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Article
Willy Loman and the "Soul of a New Machine": Technology and the Common Man
Journal of American Studies
  • Richard T. Brucher, University of Maine - Main
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-1983
Abstract/ Summary

As Death of a Salesman opens, Willy Loman returns home “tired to the death” (p. 13). Lost in reveries about the beautiful countryside and the past, he's been driving off the road; and now he wants a cheese sandwich. But Linda's suggestion that he try a new American-type cheese — “It's whipped” (p. 16) — irritates Willy: “Why do you get American when I like Swiss?” (p. 17). His anger at being contradicted unleashes an indictment of modern industrialized America:

The street is lined with cars. There's not a breath of fresh air in the neighborhood. The grass don't grow any more, you can't raise a carrot in the back yard. (p. 17).

In the old days, “This time of year it was lilac and wisteria.” Now: “Smell the stink from that apartment house! And another one on the other side…” (pp. 17–18). But just as Willy defines the conflict between nature and industry, he pauses and simply wonders: “How can they whip cheese?” (p. 18).

The clash between the old agrarian ideal and capitalistic enterprise is well documented in the literature on Death of a Salesman, as is the spiritual shift from Thomas Jefferson to Andrew Carnegie to Dale Carnegie that the play reflects. The son of a pioneer inventor and the slave to broken machines, Willy Loman seems to epitomize the victim of modern technology.

Citation/Publisher Attribution
Brucher, Richard. "Willy Loman and the 'Soul of a New Machine': Technology and the Common Man." Journal of American Studies 17.3 (1983):325-336. Available on publisher's site at: http://journals.cambridge.org/ams
Publisher Statement
© 1983 by Cambridge University Press
Version
publisher's version of the published document
Citation Information
Richard T. Brucher. "Willy Loman and the "Soul of a New Machine": Technology and the Common Man" Journal of American Studies Vol. 17 Iss. 3 (1983) p. 325 - 336
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/richard_brucher/3/