What Makes Willy Loman Successful Misunderstanding

Willy Loman’s Successful Misunderstanding
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, tells the story of a man so enthralled by his own ambitions, that he is unable to notice his own downfall. Willy Loman, the main protagonist, has lived a majority of his life as a salesman, but times are changing and he isn’t capable of accepting the changes around him. He doesn’t realize his failures and continues to live in his delusions simply because he has the wrong idea of what success is. Willy‘s actions are based on how he viewed success growing up. Willy’s father, brother, and other successful figures shaped the way he understood success, but he is destined for failure, since he was never taught its true meaning.
Willy believes that the key to success is being well liked. He thinks that if a man becomes well liked and known, then they must be truly successful. He is even so confident in this ideology that he tells his kids, “…the man who creates a personal interest, is the man who gets ahead.” This drives Willy not too work hard in life, but to maintain an appearance. Almost all his actions comes from this idea that being liked equals success. He

doesn’t understand how hard work ties into success because his entire understanding comes from sparse memories of his father and brother.
Both Willy’s father and brother were symbols of success to him. Each of them were successful in their own self-achieved way, but Willy was never able to watch them get there. Thus, all Willy could attribute to being successful was how he saw others that were. For example, he saw how Dave Singleman was such a well-liked business man that he decided being a salesman was the greatest career a man could pursue. All he really knew about Dave was that, “without ever leaving his room, at the age of eighty-four, he made his living.” What he didn’t realize about Dave is that he wasn’t necessarily successful, he was just a salesman that knew a lot of people for a long time. Willy didn’t seem to consider the amount of money being a salesman would get him, only that it would make him a popular person. This idea stayed with Willy all the way to his death, when he realized that he wasn’t liked and he didn’t know how else to continue.
Willy goes through life with the wrong impression of how to be successful, so he has difficulties when things don’t go as planned.

When Willy tells Howard, “I put thirty-four years into this firm… and now I can’t pay my insurance”, he has a realization of his failures. After speaking with Howard, Willy can’t comprehend how he got to where he has so he returns to his thoughts. “Oh, Ben, how did you do it? What is the answer?” instead of figuring out a solution to his problem, he returns to an earlier, easier memory to handle. He doesn’t question himself, he questions his desirable memories for guidance. Doing this makes Willy feel better, but it does nothing to actually help him since it only reinforces his flaws. This sequence of realizing a failure, then consulting a relatable memory to feel better, happens throughout the

story.
Willy tells Linda, “I get the feeling that I’ll never sell anything again, that I won’t make a living for you”, obviously feeling defeated. However, immediately after, he begins thinking of the woman he had an affair with. Instead of having to discuss the issue with his wife, he thinks of a time when he knew a woman liked him. Willy feels ashamed when he realizes he isn’t as liked as he wished, therefore he thinks his wife has the same mindset. The affair only happened because she chose Willy because he was likable, and to Willy this is the epitome of success. The play ends Willy’s misunderstandings when his son, Biff, tells him everything he needs to hear. Once Biff tells Willy,” Pop, I’m nothing! I’m nothing, Pop”, he snaps, as usual, into his delusions. At this point Willy realized that his son is a direct result of how he’s lived his own life. Again using Ben as support, Willy decides that the best course of option is to end his life. He realizes that his family will no longer be affected by his ignorance and they could actually benefit from his death insurance. “It’s dark there, but full of diamonds.”
Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman, attempts to follow the American Dream with a skewed view of success. Because of a dysfunctional upbringing he sees success as the amount of popularity a given person has. He lives his life lying to himself and to others, not necessarily on purpose, but because he knows no other way. His problems are solved by consulting the memories that fostered his flawed views, so he can never actually better himself. Willy ends his