Death of a Salesman -- Willy & Howard

By Damla Ugurlu, Bernadette Hof, and Darius Scherer

Adaptation:

Conversation between Willy Loman and Howard in Act II
Theme -> American Dream

The conversation between Willy Loman and Howard deals with the financial situation in which Willy is. He asks Howard for a job in the town without travelling any more. He thinks he is too old for travelling around and that it would be enough if he earns 65 dollars a week. The whole conversation comes to this point that Howard doesn ́t want him working further as a salesman and that he should live the rest of his life in peace and that his sons are at the turn to look up for their dad.

The failure of the American Dream is very clearly in this particular scene because Willy thinks about a new position in his work life but everything comes different and he stays there without a job.

To approach our German audience with this failure of the American Dream the protagonists of Willy and Howard have to be really authentic. The way how Willy begs for a job in the town and the way how Howard tries to say that he doesn ́t want to work with him has to be plausible. To get the authentic way the actor of Howard has to be like a rich rascal who looks down to Willy. The actor of Willy has to be like an old sweet man who only wants to work further to give his family the opportunity of better life conditions without being rely on somebody else. He has to act like that he sacrifices himself for his family. The look of the protagonists for this particular scene is important, too.

To be authentic Howard must wear the best suit with a hat à la Al Capone and a cigar in his mouth sitting on his chair with feet on the desk.

Willy should look like a fragile old man with unkempt grey hair, slanting glasses and an old striped needle suit. In the conversation Willy should not look in Howards face. To be more plausible he should look on the floor and should talk in a way of being in a crisis and that it would be the only way to reach good life conditions if he gets the job in the town.

All in all these small constructions would determine the scene ́s importance for the whole play and the theme of the American Dream.

Dialogue:
Scene between Willy and Howard symbolises a final cut in Willy Loman ́s life and to transform this passage to make it more realistic for a German audience, we also decided to change the way of speaking between Howard and Willy, which seems to be too soft.

Willy: (with his eyes starring at the ground): I tell you, Sir. (with respect). The kids are all grown up... I don't need much any more. (Then with a short look to Howard, lowing his voice): If I could take home - well, sixty-five dollars a week, I could swing it...

Howard: Yeah, but Willy, see I... (without any indication of mercy, lightening up his cigar) Loman, we are living in a system which is dominated by money, do you really think that I am making a fortune by giving you a better position in this company? I doubt that.

Willy: (trying to hide his nervousity): I tell you why, Sir. Speaking frankly and between the two of us. (pauses) –I ́m just a little tired.

Howard: Oh I could understand that, Willy.[...] That is exactly the point! You are sixty-three years old. We've only got a half- dozen salesman on the floor here. I already got a half-dozen young salesman between twenty and thirty years, successful in selling.

[...]

Willy: (resigned): Why can't I go? What should I do now?

Howard: (with a strong voice, looking down at Willy): I don't want you to represent us.

Willy (with tears in his eyes): Sir, are you firing me? (looking up to Howard) Please! Don't! I need the job! (beating up hands above his head)

Howard: I think you need a good long rest, Willy. Loman, as you said, we both see that you cannot do it any more. You are too old, too tired, too whatever. Fact is, I do not need you. This is part of keeping my business up, might be hard for you but the other salesmens already overtook you. Keeping you for some more years was just doing a favour to my father, but he is dead now. (still without any interest in Willy's emotional situation, standing up and wanting to leave) I have to go now, got a big deal.

Without a look at Willy he leaves the room. As the door shuts the flute begings to play a sad song which fades, as Willy still sitting on the chair slowly begins to cry.

Analysis:

We wanted to transform the play into a more reliable one. We added some stage directions during the dialogue, which show feelings, reactions and properties and tried to give hints for the actors to bring our play on stage or in the cinema. It is clear that the American Dream is not followed by every person in Death of a Salesman. Our intention was to make clearer that the American Dream in his roots is the way of reaching wealth and a successful life career. For a German audience it is important to show the struggle which is behind the scenes. The American Dream contains items like hard work, effort, patience and most important honesty. In reality this is slightly different and this is what we want to clarify to our German audience. Germany itself is a country where you can reach wealth and success by hard work but the reality shows that aspects like aggressiveness and the ability to sell one's own grandmother are even more important.

Germany is a country without any natural resources but could become a leading power in economy. Within branches like the steel industry the workers do tough jobs to earn their maintenance and follow the American Dream with hard work and honesty. The problem is that these workers are unable to really get rich. The people who make big money are part of the executive boards of those companies. Our visualization of Death of a Salesman tries to outline Howard, who is Willy's employer, in a more regardless way. He is the aggressive leader of Willy's company and wants to eliminate all ineffectiveness in his enterprise. We tried to support the reader's view of a very ruthless man with no fear of dismissing an older man who worked for him for years. The symbols we used for this are the strange hat and the cigar in his mouth. As he gained much of his money by being ruthless it was our will to make the readers think of a mobster. Howard does not really live the honest way of the American Dream and this is why we decided to overdraw him and exaggerate his behaviour.

In Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, Willy always chases the American dream unsuccessfully. His last name 'Loman' strongly recalls to the words 'low' and 'man' which display his misfortune and failure. Our intention was to give him a slightly more prosperous life career and a great job after getting fired from Howard. But this is very difficult. For older people it is extremely difficult to become successful, as they tend to be as in Willy's case "tired" and normally one would get rich or wealthy during one's lifetime, so that once you are in the situation of having no energy anymore, you can retire. As we showed in the dialogue, Willy's boss Howard does not see any use in Willy because of his age and his business is too hard to keep him just because of his good relationship to Howard's father in the past years.

As our chosen scene only is a small part of the whole play we thought about Willy's future from the point of his dismissal. Willy is an old man with an honest soul and this is the reason which made us give him a more golden future. After his discussion with Howard, Willy takes the job offered by Charley and starts over again, by realizing his own 'small' American Dream, although he has to be honest to himself. With 63 years you are not able to cope with young and hungry workers anymore. Here the fact that he finally came to his mind and faces reality would be a change in the drama, which we thought would fit. This change of being conscious about his life situation after being fired and the change to realize that Willy himself should no longer be too stubborn to take what he can get would finally save himself.

It would show the way out of a misbelief and the story can have a good end. This would lead to the fact that even the play's name has to change into "Struggle of a Salesman".

But these are only imaginations of how the play could get a possible turn. Here we do not refer to any scene.