Willy Loman is a salesman with a fragile grip on reality. All his life he has strived for his version of the American dream being "well liked" and making money to the point where he is forced to deny reality in order to achieve it. His mind is full of delusions about his own abilities and accomplishments, and the accomplishments of his sons Biff and Happy.…
However, Willy did not poses the qualities that a salesman needed. He would say how “if a man was impressive and well liked...”(Act 2, Scene 1) that he would be an excellent salesman. He got this idea when he was a younger man, after he meet a man named Dave Singleman. He tell’s his story…
As seen in this dialogue, Willy believes that he has to work harder than other men in order to stay in business. Willy is struggling with feeling worthless. His whole life has been built around his job and building a financially stable household. Now he struggles to keep a…
One of the main slogans we here Willy say repeatedly throughout the play is that he is “The New England man” or that he is “Vital in New England”. Willy often uses this slogan to illustrate himself to his wife Linda and to convince her that he is the big successful salesman he acts to be. Willy is well aware that his career is coming to an end but doesn’t want to come to terms with this reality. Instead of coming to terms with reality he keeps saying and believing that he is “Vital in New England”. If he faced the fact that his career was coming to an…
This additionally demonstrates Willy's failure to relinquish the past; he was at one time a decently preferred, fruitful salesman, however now things have changed yet Willy declines to relinquish what used to be. It is additionally typical of the picture he has made for himself of being a fruitful businessperson, as well as just an effective man; his concept of flawlessness has dependably been tied up in how well he was doing in his employment and the amount of cash he was…
Willy’s teachings not only influenced his sons success, but also shaped the kind of people they became. Willy believed that one only needed to be well-liked and attractive to achieve the comforts of the American dream. He emphasized the importance of these attributes, believing they were the key to success. This idea shows its false nature when Howard Wagner fired him even when he states how fond Mr.Wagner was of Willy, claiming that he named Howard, “Your father came to me the day you were born and asked me what I thought of the name of Howard…”(act II, 80). Yet at the end “business is business”(act II, 80).…
In the set-up to the play we learn that Willy has come home early from his work trip because he is not longer able to drive and he can’t do his job. His son Biff is home after working as a farm hand for many years in the West. It is revealed that Willy’s mental wanderings are getting worse; he is preoccupied with Biff’s aimlessness and inability to find success in business. As the development continues, Linda informs her sons that Willy has been trying to commit suicide and tells Biff that his father’s life is in his hands. Biff needs to get a job and get serious – or take the blame for his father’s actions.…
This idea clouds his mind and is the catalyst to other mistakes Willy makes in his life. Willy is unable to provide for his family as a salesman because he is paid a very low wage, but he continues to pretend that he is very successful in his firm. Willy’s brother Ben told me he that Willy told him, “Business is bad, it’s murderous. But not for me, of course” (Act 1) Willy’s former boss has also told me that Willy tried to convince him that Willy “averaged a hundred and seventy dollars a week in commissions” (Act 2). Willy is convinced his sales are so remarkable that he fails to realize he is obviously not doing well enough in his job to support his family. Willy also tries to force his ideas of success on his children which causes conflict within his household. Biff, Willy’s son, does not want to be a salesman, but instead, wants to work on a farm. Willy does not believe that a man can be successful on a farm when in reality he would be able to provide for his family better than he is now if he did a more physically demanding job. Willy’s idea of success also gives him a false sense of pride. Willy is too prideful to take a job from his friend Charlie even though he constantly asks to borrow money to pay…
Willy Loman has the confidence of a billionaire. He acts like he is a hero, almost as if he ran the town. Willy’s confident attitude rubbed off onto his kids (Biff and Happy) making them believe that their father was a very successful man and that they were living the high class life. When in reality it was so far from that. Only Willy saw himself as the best. His friends, his bosses all knew he was full of talk, but never mentioned anything to him. “Well, that's the training, the training. I'm telling you, i was selling’ thousands and thousands, but I had to come home.”(34) The reality of Willy Loman's life is quite sad and pathetic, thinking that one is making so much money and is going to be so successful when really none of that is going…
We know that Willy’s father left him when he was a very young child and Ben became an idol for Willy because of his business acumen. However, even though these two characters visit the play only as figments of Willy’s mind, the fact that their presence is acknowledged is indicative of the importance of their role in the construction of Willy’s life. Notably, the portrayal of Willy’s father is depicted by flute music, (his father made flutes) and is present throughout all of Willy’s hallucinations. This maybe an allusion to his yearning for his absent father and perhaps Willy’s idealistic and misplaced admiration for him. Ben, however, is much more prevalent and Willy is very anxious for his approval and praise. Ben’s visits are always very flighty and although Willy is overjoyed at his appearance, he is left frustrated when Ben leaves. Willy has a great need to prove himself successful, yet there is no substantial support evident from these dominant characters in Willy’s endeavours. They both left him when he was very young and the vague encouragements from Ben are just figments of Willy’s own imagination. Yet the result of these desertions have a profound effect on the formation of the young Willy and it is of no surprise that the repercussions that this abandonment at an early age has contributed to the serious flaws we witness in the old Willy. So, we must concede that some guilt has to be accepted on the part of his father and brother in creating and establishing this quite flawed…
Willy’s inability to recognize the actual reality of his situation is first seen during the scene where Ben is introduced. In this scene, Ben tells of their father’s success as a salesman and his own rapid success with diamonds in Africa. As a result of this “interaction”, Willy believes that either he or his sons will have a similar kind of success. The confused man does not take into account that Ben happened to be extremely lucky…
Willy Loman failed the American Dream. Unable to make the amount of money he desired for his family, Willy slowly becomes uncontrollable and insane throughout the novel, talking to himself and being trapped in his own head. He will never be able to achieve his goals, and instead of being the greatest salesman ever, Willy found himself at the bottom of the business world as an unsuccessful salesman, barely making enough money to keep his family alive. Faced with…
Illusions contain many elements to them that help them become a little more vivid in one's mind. Illusion can drive thoughts one way or another and having someone thinking one way at one point then the next having them switch up their thoughts. In the play Death of A Salesman, the main character portrays the perfect example of the type of things illusions can do to the mind. Throughout the play Willy Loman has an illusion of material success and freedom. In results of his illusions affecting his brain Willy slowly starts to deteriorate his everyday routine and thoughts.…
When this play was first performed, the time was post-WW2. America was strengthened economically, having returned from the war, men and their families wished of achieving the American Dream; economic success and social comfort. mirroring society Willy had a similar dream, but, unfortunately, he failed to achieve it. As Willy grew up, his American Dream was to be able to “pick up his phone and call buyers, and without ever leaving his room, at the age of eighty-four, make his living” (Miller 81). Willy dreams go beyond being successful in the present time, he wishes to go as far as being able to provide for his family as he ages and goes beyond his grave. Willy never had a future working as a salesman, "There's more of him in that front stoop than in all the sales he ever made” (Miller 138). Willy values social comfort in the American Dream, he believes that social comfort can only be achieved once you become a successful salesman in New York. Even Though Willy never had success in the salesman business he continued to do it for the rest of his life for the sake of being held at a high regard by society. Biff comes to realization that Willy never belonged in the salesman business, he assumes Willy became a salesman due to social comfort and popularity it provided an individual once they are…
Willy loman starts off this book with a great attitude and sense of direction. Page 21 Willy comes back from a business trip smiling and laughing. His two boys, Biff and Happy were ecstatic to see him, smiling and saying “Pop”! “Pop”!. “ Did you knock them dead pop?” Willy replies with a piercing grin, “ knocked em dead in province slaughtered them in Boston!” Willy believes he is this fantastic business man, and that everyone knows the name “Willy Loman”. He keeps trying to get his son Biff to become a businessman like himself and bath in riches, even though Willy is not such a success as he thinks he thinks he is.…