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The fifteenth century morality play, Everyman, tells the tale of a forsaken man who,
when told by Death that he will soon be judged by God goes on a pilgrimage in search of his
good virtues that will stand before God and redeem his soul. Arthur Miller’s classic play, Death
of a Salesman, is about Willy Loman, a forsaken man who is trying to become successful and to
redeem himself in the eyes of his family. The protagonists of both plays are very similar even
though their lives both end in very different ways: both Willy and Everyman suffer from an
obsession with material goods and wealth, and both experience similar opportunities to become
self-aware of the mistakes they have made in their lives, and through this opportunity to
become self-aware both are offered a chance a gaining redemption. Arthur Miller’s classic
character Willy Loman serves as a modern incarnation of Everyman, one that shows a different
end to the morality, one where redemption is not reached by the protagonist.
Willy Loman is a character who has spent his whole life in the quest for material wealth
and success, like his father and brother experienced. Willy has always believed in a get rich
quick fantasy, one fashioned by his brother Ben's mantra "when I was seventeen I walked into
the jungle, and when I was twenty-one I walked out. And by God I was rich." (Miller 48) He has
slaved his whole life away in order to amount to something tangabile, in the way of riches and
material goods, but without it ever amounting to anything. He believes that "the man who
makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man
who gets ahead." (Miller 33) and thanks God that both of his sons are "built like Adonises”
(Miller 33). Willy raises his sons to believe that what they look like and what kind of things they
own will decide how successful they become. This idea is false however because even though
he has worked so hard for decades in order to become well liked and become successful, but
this hard work has never amounted to anything tangible. He doesn't have enough money to pay
for his insurance, and begins to "borrow" money from Charley to pay for basic human nessicites.
Willy's whole life is materialistic because his job as a salesman, means he has to sell himself in
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order to be successful in his profession. Charley's speech at the end of the play tells of Willy's
need for materialism because of his profession by saying how a salesman is "out there in the
blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine." (Miller 138) Charley is talking about how a salesman
need to sell himself in order to be successful, and when you begin to lack the ability to sell
yourself, it's "an earthquake" (Miller 138), he has to be materialistic in order to survive in the
world of business. Willy's obsession with material wealth and success is the thing that leads to
his downfall, and ultimately the end of his life.
Like Willy, Everyman also has an obsession with materialistic goods, but Everyman’s
obsession with materialism differs from Willy’s because he is actually successful and has much
material wealth. People have told Everyman “that money maketh all things right that is wrong.”
(Anonymous 413), something which he has taken to heart, and because of this Everyman
believes that no matter what the wrong he commits , the money and materials he has, will make
right all of his sins. Everyman then learns that Goods’ “love is contrary to love everlasting”
(Anonymous 430), and that Goods will not help him when he is judged before God. This
statement completely takes Everyman by surprise because he has made it his whole life’s goal to
accumulate more and more riches and goods, and in the end his Goods, “what (Everyman) loved
best” (Anonymous 472) are the first of his personal attributes that desert him. This begins
Everyman’s journey to self-awareness because he realizes in his final hours of living that while
Goods have “long (been) my heartly love; I gave thee that which should be the Lord’s above.”
(Anonymous 457), he realizes in this instant that money, will not redeem him before God, but
was only something that kept him from getting closer with God. Like Willy, Everyman loved his
riches more than his family and his friends, but in the end they were all worth about the same to
him.
Materialism is the reason why both Everyman and Willy are damned, but like most
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characters in literature that are damned, they are both offered a chance at redemption.
Redemption is offered to both men at a point in both stories where either man could make the
decision to become self-aware - something which will lead them to redemption in the sight of
God and their family - or to decide to follow the path that will ultimately lead them to their
damnation. While both are offered similar opportunities to become self-aware, only one
realizes the opportunity and seizes it.
During the climax of Death of a Salesman, Biff Loman tries to force his father to become
aware of how Willy has built his whole life and raised his boys on the lie that they are special
and “well liked.” Biff confronts Willy saying they are both “a dime a dozen” (Miller 132) and
telling his father to take his “phony dream and burn it before something happens.” (Miller 133).
This is something to which Willy responds in anger, telling his son that they are not “a dime a
dozen! I am Willy Loman, and you are Biff Loman!”(Miller 132) Willy completely neglects the
pain that Biff is in because of his constant blowing Biff up with hot air, and ignores that Biff
speaks the truth about him, only remarking that “that boy will be magnificent.”(Miller 133)
Willy can't grasp that the fact that he is a literal "Lo-man", he believes he and his boys are
"special" and important, but in reality all they are is working class men. This scene in Death of a
Salesman shows Willy’s opportunity to become self-aware, but how he ignored the opportunity
and continued to live the way he did before, and to make one more major mistake.
In Everyman, the protagonist also faces a moment where he can either live up to his
mistakes and become aware that what he did was wrong, or continue to live the way he had
before. Everyman realizes that he has done many bad things in his life when he calls upon his
Good Deeds to come forward. Everyman’s Good Deeds however do not come forward, for they
“lie cold in the ground. (Everyman’s) sins hath (Good Deeds) sore bound, that I cannot stere.”
(Anonymous 485) This scene is when Everyman starts to realize just how full of sin, his life has
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been, and how if he is not forgiven he will go to Hell when Death finally takes him. This scene
takes place right after Everyman is made aware that his prized Goods, the things he loved the
most in life, are leaving him in his time of great need. The scene with his Good Deeds lays the
foundation for when Everymen becomes fully self-aware, right before he dies. When he is
abandoned by all his attributes, save Good Deeds, Everyman then realizes that while he sinned
so often in life, his Good Deeds will always be with him if he asks for forgiveness.
Like Everyman, Willy was also offered a chance to become self-aware about his sins and
wrong actions that he had committed in his life. The point where Everyman becomes self-aware
is where Miller decides to have Willy, the modern Everyman, explore what would happen if
Everyman hadn't become self-aware and repented.
Redemption is one of the only things a man who has done wrong has to wish for before
his death. Willy Loman has a chance to redeem himself in the eyes of both his family and God
by realizing the mistakes he made in the past and becoming self-aware of the actions he has
made. Willy does not realize his mistakes and become self-aware before the end of his life, and
as a result dies without finding redemption. When Biff confronts Willy, he pleads with him to
become aware of the lies Willy has raised his boys on and been living with. Biff angrily tells his
father how he is “not a leader of men, Willy, and neither are you.” (Miller 132) and how his
father has “never been anything but a hard-working drummer who landed in the ash can.”
(Miller 132) The whole point of Biff’s outburst at his father is to make him aware that neither
Willy, nor either the boys are special. Biff’s outburst is in vain however because, unlike
Everyman, Willy does not become self-aware, but rather decides that the best option that he
has to redeem himself in the eyes of Biff is to kill himself, thus ensuring that Biff becomes
“outstanding, with twenty thousand behind him.” (Miller 133) This act does not redeem Willy in
the eyes of anyone: not his family, or his friends. The only thing it does is create an even larger
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rift between Happy and Biff.
Unlike Willy Everyman becomes aware of his sins and realizes how to become
redeemed. Towards the end of the play Everyman is abandoned by seemingly all of his
attributes, the only one of his traits he is not forsaken by, is his Good Deeds. Good Deeds then
tells him how “all earthly things are but vanity” (Anonymous 870), and how in death only a
person’s Good Deeds will stand for them before God. As Everyman realized earlier, it is not
Earthly things that God judges you on, but is truly the deeds you have accomplished, and begs
God to have mercy on his soul. He finally gives in and lets Death take him quoting the last words
of Christ, “Into thy hands, most mighty and everlasting One, I commend my spirit.” (Anonymous
885) Everyman’s prayers and good deeds pay off in the end when Knowledge exclaims
“Methinketh that I hear angels sing, and make great joy and melody where Everyman’s soul
received shall be.” (Anonymous 891) Everyman realized he had done wrong and begged for
God’s forgiveness, and because of this he was redeemed and forgiven.
The overall resemblance between protagonists Willy Loman and Everyman, in the two
classic plays Death of a Salesman and Everyman, is uncanny. Even though their lives end in
different ways, both men love and cherish material goods and wealth more than anything in
their lives, and both have lead lives in which they’ve made many mistakes they are unaware of.
However, an opportunity comes for the two to become aware of their mistakes and repent for
their sins against God and their families. It is at this point that their lives diverge onto different
paths; Everyman decides to seize the opportunity to become self aware and he is redeemed by
God, while Willy on the other hand does not become aware and because of this, is not
redeemed. These startling similarities show that Willy Loman is a contemporary Everyman; one
that shows an mirror image of Everyman’s demise, with Willy dying alone and without finding
redemption.