Death of a Salesman Characters: Full List & Analysis

Who drives the story

Main characters

Willy Loman

A 63-year-old traveling salesman who believes being 'well liked' is the whole secret of success. He cannot see his own failure, so he plans his death as the last gift he can sell his family.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Man Who Drifts Off the Road; Part 2: The Day Everything Is Sold Back; Part 3: Seeds in the Dark; Part 4: Attention Must Be Paid
Themes:: The American Dream as a con; Attention must be paid; Fathers, sons, and inherited lies; Being well liked vs. being real; The dignity of the ordinary man

Linda Loman

Willy's wife, the one person who sees him whole and loves him anyway. She found the rubber hose, defended him to their sons, and pays off the house with his life.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Man Who Drifts Off the Road; Part 2: The Day Everything Is Sold Back; Part 3: Seeds in the Dark; Part 4: Attention Must Be Paid
Themes:: Attention must be paid

Biff Loman

The elder son, thirty-four, a farmhand who floundered after catching his father with a woman in Boston. He is the only Loman who faces the truth, and it nearly kills him to say it.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Man Who Drifts Off the Road; Part 2: The Day Everything Is Sold Back; Part 3: Seeds in the Dark; Part 4: Attention Must Be Paid
Themes:: The American Dream as a con; Fathers, sons, and inherited lies; Being well liked vs. being real; The dignity of the ordinary man

Happy Loman

The younger son, a womanizing assistant to an assistant buyer who admits his life is empty and does nothing about it. At the grave he inherits his father's dream intact.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Man Who Drifts Off the Road; Part 2: The Day Everything Is Sold Back; Part 3: Seeds in the Dark; Part 4: Attention Must Be Paid
Themes:: Fathers, sons, and inherited lies

Ben Loman

Willy's dead older brother, a rich diamond miner who appears in Willy's imagination as the standard of success. He walked into the jungle at seventeen and out at twenty-one rich.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Man Who Drifts Off the Road; Part 2: The Day Everything Is Sold Back; Part 3: Seeds in the Dark

Charley

The next-door neighbor who lends Willy money every week and offers him a job Willy is too proud to take. At the grave he gives the play's defense of the salesman.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Man Who Drifts Off the Road; Part 2: The Day Everything Is Sold Back; Part 4: Attention Must Be Paid
Themes:: Being well liked vs. being real; The dignity of the ordinary man

Also in the story

Supporting characters

Howard Wagner

Willy's boss, absorbed in his wire recorder and his children's voices. He fires the man his father once hired, with the machine still playing.

Appears in:: Part 2: The Day Everything Is Sold Back
Themes:: The American Dream as a con

How they are connected

Key relationships

Linda Loman Willy Loman
Willy's wife, the one person who sees him whole and loves him anyway.
Ben Loman Willy Loman
Willy's dead older brother, a rich diamond miner who appears in Willy's imagination as the standard of success.
Charley Willy Loman
The next-door neighbor who lends Willy money every week and offers him a job Willy is too proud to take.
Howard Wagner Willy Loman
Willy's boss, absorbed in his wire recorder and his children's voices.

Go deeper

Death of a Salesman themes & symbols

The American Dream as a con · Attention must be paid · Fathers, sons, and inherited lies · Being well liked vs. being real

Themes explained

Read the full Death of a Salesman summary

The full story act by act, the ending explained and a quick quiz.

Open the summary