Chasing the American Dream: Willy Loman's Downfall

In Arthur Miller’s play, Death of A Salesman, Willy Loman strives to achieve the American Dream for him and his family. The American Dream is defined as the equal opportunity everyone in the United States has to succeed and live a fulfilling life. However to achieve the American Dream, one must be determined and persevere when faced with hardships. Failing while trying to achieve the American Dream is inevitable, but it is how one learns from their failures that matters. This is very difficult for Willy because throughout his whole life he has failed, but he is never able to come to terms with it. His obsession for the American Dream hurts him and his family. He believes that the American Dream should be obtained easily. Therefore, it does not come as a surprise when he gets fired from his job. Throughout the play, as Willy’s failures become more prevalent, he begins to lose himself and this eventually leads to his downfall. Willy just wants for his sons, mostly Biff, to become successful

and carry his legacy. While he does not realize it, his teachings have negatively impacted his sons and are the reason they are unsuccessful. Linda and his children also do not help him until the end; even in the end it is only Biff that helps him. Willy Loman’s life is an American tragedy because it demonstrates the menacing repercussions of unreasonably pursuing a vision: the American dream.
Willy is terrible at his job, but he continues pursuing it despite failure. He wants and lives in a fantasy that he is a good salesman, but he does not realize he is bad at it. It becomes clear Willy is a very bad salesman first when his guaranteed salary for being a salesman is cut. He can still work but he only earns what he sells. When he finds himself needing money, because he can’t sell anything, he goes to Charley to receive money. However, when Willy asks for insurance money, Charley states, “Without pay? What kinda job is a job without pay(74)?”Charley has offered Willy a job several times, but Willy can’t accept it. Willy says he already has a job, and this is why Charlie responds in a frustrated way. He is so stubborn about staying with his job even though he is a failure. His sense of pride is very pathetic because it is preventing him from taking the job Charley offers with a salary. Willy is so desperate for money, but his dream of being a good salesman prevents him from making the wise decision. Furthermore, Willy goes to his boss, Howard, to ask for his salary back; Howard says no and fires Willy. In frustration, Willy proclaims, “[one] can’t eat the orange and throw the peel away--a man is not a piece of fruit(61-62)!” This is very sad because Willy is so oblivious to the fact he is bad at his job. He does not understand because he has worked for so long, but that is how business works. Just because Willy helps name Howard, does not mean he is immune to being let go. If he does not sell anything, he is only hurting the business. He has been used and had the life sucked out of him from his job. Willy is exactly an “orange” in the business world. There is nothing more he can offer the firm; all the “pulp” is sucked out of him and Howard fires the “peel”.
Another reason Willy has trouble letting go of his salesman fantasy is how easy it was for his cousin Ben to get rich.

He is always jealous of how Ben “walked into a jungle, and comes out, the age of twenty-one, and [becomes] rich!” His cousin’s success makes Willy believe his success should come easy. Ben becomes rich “at the age of twenty-one” which is far younger than Willy, including his two sons. However, this delusional belief that success comes easy is far from the case, and it is a reason why Willy is always blaming his appearance and other non-important things when he cannot make a sale. Again this shows how oblivious and helpless Willy is to his failure as a salesman. Willy’s pride, stubbornness, and him being so oblivious creates pity in the audience which is one of the main components in an Aristotelian tragedy. It also shows how Willy’s biggest problem is himself; this can provide catharsis for the audience by teaching them not to let themselves get in their own

way.
One of Willy’s biggest goals is to be extremely well-liked, but he can’t seem to achieve that. This is Willy’s main tragic flaw that really causes his whole downfall. Not only is this detrimental to himself, but he also negatively impacts his sons too. For example, while Biff and Happy are in high school, Willy tells them, “That’s why [he thanks] Almighty God [they are] both built like Adonises. Because the man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead. Be liked and [they] will never want” (21). Willy is telling his sons that if they are well-liked they will always get what they want. All his sons have to do to achieve success, American Dream, is have a powerful presence in the business world by being well-liked. That is why he is so grateful they are built like “Adonises” which are very strong mythical demigods. The fact that he chooses this word emphasizes how they must carry such a presence with them and have such a godly look to achieve success. However, the American Dream is earned through hard work and perseverance. This false advice is only setting his sons up to fail which is why it is his main tragic flaw.
In addition, Willy when referring to Bernard says he, “can get the best marks in school...but when he gets out in the business world…[Biff and Happy] are going to be five times ahead of him”(20-21). Again Willy is saying how being well-liked is so much more important than working hard. This is ironic because Biff actually flunks out of school which prevents him from graduating. However, Willy himself suffers the most from his tragic flaw because it makes him crave outside recognition. For example, when Willy is cheating on his wife with the woman and she complements him he says, “ [she] chose [him], heh”(25). Willy’s desire to be well-liked leads him to cheat on his wife because after being with someone for a while, this new outside affair makes him feel special. His guilt for committing this adultery is also a major component of his downfall. Therefore, because Willys has a tragic flaw of being well-liked leads to his downfall, his life can be considered a tragedy.
There is nothing for Willy to leave behind when he passes away. He has no legacy to be remembered by. With Willy’s sons being unsuccessful, Willy is worrying about how he has no one to carry his legacy. Towards the end of his life, he is obsessed with seeds. He mentions, “[he has] got to get some seeds, right away. Nothing’s planted. [He does not] have thing in the ground”. (96) The “seeds” symbolize something Willy needs to leave behind to grow into something: a tree. His sons are both unsuccessful and he is worrying they won’t amount to anything when he is gone. Nothing is “planted” already because his sons aren’t working, they are doing nothing and they are not “growing”. Willy is anxious because he has nothing to leave behind when he dies: no legacy. He feels he has to do something meaningful before he dies. Furthermore, as Willy’s decline is progressing, he is considering killing himself to give the life insurance money to Biff. This can be seen when he talks to ben and claims, “Ben, that funeral will be massive! They’ll come from Maine, Massachusetts, … that boy will be thunderstruck, Ben, because he never realized - [Willy is] known” (100)! Willy again wants to show Biff how well-liked he is. He wants to prove again how important being well-liked is to his sons.Therefore, Willy believes if Biff sees this magnificent sight of many people coming to his funeral, then he might become inspired and carry his father’s legacy. By using the word “thunderstruck”, Willy thinks Biff will be extremely surprised by the funeral. This delusional thinking can cause the audience to have pity for Willy. It also creates fear that Willy is going to kill himself. However, the only reason Willy is still considering not taking his life is he does not want to seem cowardly; that would not be a good thing to be remembered by.
As a result of him and Biff fighting, and Biff getting emotional, he feels as though Biff likes him. This fills him with glee and he is overjoyed to kill himself to give Biff the money. For example, after the fight he says, “(Going over to Ben, almost dancing.) Imagine? When the mail comes he’ll be ahead of Bernard again!" (108). Willy hopes by committing suicide, Biff can receive the twenty-thousand dollars of life insurance. With this money he hopes Biff can achieve the American Dream-- the one Willy always wanted. He is very happy to help Biff and this can be seen by him “almost dancing”. Dancing is an activity people do when filled with happiness, and the fact that Willy is doing it proves how happy he is. While misguided and naive, his suicide did have good intentions, which again contributes to his life being an American Tragedy. All he wants is to achieve the American Dream and leave a legacy. In the end however, Biff did not receive the money and only Happy is going to carry on his legacy. When Happy is arguing with Biff at the funeral, he states, “[he is] going to show [Biff] and everybody else that Willy Loman did not die in vain. [Willy] had a good dream”(111). It is clear Happy did not learn anything from his father’s death. He is going to end up just like his father, but Biff on the other hand learned and is going to pursue his own dream of living out West. Happy cannot seem to realize Willy’s American dream was the cause of his death. To conclude, Willy’s suicide is futile and achieves nothing positive despite what he previously thought. No one even shows up at his funeral besides his family, Charley, and Bernard. These factors again create pity in the audience and catharsis, that suicide is never a solution for anything.