Willy Loman

1002 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Willy Loman as a tragic character

The Past Or The Future
Life consists of a series of moments compiled together. The past can allow an individual to succeed in the future but may also become a hindrance if they dwell upon it. The actions of an individual are the building blocks of their life but cannot let their past define them. Arthur Miller's Death Of A Salesman suggests that to achieve success and prosperity an individual must reconcile and let go of the uncertainties of the past.

The past can prevent individual from moving forward in turn denying them the possibility to achieve success. Willy Loman, a burnt out salesman who sacrifices his purity for the business,is consumed by his past achievements. At the beginning of the play it is evident that Willy has no concept …show more content…

This uncovers that he was only able to focus on the past and developed an ignorance to his current relationships. This is most evident at his funeral when no one shows up. Willy forgot about the people who were actually in his life because he got lost in figments of his past. This concept is best displayed in the play when Willy is talking to Ben who is a figment of his imagination instead of communicating with his family. Willy is constantly trying to make himself seem like a high class salesman and a more successful person then he is. It is evident that he is living a false reality in the past when he is talking to Howard about working in New York office. “ Your father came to me the day you were born and asked me what I thought of the name of Howard, may he rest in peace.” This quotation allows the reader to understand that Willy is dependent fully on his past. Willy was unable to move forward and achieve prosperity in his work life because he felt as if his past achievements were enough to ensure that he would be secure in his job.Willy was so caught up in his false reality he could not see what was actually occurring in his life. Throughout the play Willy struggles with the aspect of letting go of the past and it ultimately leads to his

Show More
Related

  • Stubbornnes in Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

    1478 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout the play, Willy has hallucinations of his brother Ben, who left Willy when he was young, “Well, I was just a baby, of course, only three or four years old,” (Miller 47), and the man later offered to take Willy with him, but Willy had a dream “There’s a man eighty-four years old-” (Miller 86) and he felt that he was going to accomplish that dream. “Willy retreats into a dream world consisting of his roseate recollections of the past and of fantasies,” (Hadomi), he hallucinates often, and this is a better way of saying he’s delusional. He did not, he failed miserably, he had to borrow money from Charley “If you can manage it-- I need a hundred and ten dollars,” (Miller 96), then he pretended it was a loan from him “I’m keeping an account of everything, remember,” (Miller 96), that he would pay back “I’ll pay every penny back,” (Miller 96), but Linda and Charley knew he was not going to pay any of it back. Willy had a hard time accepting defeat, and he wanted his boys to succeed where he failed, but Biff was always better with physical labor “when all you really desi...

    Read More

  • The Death Of A Salesman: The Reality Evasion Drug

    992 Words  | 2 Pages

    Willy's first flash to the past was when his son, Biff, returns home from the west. Willy discusses his disappointment in Biff with his dear wife Linda. When Willy fails to cope with this misfortune successfully, he returns in his head to a time when everything was going well and life was more fortunate to him. It is perfectly normal for one to remember more fortunate days at the more dispirited times of life, as long as they can return to the present and deal with the reality of the situation. However, Willy never does return to the original problem, he just continues on with life, fleeing from the troubles that cross his path. His refusal to acknowledge reality becomes so significant, that he honestly believes the past, and he lives his entire life through a false identity never looking at the truth of his life.

    Read More

  • Critical Response Of Arthur Miller's 'Death Of A Salesman'

    1060 Words  | 3 Pages

    At the beginning of the play it is evident that he cannot determine the realities of life, and so he repeatedly contradicts himself to establish that his conclusion is correct and opinion accepted. These numerous contradictions demonstrate that Willy is perturbed of the possibility that negative judgements may come from others. Willy strongly believes that “personality always wins” and tells his sons that they should “be liked and (they) will never want”. In one of Willy’s flashbacks he recalls the time when his sons and him were outside cleaning their Chevy. Willy informs Biff and Happy the success of his business trips and how everyone residing in Boston adores him. He mentions that due to the admiration of people he does not even have to wait in lines. He ultimately teaches his sons that being liked by others is the way to fulfilling one’s life and removing your worries. These ideals, that one does not need to work for success, demonstrate Willy’s deluded belief of achieving a prosperous life from the admiration and acceptance of others. This ultimately proves to be a false ideology during his funeral, when an insufficient amount of people arrive. Willy constantly attempts to obtain other’s acceptance through his false tales that depict him as a strong, successful man. In the past, he attempts to lie to his wife, Linda, about the amount of wealth he has attained during his

    Read More

  • Death of a Salesman Character Development Essay

    757 Words  | 2 Pages

    Foremost, Willy has a problem with his inability to grasp reality. As he grows older his mind is starting to slip. For example, when he talks to the woman and his brother Ben. Throughout the story, Willy dreams of talking to the woman, because the woman is a person that he was dating in when he went to Boston. He was cheating behind his wife’s back. Willy basically uses her as a scapegoat when he’s hallucinating about her. He blames all of his problems on the woman. For instance Willy says, “ Cause you do… There’s so much I want to make for.” (38) This is the evidence right here. Also he dreams about his brother Ben. Willy wishes could be more like his brother who has just passed away a couple of months previously to the story. He also wishes he didn’t have to work and could be rich like Ben. He respects Ben for not really working and making a lot of money. Another example of Willy’s hallucinations are when he says,“ How are you all?” (45) This occurs when Willy is talking with Charley and he starts thinking about Ben. Willy’s inability to grasp reality never changed throughout the story.

    Read More

  • Death of a Salesman Character Analysis

    1323 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout the play, Willy can be seen as a failure. When he looks back on all his past decisions, he can only blame himself for his failures as a father, provider, and as a salesman (Abbotson 43). Slowly, Willy unintentionally reveals to us his moral limitations that frustrates him which hold him back from achieving the good father figure and a successful business man, showing us a sense of failure (Moss 46). For instance, even though Willy wants so badly to be successful, he wants to bring back the love and respect that he has lost from his family, showing us that in the process of wanting to be successful he failed to keep his family in mind (Centola On-line). This can be shown when Willy is talking to Ben and he says, “He’ll call you a coward…and a damned fool” (Miller 100-101). Willy responds in a frightful manner because he doesn’t want his family, es...

    Read More

  • Willy Loman's Vision of America in Death of a Salesman

    1510 Words  | 4 Pages

    the battle in business. Willy's character is full of pride he doesn't really care about. anything else. If he has his pride, he is happy. He has pride in his sons and pride in being independent.

    Read More

  • Death Of A Salesman: Societys Alienation Of Willy Loman

    866 Words  | 2 Pages

    Although it is never actually said verbatim, it is obvious that Willy has some kind of mental problem that needs attention. Yet even in his own home, he can't get any help because his family can't bring it upon themselves to help him. This instance depicts the way society would rather "let someone else handle it" than take action and go against what is popular. This example is probably the saddest and most heartbreaking part of the play. A final instance of Willy Loman's alienation is the way he excludes himself from society.

    Read More

  • The function of flashbacks in Death of a Salesman.

    1001 Words  | 3 Pages

    But at the start his presence he is more diffuse as he spreads with all the characters in the flashback. Later Ben is still apparent but only when Willy is alone in a flashback. As the flashbacks are happening in the past, the present is still there. So as Willy is talking to Ben, Linda is confused to who Willy is talking to. The 'laughter of the past' is heard during the play from the woman Willy was having an affair with.

    Read More

  • The Importance of A Dream in Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller

    1261 Words  | 3 Pages

    He believes that he is well-liked and respected by everyone, which is not true. Willy's pride leads to his downfall, as he cannot accept that he is not successful and that his dream is unattainable. Finally, the illusion of Willy's life that resulted from him dreaming the wrong dream ends up in his tragic suicide and the destruction of his family. Willy's dream creates an illusion of a perfect life, which is not true.

    Read More

  • Death of a Salesman

    2921 Words  | 6 Pages

    The stage directions on page 8 identify him as being an exhausted, aging man, whose work seems to be wearing him down. “.lets his burden down.” (Miller, 8). Although this makes Willy appear uninteresting, he soon contrasts this characteristic when he shows an optimistic determination towards his own failures. “I’ll start out in the morning”.

    Read More

  • Willy's Struggle for Identity in "Death of a Salesman"

    1480 Words  | 3 Pages

    Willy still struggles to find out why his son, Biff, has not made anything of himself yet. Instead of a stable job, Biff has been a farmhand across the country earning only $35 a week (Act I. Scene I). Willy does not know where he has gone wrong with raising his kids, with his job, and overall with his life (Krutch, 308-309). To find the solutions to the problems driving him insane, Willy looks to his past. While he is day-dreaming he actually talks to himself and makes his family worried about his health and sanity. He daydreams and feels as if he is actually encountering the past once again in his journey. Willy is desperately trying to find out what has gone wrong in his life, why no one responds to him in the positive way that he used to, and why Biff does not have a stable job or a family. Through his trek to finding his mistakes in life, Willy finds r...

    Read More

  • Death Of A Salesman Critical Analysis

    719 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...self to be happy by thinking of his past, which destined him to do what every coward does when faced with problems: run. He runs from his problems, from his friends, from his family, and from himself. I think that Willy could have resolved his issues a lot easier if he had been brave enough to admit that he did have problems. Instead, he bottles them up, hides them deep inside himself, and lives vicariously through his past.

    Read More

  • The Plot in Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

    1702 Words  | 4 Pages

    trouble determining what is real and what he’d like to be real. There are times when he talks to himself and has conversations with his deceased brother Ben. During the hallucinations when Willy is talking to Ben it seems that he wants to be like Ben who was rich and successful.

    Read More

  • The American Dream in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman

    456 Words  | 1 Pages

    Willy's goal throughout life was to climb out of his social class. As a salesman, Willy was a failure and he tried desperately to make his sons never end up like him. As a result, he loses his mind and his grasp on reality. Throughout the story, Willy often has flashbacks of the conversations that he and his brother Ben once had and the author intertwines them in past and present very nicely.

    Read More

  • The Character of Willy Loman in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman

    1127 Words  | 3 Pages

    Willy is a multi-faceted character which Miller has portrayed a deep problem with sociological and psychological causes and done so with disturbing reality.  In another time or another place Willy might have been successful and kept his Sanity, but as he grew up, society's values changed and he was left out in the cold.  His foolish pride, bad judgment and his disloyalty are also at fault for his tragic end and the fact that he did not die the death of a salesman.

    Read More

More about Willy Loman

Open Document