Jungle of Life: Revised

1984. Select a line or so of poetry, or a moment or scene in a novel, epic poem, or play that you find especially memorable. Write an essay in which you identify the line or the passage, explain its relationship to the work in which it is found, and analyze the reasons for its effectiveness.

In Death of A Salesman, Arthur Miller's last scene accurately sums up his characters' lives and reinforces the theme.The scene, Willy's funeral, is effective because it serves as both a testament to his life and a promise for the future. Willy Loman died the death of a salesman, having spent his life selling both himself and his own broken dreams and twisted ideology. Willy would've liked nothing better than to work with his own two hands, but is instead forced into the dreams of others. 

One theme of the play is to follow your dreams. As his son, Biff, comments in the scene, there was more of Willy in the front stoop than in anything Willy ever sold. Willy's passion is truly in carpentry. Willy lies not in material and success, but in open spaces and hard work. However, society has other plans. The dreams of others are a vault of apartments that trap the Lomans in the city. Willy's brother Ben started out like Willy: he went away chasing a dream. But unlike Willy, Ben went into the jungle and "came out rich." Here, the jungle represents the city, which is certainly as dark, wild, and dangerous as anything Ben may have faced. The beasts of Willy's industrial jungle, though, turned out even more dangerous.

In the end, it was through chasing down that elusive satisfaction that Willy met his downfall. He was unable to accept reality, so he ended it. In the funeral scene, Willy's family and friend(s) realize the devastating impact that getting caught up in others' dreams can have. Biff says, "he had the wrong dreams." In this way, Willy's family mourns not only his life but the jungle of life that everyone must walk through. 

While the scene serves tribute to Willy Loman's life, however, it is about more than that. The funeral is a kind of salute to the future, a way of saying, "you can't beat us down." After Willy dies, Biff vows to follow his dream for him--his original dream. He vows to go out west and find the opportunity Willy never did.

Like the play itself, Miller's last scene looks both at the past and the future in order to create a better present. Willy had been thrown into a jungle, and unlike Ben, he didn't make it out alive. Perhaps what Ben really meant by "came out rich" was that he survived--survived the beasts of societal standards and simply followed a dream. Willy was trapped into societal standards and forced into others' ideals and dreams, crumbling under the weight of it all. But perhaps, through this last scene and through his family, he and his dream live on.