Willy American Dream

“Death of a Salesman,” written by Arthur Miller follows the story of Willy Loman as an aging traveling salesman and the hardships he encounters. Willy rarely saw his brother Ben and his father abandoned him at a young age, which results in him having an incomplete sense of approval. This abandonment, along with his self-absorbed personality, skews the way he handles situations and affects how he brings up his children. Willy drives himself mad by trying and failing to be as successful as those around him and is haunted by hallucinations of the people from his past. Willy’s abandonment during his childhood and his madness, which develops as a result of his own narcissistic personality, are closely connected and affect the people around him,

While his brother Ben became very successful as a result of diamond mines in Africa, Willy tries to be successful by making it as a salesman and living the American dream. However, even after getting fired, Willy “never seems to give up on the American dream, refusing a job offer in order to retain his pride,” (“Death of a Salesman Literary Analysis.”). After Willy is fired, Charley offers him a job, however, he refuses it because he still needs to prove to himself that he can be successful as a salesman. Part of Willy’s inability to be successful is his “firm belief that success can only be achieved through being well liked by others,” (“Death of a Salesman Literary Analysis.”). This is apparent in his involvement in Biff’s high school football career, where he is more concerned with him being popular than his education. As a result of the instillment of this mentality, Biff never develops the work ethic he needs to be successful. Biff grows up believing that he can be successful just by being a well liked football player instead of focusing on his grades. Willy’s parenting is also affected by this mentality, as he is more concerned about being more of a friend figure rather than a father figure to his sons. When Biff steals a football he says that he “borrowed” from the locker room, Willy is not concerned and does not discipline Biff. Willy is more concerned with the fact that Biff was using the football to practice so he can continue to be well liked. As a result, Biff never learns from his father that stealing is an unacceptable behavior and therefore, grows up to be a kleptomaniac. Biff compulsively steals things and states, “I