Willy Loman
Willy Loman
Willy Loman, the main character in Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman, is a tragic hero that chases after the American Dream for his life purpose. Willy and his brother, Ben, were abandoned by their father when they were still young. However they parted while growing up, Ben went to Alaska and becomes rich, while Willy becomes a salesman. Ben is Willy’s American dream and he wants to become Ben. Ben didn’t succeed in becoming successful like Ben, so he created a fantasy world where things are all perfect. But this fantasy world makes things worse, in the real world, Willy still fails to fulfill his dream and even tries to suicide for many times. His inner self is very unhappy and unsatisfied, he is arrogant, prideful and proud, but always criticizes the world or anything around him when things don’t go his way. Willy is experiencing a crisis where he is overwhelmed by the problems of his lifetime, but he still wants to be viewed as a good, decent human being. He desperately wants people to see him as a well-liked person that doesn’t make mistakes. Sadly, Willy never stops making mistakes throughout his life and many are coming back to haunt him. The biggest problem that Willy experiences in the play is his struggle with his self-concept. Willy believes that he isn’t just a normal person because he knows he makes mistakes in his life, but in his understanding, normal human being shouldn’t make mistakes. Willy is a man with a false sense of self, and he has passed this false sense of self onto his sons too, making them believe what they are not. Willy severely regrets his doings, including raising his sons, Biff and Happy poorly, not doing well in business and being unfaithful to his wife Linda. These mistakes that he made have caused his life to become the ultimate failure and made him as pathetic as he could be. He wastes his whole life trying to gain success, to reach the American dream, but his failure puts his attention on Biff. Willy then
Willy Loman, the main character in Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman, is a tragic hero that chases after the American Dream for his life purpose. Willy and his brother, Ben, were abandoned by their father when they were still young. However they parted while growing up, Ben went to Alaska and becomes rich, while Willy becomes a salesman. Ben is Willy’s American dream and he wants to become Ben. Ben didn’t succeed in becoming successful like Ben, so he created a fantasy world where things are all perfect. But this fantasy world makes things worse, in the real world, Willy still fails to fulfill his dream and even tries to suicide for many times. His inner self is very unhappy and unsatisfied, he is arrogant, prideful and proud, but always criticizes the world or anything around him when things don’t go his way. Willy is experiencing a crisis where he is overwhelmed by the problems of his lifetime, but he still wants to be viewed as a good, decent human being. He desperately wants people to see him as a well-liked person that doesn’t make mistakes. Sadly, Willy never stops making mistakes throughout his life and many are coming back to haunt him. The biggest problem that Willy experiences in the play is his struggle with his self-concept. Willy believes that he isn’t just a normal person because he knows he makes mistakes in his life, but in his understanding, normal human being shouldn’t make mistakes. Willy is a man with a false sense of self, and he has passed this false sense of self onto his sons too, making them believe what they are not. Willy severely regrets his doings, including raising his sons, Biff and Happy poorly, not doing well in business and being unfaithful to his wife Linda. These mistakes that he made have caused his life to become the ultimate failure and made him as pathetic as he could be. He wastes his whole life trying to gain success, to reach the American dream, but his failure puts his attention on Biff. Willy then