death of a salesman essay topics

105 Death of a Salesman Essay Topics & Examples

Death of a Salesman is Arthur Miller’s multiple award-winning stage play that explores such ideas as American Dream and family. Our writers have prepared a list of topics and tips on writing the Death of a Salesman thesis statement, essay, or literary analysis.

119 Death of a Salesman Essay Topics

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• The American Dream in Death of a Salesman
• The Failure of American Dream in Death of a Salesman
• Reality vs. Illusions: Death of a Salesman Analysis Essay
• Symbolism in Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
• Biff Loman in Death of a Salesman: Character Analysis
• Death of a Salesman as a Social Drama
• Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman: Character Analysis
• The Representation of the American Dream in Death of a Salesman Living in a society where each person can achieve success and respect regardless of their origin, gender, or race was a general idea of the American Dream at the beginning of the 20th century. However, the American Dream is slowly fading and becoming more of an illusion after the Depression…
• Death of a Salesman: Imagery & Sumbolism The Death of a Salesman was a tale of broken dreams, aspirations of the characters and unfulfilled promises. The Loman family is portrayed in the play as a dysfunctional family, each member with his or her issues.
• Death of a Salesman: Critical Analysis In “Death of a Salesman” setting performs a task of great importance: the melody, the sound of flute, that is the initial element of the setting, speaks about something light and pleasant
• “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller Seeds can be discussed as the most intriguing image presented in Arthur Miller’s play “Death of a Salesman” because seeds symbolize the hope of the main character Willy for the best future.
• American Family in Death of a Salesman The main difference between the movie and the play is emotional representation of the characters and their actions.
• Themes in Death of a Salesman: Research Paper This paper discusses a depressing story of illusions – 'Death of a Salesman' by Arthur Miller – and describes its main characters.
• Symbolism in “Death of a Salesman” Play by Arthur Miller The play “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller is a story of a salesman, Willy, who is trapped by his daydreams.
• The Last Scene of Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” The paper analyzes the scene the is at the last of Miller’s play “Death of a Salesman”, beginning about line 780 in Act II and continuing to the end of the play.
• Similarities and Contrasts between “Fences” and “Death of a Salesman” Both plays are works that question the right of the average American to be a tragic hero. The central conflict of both works is consistent with the laws of tragedy
• Social & Personal Values in Death of a Salesman Stylistic devices and unique vision of economic development help Miller to unveil social changes and new traditions influenced by new culture.
• Willy Loman and His American Dream: Essay on Death of a Salesman In Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, we see a devastating portrait of a man, Willy Loman, consumed by the wrong dream.
• Willy & Linda: Family as a Theme in Death of a Salesman Miller creates contrasting characters of Willy and his wife Linda in order to depict and demonstrate different social and personal values typical for his age.
• The Downfall of Willy Loman in the “Death of a Salesman” In the play “Death of a Salesman”, Arthur Miller manages to masterfully show how dreams, combined with pride and stubbornness, are able to destroy a person’s life.
• Death of a Salesman Psychoanalitic Analysis Psychological problems and communication difficulties prevent the Loman’s from happy life and lead to breakdown of values, personal principles and family life.
• Willy Loman’s Character in “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller In his play the Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller narrates a story of Willy Loman’s desperate searching for happiness and recognition.
• Death of a Salesman: Plot Analysis The events of Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman take place in 1949, four years after the Second World War has come to an end.
• American Reality vs. American Dream: Death of a Salesman Theme Analysis Arthur Miller dramatizes not only the disappointments of a little man in America but he focuses readers’ attention on the gap between the American dream and the American reality.
• Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” in the Context of Modern Human Resource Fundamentals Since its first play in 1949, Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller is still recognized as one of the greatest dramatic pieces of the 20th century.
• Miller’s Death of a Salesman: Thematic Analysis Death of a Salesman is a 1949 chef-d’oeuvre stage play by Arthur Miller, which addresses various issues that were affecting American society at the time.
• Protagonist in Death of a Salesman: Character Analysis In Death of a Salesman, Miller depicts a contradiction between industrial society and personal values, false dreams, and inability to understand and find his place in this society.
• Miller’s “Death of a Salesman”: The Theme of the Small Man in the Play In the Death of a Salesman, the author – Arthur Miller – uses characters, plot and structure, and dialogues to advance the theme of a small man and the ruination of his illusions.
• Death of a Salesman: Literary Analysis Essay A literary analysis of Arthur Miller’s "Death of a Salesman," as to draw out its theme, plot, structure, character, and setting proves that the literary merit of the play is astonishingly great.
• The Comprehension of the American Dream in “Death of a Salesman” This play is a perfect example of a typical story of people attempting to define their American Dream and follow it through the struggling, yet those attempts are not successful.
• Money & Wealth in Death of a Salesman Arthur Miller’s play “Death of a Salesman” is, to me, all about the dangers of defining happiness in terms of financial success.
• Women in Oedipus Rex and Death of a Salesman: Compare & Contrast Essay The leading females in Oedipus Rex and Death of a Salesman are submissive characters who are unable to avert the imminent tragedies of the dominant protagonists in both plays.
• Willy Loman Death of a Salesman: Character Analysis Miller’s “The Death of a Salesman” vividly portrays a life of a middle-class salesman who tries to achieve the American dream and realize his life hopes.
• Tragic Hero in A Death of a Salesman The Death of a Salesman is play written by Arthur Miller that touches upon the analysis of the downfall of an ordinary man.
• Willy Loman as a Protagonist in Death of a Salesman Arthur Miller, the author of Death of a Salesman, is a well-known American playwright of the twentieth century. The play won him international fame and came to be counted by as a real achievement.
• The Character Study of Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” Miller’s Death of a Salesman is iconic and representative since it takes place during a time of national catastrophe, the Great Depression.
• Success in Death of a Salesman There are two types of people: those who do all they can to achieve some success, who work hard and at last achieve success.
• Heroes and Cowards in “Oedipus Rex” and “Death of a Salesman” In the two plays, “Oedipus Rex” and “Death of a Salesman” there are many parallels. One major parallel is courage and cowardice.
• Material Success and Failure in Miller’s Play “Death of a Salesman” The impossibility of gaining material success in Miller’s play “Death of a Salesman” is transmitted through a variety of symbols.
• “The Death of a Salesman” Film by John Malkovich John Malkovich’s film “The Death of a Salesman” is an adaptation of the 1949 play by Arthur Miller, which was also staged many times in the US, London, Berlin, and Bombay.
• Symbolic Character in “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller The play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller demonstrates the struggle of a man in an attempt to reach success in life.
• Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” Play Analysis The play “Death of Salesman” by Miller is a truly unique and valuable piece of art. It can be recommended to become familiar with this composition for both youth and adults.
• “Death of a Salesman”: The American Dream by Arthur Miller Even though many readers consider the American Dream as one of the core ideas in Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, there is always a chance to find some new interpretation.
• Death of a Salesman: Book Review “The American Dream” is the highlight of this story. However, it can be learned from the story that the most meaningful way to achieving the American dream” is by climbing the ladder.
• Death of a Salesman: the Theme of a Small Man in a Big City This research paper is designed to analyze the literary work of Death of a Salesman from the point of view of a small man in the big city.
• “Death of a Salesman” Dramatic Tragedy by Arthur Miller The genre of dramatic tragedy is revealed comprehensively in the play “Death of a Salesman” written by Miller.
• “Death of a Salesman,” Misinterpreting the Concept of the American Dream The American dream consists in altruism and spiritual values, rather than material welfare as such. In other words, it is more about spiritual prosperity.
• Willy Loman in Arthur Miller’s “The Death of a Salesman” This paper discusses the character of Willy Loman from Arthur Miller’s “The Death of a Salesman” – one of the essential tragedies in American literature.
• “The Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller Overview Arthur Miller defies the American dream mythology in “The demise of a salesman.” He invented the salesman character for the audience to connect with him without a recognized product.
• Plot and Characters in Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” In the play, “Death of a Salesman” Miller says that the latest boom in real estate is one of the testimonies of the success of the American businesses.
• Death of American Dream in Death of a Salesman Using a dramatic point of view, Miller creates a theme loosing hopes and tragedy as a result of false ideals and inability to achieve the American dream.
• Death of the American Dream in Death of a Salesman Miller’s play Death of a Salesman depicts the American dream and the inability of a person to understand the meaning of life and family happiness.
• Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” and the American Dream The play “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller is a prominent and well-known work with vivid and deep characters, and each of them had one’s own story.
• Willy Loman in “Death of a Salesman” by A. Miller “Death of a Salesman” is one of the brightest works of Arthur Miller, and the problems enlightened in it remain actual long after the work was first published.
• Seeing Inside Willy’s Head in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
• The Loman Father and Sons in Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
• Symbols and Journey Used in Ellison’s Book Invisible Man and Miller’s Death of a Salesman
• The Selfish Linda Loman in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
• The Tragic Hero, Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
• The Dead End Dream in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
• Sympathy for Willy Loman – Death of a Salesman
• Hardships, Family Relationships, Insanity and Death in Two Renowned Dramas Fences by Wilson and Death of a Salesman by Miller
• The Conflicted Linda Loman in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
• Characters Willy and Biff Loman in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
• Contrasting Biff and Bernard in Death of a Salesman
• American Values and Success in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
• Would Aristotle Label Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman as a Tragedy
• Comparing Willy Loman From Death of a Salesman and Joe Keller From All My Sons
• The Positive and Negative Personalities of Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
• Seeking the American Dream Of Success as Presented in Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
• America’s Preoccupation With Materialism After World War II in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
• Comparing Light and Growth in a Raisin in the Sun and Death of a Salesman
• Marxism and the Fall of Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman
• The Crucible and Death of a Salesman: Search for Happiness
• Achieving the American Dream in Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
• Chasing the American Dream in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
• Comparing Father and Child Relationships in Death of a Salesman
• Father and Son Relationship Between Willy and Biff Loman in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
• Good Looking and Popularity in Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
• Arthur Miller’s Play, Death of a Salesman: How Willy Loman Was Killed by Change
• Father and Son Willy and Biff Loman in Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
• How Women Are Portrayed in Death of a Salesman
• How Does Miller Use the Father-Son Relationships to Question the Values of 1940’s America in Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
• The Perfect Wrong Dreams in Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
• Arthur Miller Based the Death of a Salesman in the Pursuit of the American Dream
• Structure, Themes, and Motifs in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
• The Conflicted Linda Loman in Arthur Miller’s Death Of A Salesman
• The Reality for Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
• Willie Loman’s Corrupted View of the American Dream in Death of a Salesman
• Willy’s Tragic Flaw and the Effect It Has Upon His Sons-Death of a Salesman
• The Struggles Regarding Life Fulfillment Leading the Characters of “A Death of a Salesman” to Death
• The Secret Between Biff and Willy in Death of a Salesman, a Play by Arthur Miller
• Protagonists Looking for Happiness in “Death of a Salesman”
• Is “Death of a Salesman” a Tragedy According to Aristotle?
• Why Do Some Individuals Consider “Death of a Salesman” a Tragedy Instead of a Drama?
• What Kind of Play Is “Death of a Salesman” and Why?
• Why Is the Title “Death of a Salesman” Ironic?
• How Is the Conflict in “Death of a Salesman” Resolved?
• How Does “Death of a Salesman” Relate to the Real World?
• What Is the Significance of the Title “Death of a Salesman”?
• How Is Foreshadowing Used in “Death of a Salesman”?
• What Is the Main Conflict in “Death of a Salesman”?
• Does Modernity Play a Major Role in the Play “Death of a Salesman”?
• What Is the Moral Lesson of the Story “Death of a Salesman”?
• How Is the American Dream Represented in “Death of a Salesman”?
• What Was the Original Name of “Death of a Salesman”?
• Is “Death of a Salesman” Relevant Today?
• What Techniques Does Arthur Miller Use to Highlight the Conflict Between Past and Present in “Death of a Salesman”?
• Who Is the Tragic Villain in “Death of a Salesman”?
• How Is Language Used in “Death of a Salesman”?
• Is “Death of a Salesman” Realism or Expressionism?
• Who Are the Main Characters in “Death of a Salesman”?
• What Conventions Does Miller Use in “Death of a Salesman”?
• How Does “Death of a Salesman” Link to Tragedy?
• Are the Two Plays by Arthur Miller “The Crucible” and “Death of a Salesman” Similar?
• Why Is “Death of a Salesman” Considered a Social Drama?
• How Does Arthur Miller Define a Tragic Hero in “Death of a Salesman”?
• Who Is the Best Character in the Story “Death of a Salesman”?

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StudyCorgi. (2021, September 9). 119 Death of a Salesman Essay Topics. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/death-of-a-salesman-essay-topics/

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StudyCorgi . "119 Death of a Salesman Essay Topics." September 9, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/death-of-a-salesman-essay-topics/.

StudyCorgi . 2021. "119 Death of a Salesman Essay Topics." September 9, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/death-of-a-salesman-essay-topics/.

These essay examples and topics on Death of a Salesman were carefully selected by the StudyCorgi editorial team. They meet our highest standards in terms of grammar, punctuation, style, and fact accuracy. Please ensure you properly reference the materials if you’re using them to write your assignment.

This essay topic collection was updated on December 27, 2023 .

Death of a Salesman

74 pages • 2 hours read

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

Act Summaries & Analyses

Act I, Scenes 1-6

Act I, Scenes 7-12

Act II, Scenes 1-8

Act II, Scenes 9-14 and Requiem

Character Analysis

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Discussion Questions

Arthur Miller’s narrative technique is critical in portraying both Willy’s mental state and his skewed perception of reality. When unable to face the current reality, Willy recreates his memories to help him come to terms with his current mental state and maintain his hopes for the future. How does the fluidity of time impact the audience’s understanding of the plot, character development, and the story’s main themes?

Despite Willy’s religious dedication to the American Dream, his longing for nature and life outdoors is heavily implied in his regret at not taking Ben’s offer to go to Alaska. It is clear that the Loman men long for the outdoors and are not suited to life in the business world. How does each of the Loman men respond to their natural inclination to the outdoors? Why does each Loman choose the paths that they do? What implications do these choices have on their lives?

The fractured relationships between the Loman fathers and sons significantly impact their lives. While Willy’s father abandons him, Willy himself betrays his family despite working to provide them with the American Dream’s idea of success. How do the choices of each father impact their sons’ interpretations of success? How do Willy and Biff perceive their respective fathers and why? 

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Death of a Salesman

Arthur miller, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

Death of a Salesman: Introduction

Death of a salesman: plot summary, death of a salesman: detailed summary & analysis, death of a salesman: themes, death of a salesman: quotes, death of a salesman: characters, death of a salesman: symbols, death of a salesman: theme wheel, brief biography of arthur miller.

Historical Context of Death of a Salesman

Other books related to death of a salesman.

• Full Title: Death of a Salesman
• When Written: 1948
• Where Written: Roxbury, Connecticut
• When Published: The Broadway premiere was February 10, 1949. The play was published in 1949 by Viking Press.
• Literary Period: Social Realism
• Genre: Dramatic stage play
• Setting: New York and Boston in 1948.
• Climax: Biff's speech to Willy at the end of Act Two.
• Antagonist: Howard Wagner; the American Dream that allows Willy and his sons to delude themselves.

Extra Credit for Death of a Salesman

Death of a Simpson: Beleaguered, overweight family man Willy Loman has been the genesis not only of live-action domestic sitcoms like All in the Family and Married with Children , but animated satires like The Family Guy and The Simpsons , both of which have made knowing reference to Death of a Salesman in various episodes.

Salesman in Beijing: In 1983, the People's Art Theatre in Beijing wanted to put on a Chinese-language production of Death of a Salesman . Arthur Miller flew to Beijing and spent six weeks directing the cast, though he only spoke two words of Chinese. He documented his experiences in the book Salesman in Beijing , published in 1984 with photographs by his wife, Inge Morath.

Death of a Salesman

By arthur miller, death of a salesman essay questions.

Does Willy Loman die a martyr? How do Linda's and his sons' interpretations of his death differ?

A strong answer will note that Willy has a noble conception of his suicide - he kills himself because he truly believes that the insurance money will allow his sons to achieve their destined greatness. But Miller does not give the audience the easy satisfaction of seeing Willy's plan come to fruition. It is highly doubtful that the Lomans would actually receive any insurance money at all. He has a record of suicide attempts, and it would be near impossible to convince the insurance company that his death was an accident.

The crux of an essay should be that Willy thinks he is martyring himself, but his martyrdom is in vain.

Death of a Salesman is one of the foundational texts describing the American dream. How does Miller's play differ from the more traditional Horatio Alger model? Is Miller overwhelmingly cynical on the topic?

Strong answers will contrast Miller's pessimistic and cynical take on the concept of the American dream with its glorified Horatio Alger representations. Traditionally, the American dream means that any person can work his way up from the bottom of the ladder to the top. Miller's work isn't so much a direct subversion of that dream as it is an exploration of the way in which the existence of the American dream can ruin a person's expectations.

Discuss the motif of women's stockings in Death of a Salesman? What are Willy and Biff's attitudes toward them? How do Linda and the woman with whom Willy is having an affair regard them?

To the women, stockings serve as a symbol of what Willy can provide and as a measure of his success. To Willy, they are a symbol of his guilt over the affair. To Biff, they are a symbol of Willy's fakeness and his betrayal of Linda. Each time the stockings appear, they serve each of these three purposes for every character present.

Describe the significance of names in this play. How do Happy and Biff's names contrast with or support their characters? Interpret the name "Loman."

Happy - a boy's name. As his name implies, Happy is someone who should be content - he has a job, an apartment, and a never-ending stream of women - but he remains deeply unhappy.

Ben - Willy's brother is named after the biblical figure Benjamin, which means "one who is blessed." The biblical Benjamin far outstripped his brothers in all areas, rousing their jealousy.

Loman - Willy is a low-man. No great hero, he is already so low on the ladder that he has hardly anywhere to fall.

What is the role of modernity in Death of a Salesman? Have cars and gas heaters fundamentally changed the American dream? How does Miller view these innovations?

The answer should note that Willy is a man left behind by progress. His is a profession that only functions in a small niche of time - he is reliant on the automobile and the highway system, but can't survive the advent of more sophisticated sales methods than the door-to-door. He is startled and confused by Howard's gadgets, and longs for an outdoors life that involves creating things with his hands.

Discuss the gender relationships in this play. Are there any positive models for a harmonious relationship? Does Miller find this concept plausible?

There are only two women of significance in the play, Linda and The Woman, who does not even merit a name. Happy nicely exposits the dichotomy between the two types of women in the world, as represented by his idealized mother and by The Woman and Miss Forsythe. The attitude towards women that Willy modeled for his sons was that women exist to be conquered - and once they've been had, they are no longer worthy of respect.

Analyze the role of seeds in Act II's final segment. What do they stand for?

Willy begins to obsess over seeds as he realizes that he has nothing to pass on to his sons. He hasn't created anything real, nothing physical that you can touch with your hand. But seeds are an investment in the future, something that is both tangible and grows with time, and that is what he wants to pass on to his sons.

Discuss examples of ways in which Willy Loman's suicide is foreshadowed in the first act of the play.

Be sure to note that the question isn't really whether Willy is going to die, but how. The discussion of Willy as suicidal is quite on the nose in the first act, but what is left ambiguous at that point is the how and the why. We are given both the rubber hose and the car as possible modes of suicide, and general despair and desperation as motivations, but the ultimate motivation of insurance money does not become an issue until the end of the play.

Compare Death of a Salesman to A Streetcar Named Desire. How do Willy Loman and Blanche Dubois each represent a fundamental element of the American drive towards progress and success?

Willy and Blanche are both victims of modernity. Willy cannot compete against the young men in the modern business world. And Blanche cannot adapt to the coarseness of life in the new South. Rather than adjusting, both characters descend deeper into their idea of the idealized past, until they lose hold on reality altogether.

Compare Death of a Salesman and The Great Gatsby. How do Willy Loman and Jay Gatsby suffer a similar fate?

Answer: Although they lived very different lives - Willy, objectively a failure, and Gatsby, objectively a success - Willy and Gatsby had similar downfalls. Both were caught up in the illusion of the American dream, fervently believing that they could and should reach for the stars. But after a lifetime of having relied on personality to get by, the men found themselves terribly alone, even in death.

Death of a Salesman Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Death of a Salesman is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Significant of the tittle in 600 words.

I think the title refers to both the death of Willy the salesmen and the death of his dreams. Willy's dreams of success turn to disillusionment when he cannot compete in the capitalist world. An extended metaphor might also involve Capitalism and...

death of a salesman

Charley visits because he is worried about Willy.He knows Willy is a proud man and he wants to help him, though Willy isn't really willing to take his help.

Please submit your questions one at a time.

How have biff and happy responded to their father’s condition

Biff denies responsibility for his father's condition, but he is forced to acknowledge that he is linked to his father's guilt and irrational actions. I think happy is just stressed about it.

Study Guide for Death of a Salesman

Death of a Salesman study guide contains a biography of Arthur Miller, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Death of a Salesman
• Death of a Salesman Summary
• Character List

Essays for Death of a Salesman

Death of a Salesman essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of the play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller.

• Shattered Dream - The Delusion of Willy Loman
• Perceptions of Self Worth and Prominence: Spaces and Settings in Death of a Salesman
• Sales and Dreams
• Musical Motifs
• Death of A Salesman: Shifting of the American Dream

Lesson Plan for Death of a Salesman

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Introduction to Death of a Salesman
• Relationship to Other Books
• Notes to the Teacher

Wikipedia Entries for Death of a Salesman

• Introduction
• Characters and cast

Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Plays — Death of a Salesman

Essays on Death of a Salesman

What makes a good death of a salesman essay topic.

When it comes to writing an essay on Arthur Miller's iconic play, Death of a Salesman , choosing the right topic is essential. A good essay topic should be thought-provoking, engaging, and allow for in-depth analysis. Here are some recommendations on how to brainstorm and choose a compelling essay topic:

• Consider the themes: Death of a Salesman explores various themes such as the American Dream, disillusionment, and the nature of success. When brainstorming essay topics, consider how these themes can be explored in depth.
• Character analysis: The play features complex characters such as Willy Loman and his son Biff. Choosing an essay topic that delves into the characters' motivations, conflicts, and development can lead to a rich and insightful analysis.
• Symbolism and imagery: Death of a Salesman is rich in symbolism and imagery. Look for essay topics that explore the significance of symbols such as the Loman house, the seeds, and the flute, and how they contribute to the overall meaning of the play.
• Social and cultural context: Consider how the play reflects the social and cultural context of its time, and how these themes are still relevant today. Essay topics that explore the play's cultural impact and relevance can make for a compelling analysis.

Best Death of a Salesman Essay Topics

When it comes to choosing the best Death of a Salesman essay topics, it's important to think outside the box and choose topics that stand out. Here are 20 creative and thought-provoking essay topics to consider:

• The Illusion of the American Dream in Death of a Salesman
• The Tragic Hero: Willy Loman's Downfall
• The Role of Gender in Death of a Salesman
• The American Dream: Success or Failure in Death of a Salesman
• The Loman Family Dynamics: A Dysfunctional Portrait
• The Symbolism of the Loman House in Death of a Salesman
• The Disillusionment of the American Dream in Death of a Salesman
• The Tragic Flaw: Willy Loman's Fatal Mistakes
• The Portrayal of Friendship and Betrayal in Death of a Salesman
• The Relevance of Death of a Salesman in Today's Society
• The Disintegration of Willy Loman's Mental State
• The Significance of the Flute in Death of a Salesman
• The Role of Women in Death of a Salesman
• The Conflict Between Reality and Illusion in Death of a Salesman
• The Representation of Success and Failure in Death of a Salesman
• The Impact of Capitalism on the Characters in Death of a Salesman
• The Role of the American Dream in Shaping the Characters' Lives
• The Influence of Society on Willy Loman's Mental Health
• The Betrayal of the American Dream in Death of a Salesman
• The Tragic Nature of Willy Loman's Fate

Death of a Salesman Essay Topics Prompts

Looking for some creative prompts to kickstart your essay writing process? Here are 5 engaging prompts to inspire your Death of a Salesman essay:

• Imagine you are Willy Loman's therapist. Write a journal entry reflecting on his mental state and the factors contributing to his disillusionment.
• Choose a minor character in Death of a Salesman and analyze their significance in the play. How do they contribute to the overall themes and narrative?
• If you were to rewrite the ending of Death of a Salesman , how would you envision a different fate for Willy Loman and his family? What changes would you make to the characters' arcs?
• Explore the significance of the American Dream in Death of a Salesman and its portrayal as both a driving force and a destructive illusion. How does the play challenge traditional notions of success and happiness?
• Take on the perspective of Biff Loman and write a letter to his father, Willy, expressing his feelings of resentment, love, and the complexity of their relationship.

Choosing a compelling Death of a Salesman essay topic requires careful consideration of the play's themes, characters, and cultural context. By brainstorming thought-provoking topics and prompts, you can embark on a compelling and insightful analysis of Arthur Miller's timeless masterpiece.

Death of a Salesman Conflict Analysis

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The Value of Money in "The Death of a Salesman"

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Willy Loman as a Tragic Hero in The Death of a Salesman

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How Pride is Willy's Tragic Flaw in Death of a Salesman and How It is The Central Theme of The Play

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February 10, 1949

Arthur Miller

Willy Loman, Linda Loman, Biff Loman, Happy Loman, Ben Loman, Bernard, Charley, The Woman, Howard

Mythic figures, the American West, Alaska, the African jungle,Seed, diamonds, Linda’s and The Woman’s stockings, the rubber hose

The American Dream, the anatomy of truth, and infidelity.

“Why am I trying to become what I don’t want to be? What am I doing in an office, making a contemptuous, begging fool of myself, when all I want is out there, waiting for me the minute I say I know who I am!” “I’m gonna show you and everybody else that Willy Loman did not die in vain. He had a good dream. It’s the only dream you can have - to come out number-one man. He fought it out here, and this is where I’m gonna win it for him.” “And when I saw that, I realized that selling was the greatest career a man could want. ’Cause what could be more satisfying than to be able to go, at the age of eighty-four, into twenty or thirty different cities, and pick up a phone, and be remembered and loved and helped by so many different people?” “You can’t eat the orange and throw the peel away — a man is not a piece of fruit!”

The play premiered on Broadway in February 1949 and ran for 742 performances. The play has been adapted for cinema ten times. The play Death of a Salesman won the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play.

Relevant topics

• Romeo and Juliet
• A Raisin in The Sun
• Macbeth Ambition
• A Streetcar Named Desire
• Merchant of Venice
• Hamlet Theme
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Death of a Salesman - Essay Examples And Topic Ideas For Free

Death of a Salesman is a famous American play written by Arthur Miller. Exploring this play and choosing it among other essay topics provides an opportunity to make an analysis of important issues related to modern society. This is a tragedy that raises issues of identity, ambition, realization of dreams, and dealing with stress and pressure. It also tells the fascinating and dramatic story of an old man named Willy Lowman. By conducting a thorough research paper on Death Of A Salesman and developing a detailed outline, you can organize your thoughts and present a comprehensive analysis of Death of a Salesman. The play emphasizes the price one pays and the disappointment that can accompany the endless pursuit of success. This idea can be used as a thesis statement.

Explore existing essays on Death Of A Salesman to gain inspiration and insight into different approaches to the play. During the writing, remember that an impactful introduction sets the stage. It captures the reader’s attention and provides the necessary context. You need to support your arguments with textual evidence and examples. You can discuss the themes and messages provided by the author. You can also add details about the influence of the play on the literary world and the broader cultural landscape. By drawing upon the insights gained from The Death Of A Salesman essay examples, you can draw a comprehensive conclusion. It will help your readers to think and leave a lasting impression.

Betrayal in “Death of a Salesman”

Betrayal is breaking or violating trust within a relationship. Relationships are amongst individuals or organizations. In Fences, Troy has cheated on his wife. In Death of a Salesman, Willy makes multiple attempts at ending his life, later succeeding. Willy also has an affair while on sales trips. Biff fails to meet Willy’s expectations of making it in the business world. All of which are acts of betrayal. Death of a salesman and Fences share a common motif of betrayal. Willy […]

The American Dream in “Death of a Salesman”

“Death of a Salesman,” a play by Arthur Miller, was written in 1948 and produced in 1949. In Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” one theme revealed in the drama play is the concept of the American dream of opportunity. America is the dream land of golden opportunities, even the poorest man can build his way upward in life. Miller uses this concept of opportunity by illustrating that new opportunity does not occur multiple times. Born in Harlem, New York, […]

Linda Loman Wife of Willy Loman

"Death of A Salesman Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman was a Pulitzer Prize-winning master piece (Miller 1019) in 1949. The play represent a tragedy about Willy Loman a self centered salesman whom as passed his time in the professional world of sales. A Devoted Wife: Linda Loman is a devoted wife. She shows constant wifely care and kindness about Willy. This is her most important characteristic. This trait appears in opening dialogue when Willy has unexpectedly returned after having left […]

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Willy’s Struggle for Identity in “Death of a Salesman”

Willy Loman is a 63-year-old salesman, father, and husband. Willy believes that all you need to live the American dream is wealth which comes from being well-liked by others. Never have succeeded in his sellings, Willy is unable to face the truth, expects his sons to do great things and fulfill his own - dreams the ones he couldn’t fulfill himself. In Arthur Miller’s play, Death of a Salesman, parent’s deluded definition of the American dream can affect their relationships […]

Analysis “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller

In “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller, the play revolves around Willy Loman, a salesman, and his family dealing with his struggles. Based in the 1940s, the play had different mannerisms than what people would perceive today. These mannerisms were affected by the Great Depression and World War II. While mannerisms may have been different, there are many similarities with how the men of this play behaved. Willy Loman, however, was a very difficult man who had many different […]

Analysis of Willy Loman

We see the caricature drawings of people when we go to an amusement park and laugh at them. Willy Loman, on the other hand, was the depressing literary caricature of a man who time has passed by as he has outlived his ability to be a successful salesman. Willy Loman lived in a world of fantasies where being well liked and good looking were the keys to the American dream. Due to his obsession with his understanding of the American […]

Symbolism in Death of a Salesman

"In psychology, a person has a threshold of how much stress they can uphold; an excessive amount of stress can lead to unsuccess, and a deficiency will lead to the same. Willy, a father of two adult kids with a wife, was exponentially spiraling into insanity due to the stress of his family and his future not coming together. He had unhealthy obsessions with his children and his car which lead to him ultimately ruining his life further. Throughout the […]

Character Analysis “Death of a Salesman”

Biff would express Willy's more aware and creative side. We use cookies to give you the best experience possible. Willy tries to bring him out of the past, but Biff imitates his maths teacher's lisp, instigating laughter from Willy and The Woman. Occasionally, she appears to be deceived by Willy's self-deceptive hopes for future prosperity and success, but at other times, she appears more realistic and less vulnerable than her husband. Willy's emotional well-being decreases sharply as dramatic events unfold […]

Amanda and Linda: a Comparative Observation

When examining the characteristics of a matriarch and the type of woman one might consider proper for the role, the many first ladies of the United States over the past two centuries come to mind. A matriarch will guide her family throughout decades providing unwavering strength and support during the most celebrated times, and she will stand firm with her loved ones during the most difficult of times. First ladies certainly do fit the profile. Most matriarchs do not experience […]

Family Name in “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller

What does a name really mean? What does it represent? Does your last name affect how others see you just because of how that name was represented by your ancestors? In many cases, yes. A name can affect your reputation positively or negatively. Many times people can get too caught up in their work or personal situations and don’t put enough time or energy into their kids and helping them develop into productive citizens in order to carry on their […]

Linda Loman in “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller

The character Linda Loman, who plays the role of Willy Loman's wife, in Arthur Miller's play, Death of a Salesman is a very important part in the play. Her character shows the typical American wife of that era. This is directly indicated by her behavior, the way she hides her feelings, and the way she treats her sons. There are many examples throughout the play that reveals that Linda is the classic enabler who indirectly causes the dysfunction in the […]

Escaping the Shackles of Modern Society

Throughout the history of drama production, the underlying message meant to be conveyed has been interpreted in many ways. Terrence Smith and Mike Miller argued that “The purpose of drama is not to define thought but to provoke it,” suggesting that plays are not used to spell out a one-sided topic, but rather are meant to evoke further speculation from all angles upon a specific subject. While witnessing the plot unfold amidst the play’s dynamics, the audience has the opportunity […]

Comparison between “Death of a Salesman”, “Oedipus Rex”, and “A Streetcar Named Desire”

Both “Oedipus Rex,” “A Streetcar Named Desire,” and “Death Of A Salesman” have scenes where a character’s past is revealed, whether it is to other characters or the audience (Oedipus’ parentage, Blanche’s past, or Willy’s affair). This overall foreshadows that they cannot fully escape their past, whether it is an eventual surfacing (“A Streetcar Named Desire” and “Death of a Salesman”) or an unexpected revelation (Oedipus Rex). This is linked to the theme of the inevitability of fate. There are […]

The Interpretation of a Family-Man: Fences V. Death of a Salesman

Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman and August Wilson’s Fences follow a comparable storyline of two fathers struggling to keep their families together. Main characters, Troy Maxson and Willy Loman, have suffered with infidelity and failing father-son relationships while in pursuit of their possibly unrealistic dreams. The focus on father-son relationships in Death of a Salesman and Fences is an apparent similarity throughout both plays. Troy and Willy have high expectations and dreams for their sons. However, these dreams for […]

Utilizing Literary Device of Theme in ‘Death of a Salesman’

A theme is a literary device used by an author to help the readers understand the central focus of a literary work. Some authors use themes to help the readers see the deeper meaning behind the story. While others use themes in order to help the reader understand and connect all of the parts of a story. In Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller many themes are shown to the reader throughout the play to help develop the characters […]

Perception of Reality in Death of a Salesman

"In the play Death of a Salesman, the family shown is dealing with the repercussions of their father being affected by a form of memory loss or dementia. Many of the characters in the story suffer from perceiving their lives as different to what they actually are. Willy, Biff and Happy all tend to lie and fabricate new stories about how their lives are better than how they actually are. Willy is the worst of the three, often lying to […]

Lavish Lifestyles and the Ideals of the American Dream

"For centuries people have been inspired by lavish lifestyles and the ideals of the American Dream. The saying “keeping up with the Joneses” holds true to not only today’s society, but has held true to society for decades now. The idea that anyone can achieve financial success is held near and dear to those who believe in one day acquiring the riches that the American Dream “says” an individual should obtain. Arthur Miller’s play, Death of a Salesman shines a […]

Comparison of Father-Son Dynamics in ‘Death of a Salesman’ and ‘Fences’

"Does your son have to like you you for you to be a good father? Willy is a man who believes that the key to success is being well liked and he instills this in this sons even though this might not be true. Troy is a man who take care of his responsibilities and tries to keep his son from being him because he wants him to be a better man than he ever was. A fathers job is […]

Analysis of Death of a Salesman

"In death of a salesman, Arthur Miller While reading a book, you should feel the feelings of the characters and everything that is expressed. Many books I don’t understand but this book did a very good job at doing just that. What i’m trying to say is, this book shows a lot of emotions and also relates to today's lifetime. Many symbols were shown in this book for example, his car was a great symbol. From page 48-50 the car […]

The American Dream in Play ‘The Death of a Salesman’

Research from Washington University Professor Mark Rank found that people define the American dream as three things: being able to pursue your passion, have economic security and being optimistic about the future (Cite 2). But, what if your typical dream never unfolds as in the case of Willy Loman and his family, in the play “The Death of a Salesman”? It’s as if the creator of the play, Arthur Miller, had a crystal ball in the 1940’s to look at […]

Paralels with Death of a Salesman

"In the Death of a Salesman there are many poems that connect with its themes, such as family life or work life. You can also see some themes alike like wanting to save the life of someone you love. Or just wanting someone you love to succeed these are some parallels in the poems and Death of a Salesman. In the poem Do Not Go Gentle by Dylan Thomas it has a lot in common with death of a salesman […]

Death of Salesman

The play “Death of a Salesman” greatly portrays a specific ideology in regards to values, dreams, goals, and success in our society. It helps showcase the American dream that society tends to strive for even in the early 1900’s. That dream of being a successful business person. As well as the theory that image and physical attributes are most important to gaining fruition. Willy Loman plays a man in his sixties who has strived for this American dream for over […]

Different American Dreams in Death of a Salesman

"In the play Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller brings to life the idea that the American dream is different for everyone, yet is achieved by the same process and rules through the use of convincing analogies, metaphors, and verbal contradictions. Miller's use of convincing analogies in the play during Act 2 brings across the importance of knowing people, being well-liked and putting a smile on your face. ”WILLY: Without a penny to his name, three great universities are begging […]

Death of a Salesman Tells the Story

"Death of a Salesman tells the story of a dysfunctional family through the eyes of the father whose sons are grown. The family went from prosperous, to needing support as the father gets older and the truth of his character is revealed. We see Willy, the father, as a grumpy old man we find out through his unhinged flashbacks his life used to be golden, he lived the American dream. His sons were popular, he was a great salesman who […]

Willy Character Analysis in “Death of a Salesman”

Willy Loman in Arthur Miller's 'Demise of death of a Salesman' is a complex and clashed character. He winds up inconsistent with his environment, his qualities, and even his family, now and again. Furthermore, these contentions overflow into how he brings up his children. Willy attempts to impart what he supposes are his increasingly outstanding attributes into his young men; affability and activity. In any case, one can see by his activities and even his words that he has a […]

Themes in Death of a Salesman

The American Dream is a relevant and universal theme in the play. As Willy Loman there are many people who misinterpret the idea of the American Dream. For him, to accomplish success and wealth a person needs to be “well liked” (p.20). Willy’s obsession with popularity leads him to tell his son Biff “you are going to be five times ahead of him. / Because the man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal […]

Failure in Achievnig the American Dream

"In The Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller shows the failure to achieve the American Dream that we all strive for can lead to drastic decisions by using irony, symbolism, and allusions. For example, Biff Loman in The Death of a Salesman tells Willy Loman “I am not a leader of men, Willy, and neither are you. You were never anything but a hard-working drummer who landed in the ash can like the rest of them!"" (Miller 132). This quote is […]

Literary Analysis – Death of a Salesman

In “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller, the conflict between father and son shapes the work’s overall significance and explains all the unfortunate occurrences throughout. The American Dream plays a big role in this novel. The American Dream symbolizes the ideas of futurism and possibilities. The American Dream has a definite objective for many people, and it means a different thing for all. The American dream also is accessible, but in this world, people still believe that because of […]

Death of a Salesman Summary

"The tragic play Death of a Salesman written by Arthur Miller is a story about a salesman named Willy Loman, who spends his whole life with a deluded dream of achieving lofty goals in an unforgiving society. Willy often neglects his family’s needs, because he is so blinded by the thought of vast riches that are unattainable for him. Being a modern day tragedy, Death of a Salesman examines the effects of what can happen when a person chasing the […]

Willy’s Obsession with the American Dream in Death of a Salesman

The American Dream throughout the ages has stood as each person's idea of success. The American dream normally associated with nineteen fifties America is a small family, cookie cutter house, and maybe even a dog. Though that is only one idea of the American dream, a shallow analysis that can and should go farther. Arthur Miller uses his play Death of a Salesman to do just that and absolutely succeeds in doing so. Throughout Death of a Salesman, Miller portrays […]

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How to Write an Essay About Death Of A Salesman

Understanding 'death of a salesman'.

Before writing an essay about Arthur Miller's 'Death of a Salesman', it is essential to understand the play's context, themes, and characters. 'Death of a Salesman' is a classic of American theater, written in 1949, that explores the American Dream's disillusionment through the life of Willy Loman, a struggling salesman. Begin your essay by outlining the play's plot, setting, and main characters, including Willy, his wife Linda, and their sons, Biff and Happy. Discuss the historical and cultural context of post-war America in which the play was written, as it is crucial for understanding the themes of the play, such as the pursuit of success, the fragility of the human psyche, and the impact of societal expectations.

Developing a Thesis Statement

A strong essay on 'Death of a Salesman' should be centered around a clear, concise thesis statement. This statement should present a specific viewpoint or argument about the play. For example, you might analyze Willy Loman’s character as a representation of the failure of the American Dream, discuss the play's commentary on societal values and pressures, or explore the theme of reality versus illusion. Your thesis will guide the direction of your essay and provide a structured approach to your analysis.

Gathering Textual Evidence

To support your thesis, gather evidence from the text of the play. This involves close reading to find relevant quotes, dialogues, and scenes that support your argument. For instance, if discussing the theme of disillusionment, identify key moments in the play that demonstrate Willy's growing despair and disillusion. Use these examples to build your argument and provide depth to your analysis.

Analyzing Miller's Techniques and Themes

Analyze how Arthur Miller uses literary techniques to develop the play's themes and characters. Discuss his use of symbolism, the play’s structure, and the use of flashback as a narrative device. For example, explore the symbolism of the seeds Willy plants, which fail to grow, as a metaphor for his unfulfilled dreams and aspirations. This analysis should demonstrate a deep understanding of the text and how Miller communicates his ideas.

Concluding the Essay

Conclude your essay by summarizing your main arguments and restating your thesis in light of the discussion. Your conclusion should tie together your insights into 'Death of a Salesman,' emphasizing the significance of your findings. Reflect on the broader implications of the play, such as its relevance to contemporary society or its place in American literary history.

Reviewing and Refining Your Essay

After completing your essay, review and refine it. Ensure that your arguments are coherent, your evidence is clearly presented, and your writing is free of grammatical errors. Consider seeking feedback from teachers or peers to help improve your essay. A well-written essay on 'Death of a Salesman' will not only demonstrate your understanding of the play but also your ability to engage critically with literary texts.

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Death of a Salesman Essay Topics & Samples

As a Pulitzer Prize winner, Death of a Salesman deserves some attention, which is most likely the reason why you were asked to write an essay about it. Even though Arthur Miller wrote it in the middle of the twentieth century, the play is still relevant.

This Custom-Writing.org article aims to help you if you have questions or are looking for a decent Death of a Salesman essay topic or have to choose between many variants.

• The first section of it contains a list of ideas that might help you write a great essay.
• The second one contains Death of a Salesman essay samples that you are welcome to use for inspiration.
• 💡 Essay Topics
• ✒️ Essay Samples

💡 Death of a Salesman: Essay Topics

Miller addresses various themes, such as the American dream and betrayal, incorporated into family life. To write a killer essay on Death of a Salesman , you should first study all aspects of the play. So you don’t forget to read through our analysis of the main characters and themes !

Now you are all set up to pick a topic from the list below.

• Analyze the main symbols of the play. There are multiple hidden symbols that Miller uses to represent one idea or another. The interpretation depends on you. There are no wrong answers. However, to set a direction, we recommend looking at such a symbol as the stockings. It is quite an obvious hint on the theme of betrayal.
• How is Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman as a father? Willy Loman, the main character in Death of a Salesman , is far from being the employee of the month. But as a father, he is also supposed to be a role model to his two sons. However, we can see that Biff and Happy have developed their personalities according to their dad’s behavior.
• Can Willy Loman be considered a hero? Loman tries to solve the problems which are too big for him. He cannot possibly overcome capitalism and becomes its victim. Analyze Willy’s last act and see whether it can be genuinely regarded as a good deed or it is a desperate attempt to get rid of a problem.
• Discuss the theme of the American Dream in Death of a Salesman . Is it Willy’s fault that he failed his family? Think about how our ambitions shape the course of our lives and write an essay reflecting on it in relation to the play. Discuss the fate of the salesman as the embodiment of the American dream.
• How reasonable was Willy’s despair in the final scenes? Look through all the details you can find about the Loman family and analyze their social and financial state. Try to write an objective opinion on whether Willy’s suicide was the only option for them. What might have caused him to exaggerate the problems they were having?
• Discuss the statement “Be liked, and you will never want” from Death of a Salesman . This prompt is related to Willy’s life philosophy, which he passes on to his sons. Are there any reasons to claim that it doesn’t work? Why? Maybe reflect on the same idea circulating in modern society.
• What is the meaning of Arthur Miller’s play? We suggest you answer the question, “What is the main message of Death of a Salesman ?” Rereading our analysis of the main themes and characters should give you some ideas! However, remember to focus on ONE idea and present persuasive arguments.
• Analyze Willy Loman’s career choice. What do you think about Willy’s decision to go into the sales business? Was it the right choice? Find the evidence in the play? Think about how different his life and life of his family could be if he had chosen a different occupation, which fits his natural abilities.
• Illusions and realistic dreams as Willy Loman’s coping mechanism. Look at Death of a Salesman as a tragedy and the story about the main character’s inner fight. Write about how he retreats into the memories to escape real-life problems. Does it have anything to do with his failure to understand his ambitions?
• Discuss the reason for Willy’s rejection of Charley’s job offer . Loman keeps turning down his friend’s job offer, and it seems to be annoying him more and more every time. But what is the reason? He might have been more well-off if he accepted it. Is it about his pride or social values?

✒️ Death of a Salesman: Essay Samples

Below you’ll find a collection of Death of a Salesman essay examples. You are welcome to use them for inspiration!

• “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller
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Is the American dream attainable? What makes someone a successful person? How does your image of yourself shape your life? Arthur Miller’s play is a tragic but true-to-life illustration of these philosophical questions without definitive answers. This Death of a Salesman Study Guide will help you understand the author’s intention...

Looking for a summary of Death of a Salesman? This article by Custom-Writing.org experts contains everything you might need for your studies or essay: Death of a Salesman’s synopsis, a plot infographic, Death of a Salesman’s short summary, and detailed descriptions of the events in the play act by act....

This Custom-Writing.org article contains all the information about Death of a Salesman characters: Willy Loman, Biff, Happy, Linda Loman, Ben Loman, Charley, Bernard, the Woman, and others. Additionally, in the first section, you’ll find a detailed Death of a Salesman character map. 🗺️ Death of a Salesman Character Map Below...

This Custom-Writing.org article explains the key themes in Death of a Salesman. The American dream, family, betrayal and abandonment are the core issues represented in the play by Arthur Miller. 🗽 Death of a Salesman: American Dream One of the main themes in Death of a Salesman is the American...

Like any other literary work, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman contains various stylistic devices to discuss, symbols to interpret, and motifs to find. That is what this article written by Custom-Writing.org experts is about! This analysis can answer any question you might have about the play, including: What do...

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This article by Custom-Writing.org experts provides an explanation of The Great Gatsby themes. The core issues represented in the novel by Fitzgerald are: the American dream, money, social class, love, morality, and time. Keep reading to learn more about the themes of The Great Gatsby! ✉️ What Is the Main...

How Baltimore Became the Overdose Capital of the United States

Alissa Zhu, Nick Thieme and Jessica Gallagher are reporters for The Baltimore Banner. They spent a year reporting on the city’s response to its overdose crisis as part of a New York Times Local Investigations Fellowship .

Across Baltimore, the death toll has mounted.

Fatal drug overdoses have occurred on a third of the city’s blocks.

Bodies have been found in motels and vacant houses, at parks and the football stadium, around the corner from City Hall and outside the Health Department.

In one grim month alone, 114 people succumbed.

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Almost 6,000 Dead in 6 Years: How Baltimore Became the U.S. Overdose Capital

The city was once hailed for its response to addiction. But as fentanyl flooded the streets and officials shifted priorities, deaths hit unprecedented heights.

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By Alissa Zhu ,  Nick Thieme and Jessica Gallagher

Alissa Zhu, Nick Thieme and Jessica Gallagher are reporters for The Baltimore Banner. They examined the city’s response to rising overdose deaths as part of The Times's Local Investigations Fellowship .

This is the first part in a series exploring Baltimore’s overdose crisis.

People in Baltimore have been dying of overdoses at a rate never before seen in a major American city.

In the past six years, nearly 6,000 lives have been lost. The death rate from 2018 to 2022 was nearly double that of any other large city, and higher than nearly all of Appalachia during the prescription pill crisis, the Midwest during the height of rural meth labs or New York during the crack epidemic.

A decade ago, 700 fewer people here were being killed by drugs each year. And when fatalities began to rise from the synthetic opioid fentanyl, so potent that even minuscule doses are deadly , Baltimore’s initial response was hailed as a national model. The city set ambitious goals, distributed Narcan widely, experimented with ways to steer people into treatment and ratcheted up campaigns to alert the public .

But then city leaders became preoccupied with other crises, including gun violence and the pandemic. Many of those efforts to fight overdoses stalled, an examination by The New York Times and The Baltimore Banner has found.

Health officials began publicly sharing less data. City Council members rarely addressed or inquired about the growing number of overdoses. The fact that the city’s status became so much worse than any other of its size was not known to the mayor, the deputy mayor — who had been the health commissioner during some of those years — or multiple council members until they were recently shown data compiled by Times/Banner reporters. In effect, they were flying blind.

A rapid increase in overdose deaths

Baltimore’s fatal overdose rate has quadrupled since 2013. It dipped in 2022, but preliminary data for 2023, not shown below, indicates overdoses were on track to rise again.

200 deaths per 100,000 people

Overdose deaths have

surged because of fentanyl

and other synthetic opioids.

Little of the urgency that once characterized the city’s response is evident today. Since 2020, officials have set fewer and less ambitious goals for their overdose prevention efforts. The task force managing the crisis once met monthly but convened only twice in 2022 and three times in 2023. By then, fewer people were being revived by emergency workers, fewer people were getting medication to curb their opioid addiction through Medicaid and fewer people were in publicly funded treatment programs.

In an interview, Mayor Brandon Scott defended the city’s response. He knows that Baltimore has had a severe problem with drug addiction for decades, he said, and while the analysis may provide a better understanding of its scale, it will not change his administration’s approach.

“This is an issue that we’re doing a lot of work on and that we can and will do more work on,” Mr. Scott said, “but we also know requires a lot, lot more resources” than the city has.

When shown the mortality figures, other city leaders and health experts reacted with alarm.

It’s “really shocking,” said Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, a former Baltimore health commissioner and now a vice dean at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, adding that the deaths were “unprecedented in the city’s history.”

An extraordinary outlier

From 2018 to 2022, Baltimore’s fatal overdose rate far exceeded that of any other large American city. In listings for counties, the major city is shown in parentheses.

COUNTY (CITY)

DEATHS PER 100,000

Knox, Tenn. (Knoxville)

Davidson, Tenn. (Nashville)

Philadelphia

Jefferson, Ky. (Louisville)

Marion, Ind. (Indianapolis)

Camden, N.J. (Camden)

San Francisco

Montgomery, Ohio (Dayton)

Franklin, Ohio (Columbus)

Councilman Mark Conway, who leads the city’s public safety committee, described the deaths as “completely unacceptable” and said he would have called for hearings if he had known how much Baltimore was an outlier.

The numbers are “horrifying,” said Dr. Laura Herrera Scott, Maryland’s health secretary since 2023, adding, “We haven’t deployed the right resources in the right places.”

To examine Baltimore’s response to overdoses, journalists for The Times and The Banner reviewed thousands of pages of government documents and interviewed more than 100 health officials, treatment providers and people who have been addicted to drugs. Taken together, the records and interviews reveal the extent to which the city’s leaders failed to grapple with the enormity of the crisis.

State and city agencies track deaths, reporting the overall count to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But Maryland and Baltimore officials, often citing medical privacy concerns, have not published more detailed information on overdoses that is readily available elsewhere. That secrecy has hindered awareness of the epidemic and responses to it, former city employees and community workers said.

The state’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner refused to provide full autopsy reports until The Banner won a lawsuit compelling the agency to disclose the information, which identified who died, where they died and how they died.

Those who were lost represented a cross-section of Baltimore: line cook, lawyer, bus driver , engineer, machinist, teacher, restaurant owner, carpenter, veteran, physician, salesman and admissions coordinator for an addiction recovery center. There were retirees and the jobless.

Some victims were heartbreakingly young: Since 2020, at least 13 children under 4 have died after being exposed to drugs, according to the reports. Black men in their 50s to 70s died at the highest rates.

A few overdose deaths drew headlines, but most were invisible to the public.

William Miller Sr., 65 — who founded Bmore Power, an organization that hires people who have used and dealt drugs to give out the overdose antidote Narcan — was discovered in his bathroom in 2020, one day before the birth of his grandson. A single empty gel capsule, commonly used to package powdered drugs, was in the trash can.

He had been shot and survived H.I.V., hepatitis C and decades of overdoses before becoming a community activist. Concealing his relapses so that others wouldn’t be discouraged cost him his life, said William Miller Jr., his son.

Jaylon Ferguson, a 26-year-old linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens, fatally overdosed on cocaine and fentanyl, according to his autopsy, in an acquaintance’s home in 2022. It was a day before he planned to fly to Louisiana to belatedly celebrate Father’s Day with his fiancée and three children. On the first anniversary of his death, they brought stuffed animals to his grave.

Bruce Setherley, 43, told his mother, Mona, that he was on his way to an addiction program in 2022. She assumed the providers had taken his phone because she didn’t hear from him. Weeks later, he was found dead in an abandoned rowhouse. Ms. Setherley now wears a silver bracelet engraved with the word “love” in her son’s handwriting. “I keep waiting for him to come home,” she said.

City Council members described losing friends and seeing people slumped over on the streets. The mayor recalled coming home late one night to find his neighbor passed out on the steps of her apartment. He called 911.

“That happens every day,” he said, “but knowing that, we have to figure out ways to do more.”

The sharp increase in deaths came as the city has faced numerous challenges: a shrinking population, tensions over policing following the death of Freddie Gray , turnover at City Hall, as well as rising shootings among young people and Covid-19.

“We have done a great job of trying to focus on multiple epidemics at the same time,” said Mr. Scott, a Democrat who took office in late 2020 and is expected to have an easy path to re-election this year.

Many residents say they don’t see the government doing enough. The city needs to be more proactive in aiding people with addiction, said the Rev. Derrick DeWitt, whose church hosts recovery support group meetings in the West Baltimore neighborhood of Sandtown-Winchester.

“These are not the people who say, ‘I need help,’ and go on a bus to go get it,” he said. “You got to bring it to them. You got to hold their hand. The addiction has done so many things. Overdose is the final step.”

A Dangerous High

For nearly all of the past three decades, Baltimore has had one of the highest fatal overdose rates of any large U.S. city. But for most of that period, even as the HBO series “The Wire” helped cement the city’s reputation as the U.S. heroin capital, the death rate was much closer to the national average than it is today.

Officials have long tried to solve the city’s drug problem with arrests and aggressive policing. Baltimore was also at the forefront of innovative public health strategies to address addiction. In 1994, the city’s Health Department was among the first in the nation to start a legal syringe exchange to stop the spread of H.I.V. and other blood-borne illnesses.

Beginning in 2006, the city and state spent millions to expand access to buprenorphine, one of the most effective opioid addiction treatments. Fatal overdoses dropped and Baltimore seemed to be getting a handle on its heroin problem.

Around the same time, pharmaceutical companies were inundating pharmacies across the country with addictive pain pills. Four hundred thousand pills of opioids like oxycodone started arriving in the city every week. Some patients from both inside and outside the city began selling their pills in Baltimore, expanding the illegal drug market and making it easier for people to get hooked on opioids or to relapse, said Dr. Sharfstein, who was city health commissioner from 2005 to 2009.

In a written statement last week, the mayor’s office said that the current fentanyl crisis had been triggered by the influx of pills from drug makers and distributors, and that The Times and The Banner’s reporting on the city’s response amounted to “misguided victim blaming.”

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The claim about the drug makers echoes a lawsuit the city is pursuing against more than a dozen companies, set for trial in September. But the prescription pill epidemic was far less severe in Baltimore than elsewhere in the country. Baltimore received a fifth as many pills per capita as some areas, Drug Enforcement Administration records show . Oxycodone was the cause of relatively few deaths in the city, according to C.D.C. and state data.

The death rate remained relatively low until the mid-2010s, when fentanyl flooded illegal drug markets across the country.

Frequent drug users describe being high on fentanyl as a carefree, sometimes euphoric stupor, followed by a painful withdrawal — nausea, anxiety, sweat and flulike symptoms — that drives them to use again.

Dealers began spiking heroin with fentanyl, which is up to 50 times more potent and can be manufactured from cheap chemical compounds. They also began mixing fentanyl in cocaine, pressing it into fake prescription pills and selling it on its own. Drug-testing data shows that it is now all but impossible to buy illegal opioids in Maryland that have not been mixed with it and other dangerous additives like xylazine, which makes naloxone — the generic name for Narcan — less effective. These days, heroin is rarely found.

Because fentanyl is combined with other substances, the distribution of the opioid’s granules is uneven. One hit may be just enough to get high. The next could be deadly.

In 2010, the overdose death rate was near a 20-year low: 29 deaths in the city for every 100,000 residents. By 2015 the rate had doubled, then doubled again three years later. By 2021, it was 190 per 100,000, and three people were dying on average every day.

‘A Broken World’

Yvonne Holden, 67, gazed up at the two-story rowhouse where she had grown up in Northwest Baltimore, just down the street from Pimlico Race Course, home to the Preakness Stakes. The porch roof is sagging, the front door boarded up. Abandoned by her family after a fire decades ago, the structure is no longer safe to live in, but her brother, who declined to be interviewed, still calls it home.

He is in his 50s and has long battled addiction. Standing there, Ms. Holden considered the impact of drugs on those closest to her. Two siblings contracted H.I.V. from needles and died within a week of each other in 1999. Her best friend passed away from heart problems after long-term cocaine use. Another friend overdosed last year, probably on fentanyl, and cannot speak clearly or use the left side of his body; she now helps care for him.

Ms. Holden herself used heroin, and then a mix of methadone and whatever prescription pills she could get, for decades while raising four sons and working as a nurse technician at hospitals across the city. In 2010, with intensive treatment and support from her church, she was able to stop getting high.

In her one-bedroom apartment, where quotes from Scripture hang on nearly every wall, she leafs through her collection of Bibles each day. “It shows you how to live in a broken world,” she said.

On her windowsill, Al Holden, her son, smiles in a baby portrait, all chubby cheeks and tiny fists.

He loved watching boxing videos and dreamed of starting a landscaping business with his brothers. Instead he cycled in and out of prison. On Sept. 21, 2021, a few weeks after he was released for the last time, he was planning to celebrate his 50th birthday with a cookout for family and friends. Ms. Holden stopped by the house where he was staying that morning, but he said he wanted to rest before the party. As she left, she told him she loved him. “I love you,” he said back.

When she returned less than an hour later, he was kneeling at the side of his bed, head bowed as if in prayer, dead of a fentanyl overdose. His family performed CPR. Ms. Holden, who often gives out Narcan on the street with other church members, had none with her that day.

While waiting for the medical examiner’s office to retrieve his body, Mr. Holden’s relatives gathered in the backyard with a cake and sang happy birthday to him one last time.

Years of Tumult

Alarmed by rising overdose deaths in 2014, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake created a task force to plan a response.

The city’s health commissioner, Dr. Leana Wen, widely distributed Narcan before it was available without a prescription, and the Health Department trained police officers and the public in how to use it. The department also opened a “crisis stabilization center,” a place to find help after an overdose. It created an alert system to send aid groups to overdose clusters and piloted a “real time capacity tracker” to help patients and doctors find open treatment slots.

The city issued detailed plans and prioritized public awareness. One effort, promoted on billboards and bus stops, was a website called DontDie.org, designed to “knock people over the head” about the risk of fatal overdoses.

Dr. Wen described the initiatives to Congress and spoke on a panel with President Barack Obama. In 2018, a national group of health officials honored the department.

Even then, coordinating a response across city agencies was difficult, said Amanda Latimore, a Health Department epidemiologist at the time.

The city’s Law Department was resistant to agencies sharing overdose data, she recalled in an interview, sometimes citing the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, the federal law that protects patients’ medical information. Assembling the data she needed to understand trends in overdoses and treatment took “almost an act of God,” she said, and happened only because Dr. Wen and her team had a near-singular focus on the topic.

As overdose deaths continued to accelerate, the next mayor, Catherine Pugh, drew criticism when she objected to the proliferation of treatment centers within neighborhoods, saying that people needing help for addiction would have a better chance if they were removed from Baltimore’s drug-afflicted communities and “put on a plane to Timbuktu or somewhere.”

Dr. Wen left the agency in October 2018. Ms. Pugh resigned the next year in a corruption scandal, the second mayor criminally charged in a decade.

By the time Mr. Scott was elected, in November 2020, an interim mayor had been in place for a year and the Covid pandemic was in full force. Mr. Scott, previously City Council president, had for years pushed for supervised drug consumption sites as a way to prevent overdose deaths. They have never been approved in Maryland.

Baltimore also had one of the country’s highest homicide rates, and Mr. Scott’s administration prioritized reducing shootings. (When homicides fell by 20 percent last year amid a national decrease, Mr. Scott credited his administration’s efforts.)

While there were three times as many drug deaths as homicides, some of the overdose initiatives began to fade away during those tumultuous years.

The capacity tracker was hardly used: Only six out of 160 addiction service providers ever posted their wait times. The city now says the effort has been abandoned.

So has the “Don’t Die” public awareness campaign. The website stopped working sometime around February 2023, according to the Internet Archive . At some point, the Health Department stopped updating the overdose pages on its website altogether, and did not resume for years.

The multiple crises, and resulting turnover from mayor to mayor, had “lasting ramifications” for city agencies, said Mr. Conway, the councilman.

“I wonder if changes in leadership and lack of focus or guidance has resulted in a lot of these things falling apart,” he said. “And you end up with the situation where you don’t know what you don’t know, and you don’t know that these programs even existed or that they stopped existing.”

Scattered Efforts

Baltimore’s overdose response involves a number of city agencies and community groups, many of which receive government funding. Emergency workers rush to scenes of suspected overdoses and revive thousands of people every year, with a special crew giving Narcan and pamphlets to people they find nearby. Johns Hopkins doctors run a mobile medical clinic out of a van in collaboration with the city. The Health Department recruits local celebrities to raise awareness at schools.

The state and federal governments spend hundreds of millions of dollars each year combating drug addiction in Baltimore. Medicaid’s annual spending on treatment programs grew significantly in recent years, reaching $245 million last June.

A publicly funded nonprofit whose board is led by the city health commissioner, Behavioral Health System Baltimore, or B.H.S.B., also gave out more than $50 million a year in grants for drug and mental health treatment, with most of that money coming from state and federal funds. The organization said it did not track its addiction and mental health spending separately, because services overlapped. But a Times/Banner analysis shows that its spending earmarked for drug treatment dropped by about $5.5 million from 2019 to 2023, though some of the decline was explained by Medicaid beginning to cover certain services.

The job of coordinating all these efforts belongs to the city Health Department. The department runs the state-mandated Overdose Prevention Team, which is tasked with sharing data, identifying problems and developing a citywide strategy. The group cut back to meeting just a few times a year. In 2020, it released a three-year plan that it described as “intentionally brief,” given the pandemic. One goal: Become “more action-oriented.” Another: List the ways people could get Narcan. Since then, it has not published updates or a new plan.

In a statement, the Health Department said the committee had working groups that met more frequently but declined to say how often, or which goals it had achieved, citing the lawsuit involving the pharmaceutical industry.

The 900-person department itself had only three full-time positions in 2022 to work on drug addiction and mental health, which doubled to six in 2023 with state funding, according to budget documents.

The city pays for just one of those positions. It spends very little of its revenue on the Health Department’s mental health and addiction budget: a yearly average of $1.5 million since 2016. (In a statement, the mayor’s office said this figure did not include the cost of overdose prevention programs run by other agencies or other parts of the Health Department. The staffing figures would also not include employees working on those programs.)

The department last presented data on overdose deaths to the City Council in 2020. The numbers it showed then were from 2017 and 2018, when the fatality rate was a quarter less than it is now. Even after a local television station, WBAL, reported last year that a San Francisco Chronicle database showed Baltimore was a large outlier, many of the officials Times/Banner reporters interviewed said they were unaware.

Dr. Letitia Dzirasa, a deputy mayor who had been health commissioner from 2019 to 2023, said in an interview that she knew the rate in Baltimore was the highest in Maryland, and higher than in other large cities in the region, but did not know its ranking nationally among all counties. On Wednesday, the city announced that the deputy mayor was stepping down, which Dr. Dzirasa said had been in the works for several months.

Her successor as health commissioner, Dr. Ihuoma Emenuga, declined repeated interview requests.

On occasion, there were signs in public that the response was disjointed. In 2021 and 2023, Councilwoman Danielle McCray, head of the health committee, called meetings for city agencies to talk about fighting overdoses. She asked how the Police and Fire Departments were sharing information about overdose hot spots. Representatives of those agencies had no satisfactory answers, Ms. McCray said in an interview.

She asked whether the city could create a dashboard tracking the number of overdoses. A Health Department representative said that the department was working on it but that the state’s restrictive data-sharing rules made it hard. The city would ultimately launch one last year — eight years after it first said it should build one.

“We just need to all work together on this issue with a greater sense of urgency,” Ms. McCray said in the interview.

All the while, some treatment efforts were reaching fewer people than before.

The number of patients in the city’s public treatment system, which helps poor and uninsured people with addiction, dropped by almost 5,500, or 16 percent, in 2023 from 2020, even as the amount of money being spent on it soared, according to state data. The number of Medicaid patients on drugs that treat opioid addiction, long a staple of Baltimore’s response, also fell by thousands.

State officials said that the pandemic, and a policy change in 2020 that allowed Medicare to cover payments for medication, might have contributed to the drops.

Fewer people getting medication support

Medications that help patients control their cravings for opioids are effective. But the number of Medicaid patients getting them in Baltimore has dropped, even as the number of people fatally overdosing has shot up.

20,000 people

City officials did not always seem to know what to make of their own statistics.

The number of people being revived from overdoses annually by emergency workers dropped by nearly 1,000 in 2023 from 2018, while deaths rose significantly. It is not clear why that happened, said James Matz, assistant chief of emergency medical services for the Fire Department. “I don’t know the answer for that, I’ll be honest with you,” he said in an interview.

Dr. Herrera Scott, the health secretary, said Maryland’s overdose response needed to be based on a sophisticated understanding of the data. She acknowledged the department had had challenges with data sharing previously, but said the state was now using data to better target its efforts and planned to start publishing information about deaths in specific neighborhoods.

In his annual State of the City address in March, Mr. Scott said he was creating an overdose prevention cabinet. His administration, which announced the plan after reporters began asking city officials about overdoses, provided few details, except that the cabinet would include top city leaders.

A National Outlier

Other parts of the country with lower death rates have addressed overdoses more aggressively.

In Portland, Ore., the city, the surrounding county and the state declared a 90-day state of emergency this year; agency leaders met daily to coordinate services and share data. In San Francisco, a 2021 mayor’s emergency declaration led to outreach efforts in a particularly hard-hit area and what has been described as a supervised drug consumption site, which the city closed the following year after pushback. Both places have hundreds of fewer deaths each year than Baltimore, even though they are significantly larger than the Maryland city, which has a population of roughly 570,000.

Some states and counties have seized on strategies that experts say can make a difference.

Vermont, for example, created a “hub and spokes” model that connects addiction centers to a network of prescribers, such as family doctors, who work together to get people the help they need. It now serves about 12,000 patients a year.

Baltimore started its own “hub and spokes” pilot in 2017. But in 2023, one of the city’s two treatment hubs served only 88 patients. The other organization is no longer using that model.

Some cities send teams of trained professionals, such as recovery specialists, E.M.T.s and sometimes law enforcement officers, to knock on people’s doors 24 to 72 hours after they overdose to offer connections to treatment and other help. Those initiatives in Houston; Louisville, Ky.; and Montgomery County, Ohio; each reach hundreds of people a year.

Studies show the effort can work; one tracked people the Houston team contacted over three months and found that more than half stayed in treatment and none overdosed again. In Baltimore, the city’s emergency rooms offer connections to care and resources. But the only team that reaches out to those who refuse to go to a hospital after an overdose was given the names of just 50 people by emergency workers last year, according to Gabby Knighton, executive director of People Encouraging People, which runs the group.

People struggling with addiction in Baltimore are often left to find help on their own.

Vernon Hudson Jr., 54, first took opioids as a defensive end on Virginia Tech’s football team, when he was given a painkiller after a knee injury. He returned to Baltimore from college with a growing addiction and no football career. He cycled from relapse to recovery for more than two decades.

In December 2021, he sniffed a powdered drug and then overdosed while driving, crashing his Mustang into the front steps of a church. He regained consciousness in the back of an ambulance after being administered naloxone. Racked with shame, he refused to go to a hospital.

With the help of a support group, he has since stopped using drugs. But in the ambulance, at the time of his overdose, no one offered to connect him to any treatment resources or social services, he said. After he asked to get out of the vehicle, he said that no one from the city checked up on him again.

Cheryl Phillips, Eric Sagara and Emily Sullivan contributed reporting. Susan C. Beachy and Kirsten Noyes contributed research. This article was reported in partnership with Big Local News at Stanford University.

About the analysis

The Times and The Banner analyzed anonymized data about every death in the United States between 1989 and 2022 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The data, obtained under an academic license through the reporter Nick Thieme’s affiliation with Columbia University, shows demographics and causes of death. Fatalities from 1968 through 1989 were collected from a separate data set the C.D.C. publishes.

Fatality rates in this article measure deaths that occurred in Baltimore, not deaths of Baltimore residents, and are calculated across the country by dividing the total number of overdose deaths that occurred in each jurisdiction by its population. For that reason, totals will differ from those in the C.D.C.’s online database, C.D.C. Wonder , which measures deaths by place of residence and also excludes deaths of people who live in U.S. territories or outside the United States.

The C.D.C. reports data by county, and the analysis identified large U.S. cities by looking at counties of at least 400,000 people. Baltimore City is reported as its own county. Overdose fatalities are those in which the underlying cause of death is listed as drug poisoning.

The Banner also sued the Maryland Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to obtain autopsy data, which allowed reporters to explore detailed geographic patterns of overdose within the city.

Death rates are not calculated for U.S. territories or Washington, though rates for both are significantly lower than in Baltimore.

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