one that stood out to me the most were the cars. Willy is a salesman that is trying to provide for his family, but his financial endeavors never seem to succeed. Although it is never stated what Willy sells, it is clear that he dabbles in the automotive part sales. The motif of cars develops until the end of act one in a very ominous way. At the beginning of the play the idea of cars appears with Willy getting into an accident. Willy says, “I suddenly couldn’t drive any more. The car kept going off on to the shoulder, y’know?” (Miller 3) The first time that audience hears about a car it is smashed up and in an accident. The family is unsure why Willy got into this accident because they found nothing wrong with the car before he got into that accident. They also questioned Willy about what he had been doing beforehand as well. Nothing pointed to anything out of the ordinary about him getting into this crash besides it being an accident.
The idea of a car disappears until he starts talking about what car he thought he was driving. Willy tells Linda, “ I was thinking of the Chevvy. [Slight pause.] Nineteen twenty-eight . . . when I had that red Chevvy—[Breaks off.] That funny? I coulda sworn I was driving that Chevvy today” (Miller 8). This conversation sparked his interest about how one of his sons, Biff, could clean engines of old cars to try to sell back to dealerships. The motif of the car is very important when addressing Willy's sons because it shows their hardworking characters.
The hard work that his son put into this car meant a lot to Willy. This idea of his sons come up later, and their work ethic comes up again around cars. This motif seems to be conveying the audiences understanding of what Willy is proud of about his sons. It appears once more when the sons are polishing the hubcaps of the car. Willy comes out and admires the work that they have been doing on the car and states, “Pad it up, use it like a pad. That’s it, that’s it, good work” (Miller 16).
There is still another underlying meaning about the cars because there are new and smashed ones. I think there is another meaning because his love for Chevvy disappears in a matter of moments when Linda expresses her concern about the bills that had to be paid. One of the parts of the car that was changed needed to still be paid and Willy starts to become frustrated at the car that he loved the most saying, “I’m not going to pay that man! That goddamn Chevrolet, they ought to prohibit the manufacture of that car!” (Miller 23) As his frustration grows about the car.
Then one of his sons is caught driving without a license and Linda becomes furious at Willy because of the dangers he is allowing his son to expose himself to. She feels as if her son’s priorities are not in check. Willy seems to be distant and not require any change to be made. This leads into a new understanding about Willy’s car crash in February. A woman watched Willy crash his car and Linda reported, “Well, it seems she was walking down the road and saw his car. She says that he wasn’t driving fast at all, and that he didn’t skid. She says he came to that little bridge, and then deliberately smashed into the railing, and it was only the shallowness of the water that saved him” (Miller 43). At this moment, the car became something that was bad.
It was used to commit suicide rather than something that he sold or was proud that his sons enjoyed fixing up. It changes the meaning of what the car was within the story. The motif of new and smashed cars became something besides a mode of transportation, and it tied into the theme that money can cause more evil than good. Everything Willy has been doing has been himself trying to get as much money as possible for him and his family; however this causes more bad than good because it wears heavily on him.
