Willy Loman

“Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller is a tragic tale about the the struggle of and ultimate failure of a working class man to succeed in life. Through the Marxist literary theory, we can analyze the essay by viewing how the poorer working class experience inequality compared to the wealthy upper class. The life of Willy Loman is a reflection of this sentiment. Although the concept of the “American Dream” is that all people have the same opportunities in life to succeed, the reality is that some people are just doomed to fail, and others destined to succeed as a result of their place in society. Willy Loman always desired to be successful, but he is never able to succeed, no matter how hard he tried. Willy has tried again and again to

Willy has such high hopes for Biff as a boy, and it seems that he really is on track to fulfill them. He is a high school football star and is going to the University of Virginia, he really believes in the American dream just like his father does. However, when he goes to visit Willy in Boston, he catches him in an affair with the woman. This makes Biff realize that his father is not the all-important figure that he once looked up to, that he is just as susceptible to the errors of life and to blame as anybody else. He always had wanted to be his father, but now he realizes that his father is a “phony little fake!” (Miller, 121). Biff then abandons all the opportunities that had been given to him and takes off to the to the western United States where he basically just works as a farmhand for many years. However, in the back of his mind, there is still an innate desire to be like his father. When he returns to Manhattan, he wants to try and approach his former boss Bill Oliver to get a loan so that he can open a sporting goods store and be a salesman just like his father. However, when he is basically ignored, he realizes that his father’s version of the American dream is just not suitable for him. He will never be able to be successful like his father wanted him to be, but he now knows that he must define what it means for himself to be happy and successful. Although we never really get to see Biff become successful within the play, we are able to assume that with his realistic standard of success, Biff will actually be able to achieve the American dream, something that his father was never able to do, which is significant because they came from very similar