Theme of Success in Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller One of the important themes in Death of a Salesman is the nature of success. Many people believe that success means earning a lot of money. They say that with money comes happiness. However this may not always be true. In other words, success is defined as achieving something you wanted. It's also about being happy, proud and confident in yourself. While true success comes from the heart, achieving it requires hard work and determination. In Death of a Salesman, the characters who succeed are Dave Singleman, Ben, and Bernard. Dave Singleman was a successful individual. He was an eighty-four-year-old salesman from Parker House. To make a sale all he had to do was "pick up the telephone and call the buyers, and without ever leaving his room, he earned his living..." (Death of a Salesman, p81.) This quote describes his success as a salesman. At the age of eighty-four he managed to make an adequate number of sales. Although he didn't get rich from the sales he made, he enjoyed what he did. As a result of his successful life, he died honorably. “He died like a traveling salesman, in his green velvet slippers…” (DOS, p81.) This example shows that he was successful to the end. After living the life of a successful salesman, he died a salesman's death. When he died he was still wearing his green velvet slippers, which in a way symbolized that his success was still with him. Another example that shows that Dave had a successful life was his funeral. "When he died, hundreds of sellers and buyers were at his party. The second successful character is Willy's older brother, Ben. This man became successful by taking a risk. He "walked into the jungle and came out, at the age twenty years old. one, and he is rich." (DOS, p41.) When Ben went to Africa, he found diamonds in the mines and consequently became rich. This incident made Ben's life a success and Willy has regretted it ever since. If Willy had to take the risk, he too would be successful. Not only is Willy envious, but he also idolizes Ben because of his success. Willy often asks Ben, "what's the secret?" (DOS, p91.) This quote proves it aware of the success by Ben.