Understanding yourself is something many people have trouble with, but step by step can fulfill your ambitions. Dr. Sala said “Understanding yourself is a step towards inner peace, and a step closer to achieving your unfulfilled ambitions,” but in the story Death Of A Salesman it’s the exact opposite. Willy Loman is a perfect example of not achieving his ambitions, trying to fight his way past his battles. Biff Loman is another example of this not being true. Happy Loman is just like his dad and has big dreams. Dr. Harold Sala's statement “Understanding yourself is a step towards inner peace, and a step closer to achieving your unfulfilled ambitions,” is not true. Willy Loman has tried to understand himself his entire life, thriving to do his best, but never reaching his desire. WIlly was …show more content…
Willy also inspires to be just as successful as his brother Charley, not knowing all of the hard work that he had to do and even saying “The man knew what he wanted and went out and got it!,” (pg 28). This relates to Willy because he understands what he wants; he just can’t achieve it. In conclusion, “Understanding yourself is a step towards inner peace, and a step closer to achieving your unfulfilled ambitions,” doesn’t apply to Willy Loman because despite his dedication, hard work and perseverance, he has never reached his true ambition and full potential as a salesman. Happy Loman, just like his father Willy, thrives on becoming a salesman. Since Happy was a kid, his dad used to always tell him how good and successful he will be when he is older, brainwashing him since he was a kid to become a salesman just like him, putting the ambition into his head thinking that he will be bigger and better than he ever
The play, “Death of a Salesman” written by Arthur Miller, presents Willy Loman, as a salesman, who fails to earn a living and slowly loses his mind. Willy continuously seeks the past to find out where he went wrong. During his years in life, Willy wanted his two sons, Biff and Happy to become someone they’re not; Willy wanted them to become a salesman like him. However, because of his obsession in the American Dream of easy success and wealth, he created a life full of lies for himself and his sons. In the end because of “his misconception of himself as someone capable of greatness” leads to his downfall and the end of his life (Death of a Salesman).”
In the play Death of a Salesman, there was one part where Lind was talking to biff and she said “No. you can’t just come to see me, because I love him. He’s the dearest man in the world to me, and I won’t have anyone making him feel unwanted and low and blue. You’ve got to make up your mind now, darling, there’s no leeway any more. Either he’s your father and you pay him that respect, or else you’re not to come here.
Willy Loman’s obsession with success blurs out the true picture around him. Both of his sons will never be able to achieve he lays out for them. As a result, he has an inner denial with the reality that his sons will not amount to success. Willy Loman prevents both, his sons and himself to progress due to his chains towards success. In addition, the quote “Man is born free, and everywhere he is on chains.”- Jean- Jacques Rousseau describes Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller. Willy Loman is born a free man until he starts to become chained to the idea of success. Ben Loman, his brother, represents the idea of success as he struck luck in Alaska and created a fortune. That as a result causes Willy Loman to work relentlessly to achieve he same level of fortune. That starts the downward spiral of Willy Loman as a character. On the whole, Willy Loman’s hunt for success and refusal to progress are the chains in his
Willy Loman’s character is capable of making errors. He believes he is a very successful salesman and well liked. He also thinks that the company likes what he is doing. He once said, “I’m the New England man. I am vital in New England” (Miller pg. 32) Because of his false belief about his success Howard fired him. After he got fired charley offered him a job, but he refuses to accept, because he is too proud and jealous to work for Charley. His actions were wrong because at no time was a successful salesman. He is not a powerful character. Willy lives in his fantasies where he is the man. Who goes out to another place and comes out rich, he is love by everyone and admired by his family. In real life, he is lazy and does not live up to his own ideals. “As Aristotle explains, a tragic hero must be one of noble character and must fall from power and happiness.”(Www.ccd.rightchoice.org/lit115/poetics.html) but Willy neither has a noble characteristic nor does he fall from power because he does not have a position of power.
Many dilemmas throughout the recent decades are repercussions of an individual's foibles. Arthur Miller represents this problem in society within the actions of Willy Loman in his modern play Death of a Salesman. In this controversial play, Willy is a despicable hero who imposes his false value system upon his family and himself because of his own rueful nature, which is akin to an everyman. This personality was described by Arthur Miller himself who "Believe[s] that the common man is as apt a subject for a tragedy in its highest sense as kings were" (Tragedy 1).
Individuals explore their responses to conditions of internal and external conflicts throughout literature. Going in depth to a character allows the reader to better understand that character’s internal and external conflicts. Arthur Miller uses this technique in several of his plays, including Death of a Salesman. Miller portrays the character of Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman through his internal and external conflicts.
Likewise, Willy Loman's position in the working world is constricted, away from everyone else, and won't let him become successful. Willy was his own worst enemy, a man who couldn't accept himself. Society added fuel to the fire by not accepting him either. It is human nature to be judgmental of things, and especially people. Willy Loman was no exception to this.
Willy Loman equates success as a human being with success in the business world. When Willy was a young man, he heard of a salesman who could "pick up his phone and call the buyers, and without ever leaving his room, at the age of eighty-four, make his living." (81) This salesman is Willy's inspiration; someday to be so respected and so well known that he can still provide for his family, even at an old age. Of course, Willy is no good at being a salesman because his heart isn't in it. The only time Willy puts his heart into anything is when he works with his hands, and his son, Biff, comes to realize this. "There's more of him in that front stoop than in all the sales he ever made." (138) Willy never comes to the realization that it is not being a salesman that he cares about, but rather being well known and, perhaps more importan...
Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman follows protagonist Willy Loman in his search to better his and his family’s lives. Throughout Willy Loman’s career, his mind starts to wear down, causing predicaments between his wife, two sons and close friends. Willy’s descent into insanity is slowly but surely is taking its toll on him, his job and his family. They cannot understand why the man they have trusted for support all these years is suddenly losing his mind. Along with his slope into insanity, Willy’s actions become more aggressive and odd as the play goes on. Despite Willy and Biff’s “family feud”, his two sons Happy and Biff truly worry about their father’s transformation, Happy saying: “He just wants you to make good, that’s all. I wanted to talk to you about dad for a long time, Biff. Something’s – happening to him. He – talks to himself” (Miller 21). Willy, as a father, cares about his children but he wishes they would do better. He believes Biff should have been an athlete. According to Harrington, “Even figuratively, Willy is haunted, and particularly in Biff’s failure to achieve success as a sports figure” (108). This haunting is part of what led to Willy’s slow plunge into madness. As Willy’s career in sales fails, he also fails, even failing his family. Heyen adds: “He didn’t have anything of real value to give to his family, or if he did, he didn’t know what it was” (48). His debilitating flashbacks and delusional hallucinations with Uncle Ben cement his horrifying realizations that he has let down his family. Willy Loman blames the economy for his downfall in his career. In one of his more extreme outbursts he exclaims, “There’s more people! That’s what’s ruining this country! Population is getting out of control. ...
Willy’s hubris makes him feel extremely proud of what he has, when in reality he has no satisfaction with anything in his life. Willy Loman’s sons did not reach his expectations, as a father, but he still continued to brag about Biff and Happy in front of Bernard. Willy Loman caused the reader to empathize with him because before his tragic death he did everything he could for his family. Empathy, Hubris, and Willy Loman’s tragic flow all lead him to his death that distends from the beginning. He is unable to face reality and realize that he’s not successful in life or at his job; he remains living in a world where he thinks he’s greater than everybody else because he’s a salesman.
In conclusion, it is evident that the demise of Willy Loman, came from him dreaming the wrong dream. This is evident through Willy not being able to achieve his unrealistic dream, the problems Biff faces due to Willy instilling his dream into him, Willy's pride which becomes his hubris, and the illusions of his dream which escalates into his suicide. Although his dream made might have made his life fulfilling to the very end, it was not a happy life. By examining Willy Loman's dream and the impact of a dream in Death of Salesman, the reader can see the importance of a dream in one's life and how it can change it for the better or for the worse.
Willy, Linda, Biff and Happy are all characters that use self- deception as a way to mentally escape the terrible reality of their lives. As the play progresses, and ends Biff is truly the one and only character that becomes self- aware. At the end of the play Biff accepts the lies his family and him have been living in for years. Biff makes huge changes mentally at the end of the play, which cannot be said for the rest of the Loman family.
It is human nature for a person to desire to better understand themselves and to acquire a distinct identity. People look to what is simple and familiar when trying to gain a sense of individuality. These identifiers can be found in the jobs people perform, the relationships they share, and any other type of activity that takes place in their daily life. It is also in this search for understanding that can cause the relationships a person shares, such as with close family and friends, to be strained. Willy Loman, the leading character in the play Death of a Salesman attempts to comprehend his place in society, but at the same time he loses the one thing that is his source for identification-his family.
Willy Loman is a 60 year old senile salesman who desperately wants to be a successful salesman; however, his ideas about the ways in which one goes about achieving this are very much misguided, just as his morals are. He believes that popularity and good looks are the key to achieving the American dream, rather than hard work and dedication. He not only lives his entire life by this code, but instills his delusional beliefs in his two sons Biff and Happy. As a result, his sons experience similar failures in their adult lives. Willy led a life of illusion, lies and regret which not only ruined his life, but gad a negative impact on the lives of family as well.
Willy Loman, the main character in Death of a Salesman is a complex tragic character. He is a man struggling to hold onto the little dignity he has left in a changing society. While society may have caused some of his misfortune, Willy must be held responsible for his poor judgment, disloyalty and foolish pride.