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The character of Willy Loman in the light of the American dream
Willy loman the american dream
Willy loman and american dream
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Willy Luman is a insecure guy that tries to make self feel by lying to him self and to his own family. Willy is a big successful salesman and he masks his proounding anxiet and self doubt with extreme arrogance.The death of Willy is a tragdey by the way he lived his life and trying to accomplish his American Dream. Willy is a salesman which he travels a lot which means he drives for long hours. He once almost got himself killed while driving when he says, “No, it’s me, it’s me. Suddenly I realize I’m goin’ sixty miles an hour and I don’t remember the last five minutes...” With that being said he wanted to go work in New York so he can travel less. The only problem is that his boss doesn’t think Willy is able to sell. He blew it with the
meeting that he had with his boss. He tells his boss that he helped his dad when he came to him and then smakes in front of him. “He looks for his lighter,”he wasn’t soppose tp do that. Willy needed to be calm and try to explain to his boss what happened. Another thing is that during the meeting he slams his arm on his boss’ table. “Willy, banging his hand on the desk,” that is no way to approach your boss into giving something you want. So Willy didn’t get what he wanted and he was fired that moment. Willy belived that in the American Dream, anyone who is attractive and well liked can make a big deal. So Willy depairs and pleads with successful people ariund him for guidance and support.
According to Frye's definition, tragic heroes bring suffering upon themselves. Willy Loman is delusional and has a skewed view on the world he lives in. Willy asserts that he is young, popular, and respected among his family and workmates. Flashbacks of past memories, which interrupt the present day flow of time, prove that Willy is not everything he used to be in his younger years. This constant misconception of time is Willy Loman's main flaw, and he is the main victim in this suffering. Willy's misunderstanding of the world around him is shown in key scenes, such as his conversation with his brother Ben in the garden near the end of the play (Miller 99). The death of Willy Loman is also a consequence of his flaw: Willy's disorganized state of mind causes him to jump into a car and crash.
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.
Scott Fitzgerald, author of The Great Gatsby, and Arthur Miller, author of Death of a Salesman, both tell the stories of men in the costly pursuit of the American dream. As a result of several conflicts, both external and internal, both characters experience an extinction of the one thing that they have set their sights on.... The American Dream.
Like countless characters in a play, Willy struggles to find who he is. Willy’s expectations for his sons and The Woman become too high for him to handle. Under the pressure to succeed in business, the appearance of things is always more important than the reality, including Willy’s death. The internal and external conflicts aid in developing the character Willy Loman in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman.
Willy Loman will bring his downfall upon himself as he entices his own disillusions and the bedrock of his values pertaining to success and how one can achieve it. His failure to recognize the fruitless outcome of his own idealism will seal his fated suicide and have a determining effect on the failures of his two sons that when adolescent, idolized their father as a guid...
Willy dreamed his life out, even to his death. He dreamed of dying the death of a salesman. All the powerful men he knew would attend his funeral. Cars would line up for miles and everybod...
The business world has moved ahead and the way of selling goods has changed, but Willy can't see this. Willy Loman has never come to terms with reality. His life is a dream and derives all his pleasures from the past and he always assures himself that all is well. His problem is that his role models are out. of place in the modern business where heartlessness and hostility win.
Yet, Willy was already down, and society kept him there. He lost the job that he'd worked at faithfully for thirty-four years simply because the younger owner couldn't bear having an older, less successful salesman representing the company. Willy is sealed off from his family, especially from his sons, because of an unseen force that causes an inability to communicate. Finally, he can't fight the predicament that society placed him in because deep down, he can't accept the fact that he's not what he wanted to be in life. All of the actions that alienated Willy Loman validate the prejudice and bias of society.
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.
The life of Mr. Loman is one of loneliness, and lies. An online source emphasizes about Willy, “Willy convinces himself that he is successful, well- liked, and that his sons are destined for greatness.” Willy’s mind is consumed with being popular, and having material wealth. The results of Willy’s internal problems resulted with his children that could not be stable in any aspect of their lives, his failing marriage, and him struggling throughout all of his adulthood. Edward states (an online source), “Willy spent his life pursuing the wrong dreams for him. The wrong dream slowly possessed his life.” And also states, “Willy appears to have been obsessed with his goal of being known as a great salesman rather than with actually being a great salesman.” Willy is constantly under attack with thoughts of his past, to the point he has such vivid flashbacks that he will openly be talking to him, but thinking is he talking to people of the past. An online source states, “Unable to cope with reality, he entirely abandons it through his vivid fantasies and ultimately through suicide.” Willy is aware of his mistakes, but spends his time looking forward to the ‘perfect’ future he has planned, but never changes his ways to achieve his goals. Mr. and Mrs. Loman realize how different and happy Willy is when he is working outside with his hands. Both characters recognize
Willy lived everyday of his life trying to become successful, well-off salesman. His self-image that he portrayed to others was a lie and he was even able to deceive himself with it. He traveled around the country selling his merchandise and maybe when he was younger, he was able to sell a lot and everyone like him, but Willy was still stuck with this image in his head and it was the image he let everyone else know about. In truth, Willy was a senile salesman who was no longer able to work doing what he's done for a lifetime. When he reaches the point where he can no longer handle working, he doesn't realize it, he puts his life in danger as well a others just because he's pig-headed and doesn't understand that he has to give up on his dream. He complains about a lot of things that occur in everyday life, and usually he's the cause of the problems. When he has to pay for the repair bills on the fridge, he bitches a lot and bad mouths Charley for buying the one he should of bought. The car having to be repaired is only because he crashes it because he doesn't pay attention and/or is trying to commit suicide. Willy should have settled with what he had and made the best of things. He shouldn't have tied to compete with everyone and just made the best decision for him using intelligence and practicality. Many of Willy's problems were self-inflicted, the reason they were self-inflicted was because he wanted to live the American dream. If he had changed his standards or just have been content with his life, his life problems would have been limited in amount and proportion.
In the play, The Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller,Willy Loman, an unsuccessful business man struggling to support his family is completely out of touch with reality throughout the plot line. Many characters throughout this play and their interactions with Willy have showed the audience his true colors and what he thinks is important in life. His constant lying and overwhelming ego certainly does not portray his life in factual terms, but rather in the false reality that he has convinced himself he lives in.
Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” ends with the tragic suicide of Willy Loman, the lead character. It is the end of a life spent futilely chasing “the American dream”. Willy has been unsuccessful in achieving the success he so desperately craves because his perception of the formula for success is fatally flawed. Willy believes that the American dream is only attainable for the popular and attractive few, and he does not believe he belongs to this elite group. Yet, Willy still works his entire life pursuing his dream.
Achieving the American Dream in Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller Willy Loman is a man on a mission. His purpose in life is to achieve a false sense of the "American Dream," but is this what Willy Loman really wants? In Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller analyzes the American Dream by portraying a few days in the life of a washed up salesman named Willy Loman. The American Dream is a definite goal of many people, meaning something different to everyone. Willy's version is different from most people though; his is based more on being well-liked and achieving monetary successes rather than achieving something that will make him happy.
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.