A wise and perhaps very cynical man once said, “Nothing fails like success.” Even if you don't know Gerald Nachman or the other rebellious comedians of his time, we can all appreciate the clever irony of this quote. In the complex and often very materialistic world we live in, the question of how to measure success, importance and self-worth is certainly relevant. This is precisely the question that Authur Miller addresses in his 1949 play, Death of a Salesman. In recounting the events of Willy Loman's tragic life, Miller uses motifs such as space and place to give his readers insight into his characters, their successes or failures, and their ideas of self-worth. Willy Loman's home in Brooklyn, Africa, Alaska, and the American West all help explain why Willy Loman fails while others thrive, and can help reveal what characters like Biff, Willy, and Ben value and how they determine success . Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Act in one of the plays that open in Willy Loman's house in Brooklyn. The director notes: "We are aware of imposing, angular shapes behind [the house], surrounding it on all sides. Only the blue light of the sky falls on the house and the proscenium; the surrounding area shows an angry flow of orange. As more light appears, we see a solid canopy of apartment buildings around the small, fragile-looking house. A dreamlike air clings to the place, a dream emerging from reality" (Miller, 2111). Willy and Linda first purchased the house years ago and when there was room to spread out and even a nice garden to grow vegetables. Since then, however, the house has been encased in a "solid vault of apartment buildings" and Willy's great aspirations of wealth, prosperity, and popularity have been locked away, blocked, and cast in an angry orange light by the surrounding buildings (Miller, 2111) . Willy complains: "The street is full of cars. There isn't a breath of fresh air in the neighborhood. The grass doesn't grow anymore, you can't grow a carrot in the garden. They should have had a law" against condominiums ” (Miller, 2115). His attempts to grow vegetables symbolize his efforts to provide for his family and his desire to reap some reward for his efforts. As it is, Willy has remained in the same job position for years and he can barely afford to put food on the table. The air of Willy's American dream still hangs in this place, but he is surrounded by the unpleasant reality that has built up over the years Unlike the comfortable suburban environment in which he is settled the Lomans, Willy's father and brother, Ben, spent most of their lives in remote and exotic places like Alaska and Africa. These wild and untouched regions are like the capitalist jungle that is the economy American. This is where you have to compete if you want to gain importance and wealth in the economic world. This jungle is clearly not for everyone. Referring to Willy's brother Ben, Irving Jacobson observes, "In the world of finance he was a pioneer, a 'big, wild-hearted man,' like his father" (Jacobson, 250). He could travel to Alaska, South Dakota, Africa and back to New York and do well in each place because he was indifferent to human warmth, social relationships or family ties. "His spheres of action referred to things and quantities rather than to people; even his seven children seemed more commodities than members of a family" (Jacobson, 250). Willy Loman is not the same kind of wild, ruthless, savvy businessman as his brother and is notwilling to take the same drastic measures or fails to understand the rules of the jungle. In Willy Loman's distorted perception of reality, he believes that one's personal appearance and others' perception of it are the keys to success. He continually refers to Dave Singleman, a salesman who was so well-liked that customers and friends flocked from all over the country to his funeral. Willy asks, “For what could be more satisfying than to be able to go, at the age of eight or four, to twenty or thirty different cities, pick up a telephone, and be remembered and loved and helped by so many different people? " people?" (Miller, 2146). It was after meeting Singleman that Willy decided not to go to Alaska with his brother and instead become a salesman. This decision in many ways shapes his financial fate for the rest of his career. While Ben voluntarily ventures into the heart of the jungle and Willy is defeated as the jungle grows around him, a third character, Biff, seems to want to remove himself from the jungle altogether. As Jacobson writes, "Unlike his father and brother, Biff does not emulate the image of important men but rejects the years spent riding the subway, accumulating stocks, buying and selling, deeming it ridiculous to spend a year suffering for the sake of a two-week vacation" (253). For years Biff remained lost and confused about his future. He feels connected to his father, but also betrayed by his father's unfaithfulness to his mother and his constant distortions of the truth. Biff says, "I don't know... I just can't hold me, mom. I can't handle some kind of life (Miller, 2134). Despite his father's harsh rebuke, Biff finds happiness growing up in the rural West. "To hell with the business world," he says, "I don't care what they think! They've been laughing at dad for years and you know why? Because we don't belong in this city asylum! We should be mixing cement on an open plain, or - or carpenters " (Miller, 2137). Jacobson notes that "Because [Willy] habitually distracts from his own failure by focusing attention on his children, Loman cannot accept Biff's lifestyle in the West on his own terms, but tries to reabsorb him into a business-oriented culture." (254). In an attempt to find a compromise between their own desires and their father's expectations, the Loman brothers consider a joint venture in the West. The lived dream of a ranch in Loman is an attempt to synthesize the rural and the urban; here Biff hopes to have the opportunity to do the kind of work he enjoys while gaining prominence to gain his father's approval once again. The plan ultimately dies with the realization that they cannot find the money needed to start the ranch. Biff realizes that such compromise is not always possible. Choosing to live a life of simplicity and satisfaction often means sacrificing importance and wealth. One of these characters has different value systems and different criteria for evaluating success and importance. For Willy Loman, success is defined by personal appearance and personal relationships; so he is attracted to the American suburb with nearby families, two-car garages and backyard barbecues. His fixation with material wealth has brought him closer to the commercial world of the city, but unable to compete and survive in the urban jungle, Loman lives his life trapped in its harsh reality. Unlike his brother, Ben is bold, aggressive, ruthless, and conniving enough to cut a path through the jungle. Treating every person and every relationship in his life as a quantity or commodity, Ben's entire value system is based on little more than dollars and cents. Of all the characters in the play, Biff, 1975. 247-258.