What Does Willy Do To The Mind

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. Soon enough he can not even distinguish his wild dreams from the rational realities of the present day. Through the illusion of willy wanting to have material success and freedom
In the beginning of the play the author gives an inside look of what is happening in the present life with Willy Loman and his family. He describes them as “normal” family nothing out of the ordinary. Willy goes through the first couple scenes not to abnormal until the argument he has with biff; his son, triggers him. He feels that biff at the age he is he should be doing better with his life than what he's actually doing. He tries to embed all of the goals and dreams he set for himself when he was growing up onto Biff’s future. After that, the play takes a turn into the chain of events that lead willy to really enter deep into his thoughts and illusions. Willy’s first illusion has him thinking of all the material success he did not accomplish in his lifetime, and
Sometimes someone is so caught up in the moment, with their biggest dreams that it leads them to have these crazy illusions that they cannot control the way they do things anymore. They are so focused on it that they are set to believe that their life is not going to go on without those dreams accomplished. With that said. Willy totally represents this theme, he goes through living his life dealing with those terrible flashbacks/illusions that he goes a little insane. His relationship with his family is destroyed due to him changing his way of life. In Act I, willy has a flashback of an affair he had and then lashes out on Linda for having the stockings. It states;”Willy(noticing her mending): What’s that? Linda: Just mending my stockings. They’re so expensive... Willy (angrily, taking them from her): I won’t have you mending stockings in this house! Now throw them out!”. Biff knew about it but doesn’t mention anything to Linda and in a way that portrays itself into showing how much his illusions have taken over his thoughts or his mindset or his actions (Pattern 2a). Biff and willy were already having issues and with the secret affair now in the air it breaks all the ties completely between willy and biff. That alone intertwines the self-deception part of it, it all comes to show that all of those were made