death of a salemsan

Arthur Miller’s play “Death of a Salesman” shows how materialism destroys a person and drives them to insanity. Willy, the play’s protagonist, is a man who is obsessed and addicted to work and money to the point where he is going mentally ill. The play shows Willy growing steadily into a man who ends up killing himself because his mind won’t rest. By not letting his mind rest, Willy in the beginning almost gets into a car accident. Although the first scene with Willy is when he almost crashes the car, it’s also when we see his relationship with his wife Linda. Linda and Willy have a very unhealthy marriage fraught with stress, anger and infidelity. Willy in “Death of a Salesman” is a man who constantly belittles and disrespects his wife and cheats on her. Willy is also the type of man who can be classified as someone who wanted to be a hero, especially to his two sons who resent him and who he also resents. Willy wanted to be the dad who his sons loved and inspire to be, but he ends up pushing them away. Willy’s sons Happy and Biff resent their dad because of how he treats their mother, and how he has respect for everyone except his family. Willy is a man who is not only addicted to work and money, but women. In the play “Death of a Salesman” we are introduced to the idea of the “American Dream” which is a gorgeous home, two to three children, good paying job and a supportive spouse and as Americans this is the most common dream we all share. Willy thought he was living the “American Dream”; two sons, a wife and a nice house, but he had a secret of being a fraud. Willy was living the “American Dream” on the outside, but on the inside his life was unorganized and most of all filled with anger. The reasons Willy was not the man w...

... middle of paper ...

...rows into more of an angry, tired old man who just needed to rest, throughout the play Willy is portrayed as bad husband, father and person. Though Willy was a cold, greedy old man, he did want the best for his family finically, not emotional nor mentally. Willy was a character that grew into a more insane, over worked husband and father who cheated on his wife and set unrealistic expectations of Biff and Happy on making a lot more money.

Works Cited

“Men: Don’t Ignore Signs of Depression.” Harvard Health Publications .Harvard Men’s Health Watch 12 2013. Proquest. Web.20.March.2014

Miller, Arthur. “Death of a Salesman”. The Compact to Bedford Introduction to Literature. Md. Michael Meyer.9th.Ed. Boston:Bedford/St.Martins.1395.1400

Treas, Judith. “Infidelity.” International Encyclopedia of Marriage and Family”.Farmingto:Gale,2003.Credo Refrence.Web.20.March. 201