Death of a Salesman: Accepting Change
Trouble Accepting Change? One thing known about the world is that there will always be change, even though it can be hard to accept. Acceptance of change is a theme widely shown in ‘Death of a Salesman’ written my Arthur Miller. The smart person knows how to accept change in stride by adjusting. Doing so, can reap many benefits and make life much easier. However, if one cannot accept change, disaster may strike his/her life. This is especially true for the character of Willy Loman as his failure to accept change leads to the end of his relationship with Biff, the loss of his job/financial issues, the ruining of his reputation, and his suicide. In the play, ‘Death of a Salesman’, Willy’s inability to accept change and adapt to new things causes destruction in his life and proves to be fatal.
Willy and his son, Biff, have a great reputation in years past. This all changes when Biff’s life does not go according to Willy’s plan and he is not all Willy wants him to be. “I am not a leader of men, Willy, and neither are you…..I’m one dollar an hour, illy! I tired seven states and couldn’t raise it. A buck an hour!” (Miller, 132). Biff tells his father that he’s fine with who he is and does not want to be any different. Even so, Willy cannot accept his son as just an average guy. The change that occurs is Biff being a part of Willy’s dream and success to Biff just being a normal person. Willy really cares for his job and his family, and rightfully so, just as his family starts to fall apart, his future as a salesman also starts to come to an end.
Willy is a stubborn man with the pride of a god. He has trouble coming to grips with a below average job and income that involves him travelling to different states as a salesman. As if that was not bad enough, when Charley offers Willy a job, he denies it because of the pride built up inside him. “What kind of a job is a job without pay? Now, look, kid, enough is enough. I’m no genius but I know when
Willy and his son, Biff, have a great reputation in years past. This all changes when Biff’s life does not go according to Willy’s plan and he is not all Willy wants him to be. “I am not a leader of men, Willy, and neither are you…..I’m one dollar an hour, illy! I tired seven states and couldn’t raise it. A buck an hour!” (Miller, 132). Biff tells his father that he’s fine with who he is and does not want to be any different. Even so, Willy cannot accept his son as just an average guy. The change that occurs is Biff being a part of Willy’s dream and success to Biff just being a normal person. Willy really cares for his job and his family, and rightfully so, just as his family starts to fall apart, his future as a salesman also starts to come to an end.
Willy is a stubborn man with the pride of a god. He has trouble coming to grips with a below average job and income that involves him travelling to different states as a salesman. As if that was not bad enough, when Charley offers Willy a job, he denies it because of the pride built up inside him. “What kind of a job is a job without pay? Now, look, kid, enough is enough. I’m no genius but I know when
Cited: 1. Miller, Arthur. Death of a salesman. New York: Penguin Books, 1996.