The Vision Of Success In Arthur Miller's Death Of A Salesman

The play, Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller, set in the last century, centers around Willy Lowman, a traveling salesman in New England. The play grows out of Willy’s serious mental illness resulting from a disparity between reality and Willy’s idealistic goals of success. Willy’s visions of success through abundant material wealth deviate as Willy struggles to provide for his wife, Linda, and his two sons. As a result of his apparent failure of success, Willy tries to live vicariously through his son, Biff Lowman, who appears to have the ability to be a successful businessman by Willy’s standards. However, Willy fully dedicates his attention to Biff while neglecting to take an interest in his second son, Happy, who takes after his father’s

In the play, there is little emphasis on school within the Loman household. Instead, Willy urges Biff to use unethical methods to graduate high school, “You’ll give him the answers,” yells Willy to Bernard (Miller 40). Willy believes that Biff’s divinity as a football player will translate into a successful career in business without much work or effort on Biff’s part (Ardolino 33). “Willy’s mad drive for his son’s success perverts the truth of sports and education” (Ardolino 32). Instead of learning that it takes hard work and effort to achieve long-term goals, sport or career wise, Biff and Happy learn through their father to believe that cheating and lying produce the same results as dedication and work ethic, only rapidly and effortlessly. Willy’s twisted vision of the American dream transfers to Biff as a result of Willy’s belief in achieving success based on admiration and not hard

What an academic!” (Miller 33). As a result of Willy’s emphasis on admiration rather than education, Willy saw Bernard as an unlikable nerd, with a little chance of gaining acceptance in the competitive, post-academic world; Bernard only had the smarts and not the charisma to be a professionally accepted. However, the situation is ironic since Bernard ends up being professionally successful, arguing a case in the Supreme Court, yet does not boast or seek approval from others, while Willy’s children boast of their nonexistent success in the business world. Bernard’s character baffles Willy, who cannot understand Bernard’s humility. This enforces the wrongful nature of Willy’s American Dream because Biff and Happy who were well-liked as teenagers, struggle to excel in their careers (Ardolino 33). Willy’s belief that popularity will create a successful business man fails in that Biff cannot maintain a steady job, and is proved otherwise by Bernard’s success through