Motifs In Death Of A Salesman

Virtually every parent can relate to the feeling of wanting to leave something behind for his or her children. Willy Loman, the father of Biff and Happy Loman, struggles to create a legacy for his two sons. Besides leaving something to his kids, Willy is deeply obsessed with raising his son who once bore so much potential, but is now a failure. In his play Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller uses motifs of seeds, nature, and diamonds to bring to light Willy’s caring but ignorant nature. The motif of seeds and a garden are a metaphor for Biff. When Willy first mentions seeds and growing he states that, “The grass don’t grow any more, you can’t raise a carrot in the back yard . . . remember those two beautiful elm trees out there ” (1215). All of these elements are metaphorical
When Willy almost gets into an accident, he is “observing the scenery” (1214). Trees constantly tempt Willy, symbolizing all the missed opportunities when he could have gotten rich with his brother in the forests of Africa. During one of Willy’s hallucination like memories involving Ben, Willy is enticed by Ben to come to Alaska: “William. Get out of these cities, they’re full of talk and time payments and courts of law” (1251). Willy is contemplating what life would have been like if only he had gone with Ben to Alaska. Ben tells Willy that he needs to get out of the city and into the outdoors. Nature to Willy is symbolic of success, or a place where success is found. Both Willy’s father and brother found their wealth in the great outdoors, and he feels that in order to be successful then he must go there too. Finally, Willy uses another metaphor connecting nature to his life and says, “the woods are burning boys” (1263). The burning woods are symbolic of Willy’s success and life burning down. We are again reminded of the city destroying nature and boxing Willy into an environment in which he cannot