Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman as Social Commentary Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman portrays the Lomans and all the family conflicts they faced. It is also evident on a larger scale that this play is a social commentary. It touches on all the problems caused by wealth and success in our culture. Death of a Salesman is more effective as a reflection of society and the problems it faces than as a description of family conflicts. The play showed how Willy Loman's desire for success controlled his life and ruined his family. Willy also represents a large part of society. It portrays people in our culture who base their lives on acquiring money. Greed for success has eaten up a large number of people in this country. It is evident from the way Willy acts that his lack of money consumes him. This happens constantly in our society; people are willing to do anything to climb the ladder of success, often tearing down anyone who stands in their way. Death of a Salesman also reflects how families treat people once they are older. Willy raised Biff and Happy when they were completely dependent on him, but the boys are unwilling to help Willy when he needs them. This is most effective when viewed as if Willy represents all older people in our society. It shows how the elderly are despised, considered crazy and have their jobs taken away for no reason other than age. Sometimes you feel sorry for Willy because these things happen to him and he is powerless against them. This causes the reader to stop and examine our culture and the ways we discriminate against people who should be equal to us and treated with respect. This play also represents how Willy's actions affected his entire family. He always pushed the kids to be the best at everything. they did it. This left the children growing up feeling that they could never do enough to please their father. In the end they did things contrary to what they really wanted. Biff never found sufficient employment and was forced to do things like steal. Happy ended up lying to make things seem better than they were. But it's the way he represents society that makes him so effective. The biggest problem this comedy mimics is peer pressure. Willy's pressure