Charley is a minor character in Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller’s classic stage play. He is the family dog.
Charley was originally played on Broadway by four Cairn Terriers: “Lucky”, “Ringwood Tart” (1949–1950), “Danny” (1950–1951) and then finally “Andy” (1951–1952).
The first dog to appear on Broadway was “Lucky”, who performed the role for 18 months. He was advised by his owner not to enter the theater proper, and so he sat in a box seat and watched as his son and grandson performed, barking at inappropriate times. Lucky’s son, “Ringwood Tart”, took over the role after Lucky retired. Ringwood’s son, “Danny”, then played Charley until Andy took over during the 1951-1952 season.
This is why some productions claim that there were three dogs, rather than four: as can be seen from photos of each dog performing in costume together, Lucky grew progressively darker with age — eventually appearing almost black — while his son and grandson were essentially identical in coloration. Death of a Salesman was their only performance, ending when Andy reached old age.
During the production run, he was played by four different Cairn terriers: “Lucky,” “Ringwood Tart,” “Danny,” and finally “Andy.” The play ran for two years with Lucky being the first to perform in the role from May 1949 until September 1950 when Ringwood Tart took over for about a year when Danny took over after he retired in January 1951. In 1952, Andy began performing in the lead role during the final year that Death of a Salesman ran on Broadway.
Death of a Salesman is a play that shows the story of Willy Loman, an aging salesman who slowly realizes that he will never be as successful and wealthy as his friends and family expect him to be. Death of a Salesman was written by Arthur Miller and published in 1949. Death of a Salesman takes place during the Great Depression, which occurred all over America from 1929 to 1939. During the time leading up to the depression Willy Loman worked as a travelling salesman with many low paying jobs such as selling gloves and handkerchiefs.
After World War II ended, Willy Loman returns home from war and starts working at his brother Ben’s company where he meets Charley, his’ son who is only slightly younger than Willy. Willy expects Charley to help him with the business but after meeting Charley, Ben tells him that he cannot hire his son. One day at work Willy meets a man who is very successful and wealthy and asks him what makes him so different from everyone else. The man says that he doesn’t “let up” on himself and others like his wife do not let up on him either, they all expect more of him then he can give.
Willy decides that if this man can be successful then so can he and comes home determined to start working harder even though the only job he has now is over fifty miles away from their house in New York City. When Loman home his family is interested in why he is home so early and tells them that Ben’s company will not hire him or his son which disappoints his family.
One night Willy Loman had a dream where someone was chasing him with an axe, after this dream Willy becomes even more determined to find a new job. This leads him on many trips back and forth from New York City to Albany but none of these jobs work out for Willy. He continues to try different places but they all tell him the same thing, they are looking for younger men because young men can take the stress of travel better then older men.
With no other options left Charley decides to join the army so he can get money for the family since most of what he makes at work goes to Willy. Willy calls Charley every night before he goes to sleep and one night Charley tells him that he might be seeing combat soon which worries Willy. When Willy gets off the phone with Charley his wife tells him that she has found a job for him closer to home but it doesn’t pay as much so they will have less money then they did before. This news upsets Willy because he feels like he is losing everything, including his son who is now in the army fighting for America.
Unable to find any more jobs closer to home Willy decides to take the job offer from Ben’s company even though this means working at far distances each day again. working on his first business trip Willy gets fired because he takes a nap in the morning before his first appointment but it is against company policy. This news upsets Willy so much that he has a heart attack and dies soon afterwords. Death of a salesman takes place in Death of a Salesman’s present and past time periods.
Summary: Death of a Salesman starts with Willy Loman returning home from World War II and finds out his son Charley is no longer working for him which disappoints him greatly. Soon Willy finds out that Ben’s company will not hire either Charley or himself, this news upsets Willy even more than when he found out about Charley quitting the job to join the army. One day while on business trip Willy Loman has a dream where someone is chasing him with an axe and wakes up soon afterwords. Death of A Salesman
Death of the salesman takes place in Death of A Salesman’s present and past time periods because it starts when Willy returns home from World War II and ends at his funeral. Death of the salesman takes place during Death of A Salesman’s present time period but also goes back to Willy working as a travelling salesman for many years which took place during the Great Depression. Death of the salesmen ends at Willy’s funeral which happens years after he dies, this is taking place during Death of a salesman’s past time period.
One aspect that makes Death Of The Salesman unique is that Death Of The Salesman is written in Death Of A Saleman’s past time period but also goes back to Willy working as a traveling salesman for many years which took place during the Great Depression. Death of the salesmen ends at Willy’s funeral which happens years after he dies, this is taking place during Death of a salesman’s present time period.
