Failure in a Successful Society Failure is just the opportunity to start over, only this time wiser. (Henry Ford). This quote refers directly to Death of a Salesman written by Arthur Miller. In the play Willy constantly fails at everything in his life, yet he never takes the opportunity to start over more wisely. The author used intertwined symbols to accentuate the central meaning of the work. In the play Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller portrays the central theme of Willy's failure in a successful company by using significant symbols such as the tape recorder, seeds and diamonds. Throughout the entire game technology played an important role. Death of a Salesman is a story about innovation and the ability to keep up with the innovation of technology. However we see that Willy, the main character, is unable to keep up with technology, he is stuck in the past and therefore cannot progress in his life. The symbol Miller used to depict it is the wire recorder. At the beginning of Act II, Willy goes to see Howard, only to find that Howard is more interested in the tape recorder than Willy's problems. Willy tries to talk to Howard several times but Howard is busy with his tape recorder. “Willy: What's that Howard?…Howard: Haven't you ever seen one of these, a cable recorder, recording things…” (Miller 54). Reading this, we clearly get the idea that Willy has no idea what the tape recorder is. This shows that Howard is moving forward with technology, while Willy is not. “Ah! Howard! Howard! ...Turn it off! Damn it!” (Miller 48). This quote portrays instead of being up to date with technology, Willy does not know what a wire recorder is, and therefore he is …… middle of paper …… like Willy really was. However, the fact is that with suicide Linda will probably not get any life insurance and no one will come to her funeral. Willy is not successful even in his death. In conclusion, the symbolisms used by Arthur Miller were to emphasize Willy's character. All three symbols, the tape recorder, the seeds and the diamonds, highlight Willy's failure in a successful society. The recorder shows Willy's failure to succeed in business. The seeds symbolize Willy's inability to raise his children with proper morals and values. And finally, the diamonds symbolize Willy's inability to obtain wealth for his family. All three symbolize Willy's failure in different aspects of his life. Everything Willy thought was far from reality and he lived in a fantasy of illusions. Thus, Willy was a man who was not successful until the end of his life.