One possible approach to reading and understanding this
play is to regard it not as a personal tragedy resulting from the failings of one
individual, but as a lament to a society that is structured to bring such individuals to
ruin. Some argue that Miller intended this play to expose the corrupting influence of
American society and how materialism and the myth of the American dream was responsible
for the tragedy of so many. If you take this view, then Willy is cast in the role of
helpless victim as he is prey to wider and bigger societal forces that exert their
influence on him.
It appears that Miller uses the tragedy
of this ordinary man (note Willy's last name, Loman, which seems to point toward his
status as a "low man") to make serious comments about the state of American society. The
most significant challenge that Willy presents against such a society that is consumed
by materialism is the inevitable conclusion that he comes to: he decides that twenty
thousand dollars is worth more than his life. And yet, the play asks, can a man really
only be valued at the amount of money he is worth? The warning is clear - if American
society has been successful in giving humans a monetary value, then they have also
reduced human beings to nothing more than commodities, leading to dehumanisation and the
objectification of humanity.
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