Dignity for Sale

Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman portrays the ways in which the capitalist system uses human labour as a disposable commodity. Not only is Willy unable to live up to the competition that surrounds him, he cannot live up to what he himself used to be, that he “averaged a hundred and seventy dollars a week in the year of 1928” (Miller 94). Through his entirety of his conversation with Howard he makes references to the past and Howard does little more than ignore him. After “34 years” of service to Howard and his father, he is let go with the excuse “business is business” (Miller 95). What is left of Willy is a former shell of his self, pleading “I can’t throw myself at my sons. I’m not a cripple” (Miller 95). What Willy learns here is that the capitalist system, the business that he is in, goes through people like disposable commodities. He ends up feeling used and exploited, “You can’t eat the orange and throw the peel away – a man is not a piece of fruit” (Miller 94).  Even Biff acknowledges the fickle nature of the business world, “I’m a dime a dozen, and so are you!” (Miller 106). Willy’s expectations of success and self worth are delusional at times and it takes Charley to try and make him see things realistically;

Willy, when’re you gonna realize that the things don’t mean anything? You named him Howard, but you can’t sell that. The only thing you got in this world is what you can sell. And the funny thing is that you’re a salesman and you don’t know that. (Miller 98)

Willy is only as good as the products he can sell and ultimately his place in the business world is as disposable as the household appliances he continually has to pay to replace.