SELF-ANNIHILATION AS FINAL TESTIMONY:TRAUMA,WITNESSING,AND ECONOMIC DISPOSABILITY IN DEATH OF A SALESMAN

Abstract

This research paper analyzes Death of a Salesman by looking at the interrelated structures of trauma, witnessing, and economic disposability to position that the process of self-destruction by Willy Loman is a product of psychological disintegration and structural marginalization. The analysis of the study is the qualitative thematic analysis of the primary text to establish internal conflict patterns, relational misrecognition, and socio-economic devaluation patterns that mutually build the tragic movement of the protagonist. The discussion shows that the psychological instability that occurred in the case of Willy is not a consequence of his personal flaws in solitude but of unfulfilled dreams, broken identity, and constant financial strain. Additionally, the paper demonstrates that the inability to maintain ethical witnessing in families and care is also a problem in the workplace since the lack of attention amplifies the feeling of isolation. Placing the decline of Willy in the context of a capitalistic economy that places the worth of humans at the same level as their productivity production, the research presents the importance of economic organization as the determinant of social self-worth and social currency. Finally, the paper follows that the last act of Willy is to be viewed as a socially predetermined testament of protest against the system that makes the identity a means of making money and dignity a means of making a fool. The thematic unity nature of the study provides an integrated interpretive model that cuts across psychological, relational, and structural aspects of the tragedy by Miller and thus reaffirms the relevance of the play in the current context of value, recognition, and modern identity discussion.