Comparing Willy Loman And Walter Lee

In Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller, Willy Loman’s life seems to be slowly deteriorating. It is clear that Willy’s predicament is of his own doing, and that his own foolish pride and ignorance lead to his downfall. Willy’s self-destruction involved the uniting of several aspects of his life and his lack of grasping reality in each, consisting of, his relationship with his wife, his relationship and manner in which he brought up his children, Biff and Happy, and lastly his inability to productively earn a living and in doing so, failure to achieve his “American Dream”.

As the play progresses, one begins to feel sorry for Willy and his problem, but at the same time angry and frustrated with him for his foolish pride. With this trait, it prevented him from accepting a job from Charlie, something that could have saved his life. Also, it is with this false pride that has been sparking the family flame for years, the fact that the Loman name was well known and well-liked. The family lie that was amongst themselves is revealed during the climax of the play. One example is the way in which Willy led Biff to believe that he is a salesman for Oliver, which at the end left Biff disappointed. The reason for this estimation of the truth may be because of Willy’s idea that he has not raised Biff and Happy the right way.

Willy believed the only way a person can make in the world, is being well liked. He even said “ Because the man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead. Be liked and you will never want.” () Willy never taught Biff the important things to succeed in life, he never told him to do well in school, never told him to study. That Willy was basically telling Biff that his sport career was enough to be successful. Willy even tells his nephew Bernard that “ What are you talking about? With scholarships to three universities they’re gonna flunk him?” () Willy was teaching him the wrong way to succeed in life. So when Biff got older, he could never keep a stable job. That he even goes to jail for

Willy’s biggest issue with his son is that he let him down by not being any more successful than him. He feels like Biff is failing on purpose just to make him look bad. Although, he has no decent job and is single; Biff has become disoriented about life. Earlier in the play Biff tells Happy, “I tell ya Hap, I don't know what the future is. I don't know - what I'm supposed to want” (Miller266). Biff once looked up to his father as a role model, but lost all faith in him once finding out that he was having an affair. Ever since he has rejected Willy’s commitment of being a husband and also a father. To add to his ruins are Willy’s ideas of how Biff should get ahead in life. Willy taught Biff that popularity was the right way to get to the top, rather than hard-work and dedication. Trying to live by his dad’s standards caused Biff to fail high school and become unable to put forth the effort to become

Walter Lee is the most troublesome person in the Young family. He harvests feelings of inadequacy as a man because he has not accomplished much with his life. Walter is the third generation born in the US. He’s 35 years old working as a chauffeur subject to only driving his white boss around town. As an African American living in the 1950’s the jobs that were available in industries or business were limited to the menial or subservient job positions. The windows of opportunities for a black African American in this country were limited to a small level of success. Walter’s dream of becoming a business man is was just that, a dream. He does not have the proper educated needed to be a successful business man. It is just an image he wants to fulfill

Willy foolishly pursues the wrong dream and constantly lives in an unreal world blinded from reality. Despite his dream Willy constantly attempts to live in an artificial world and claims “If old Wagner was alive I’d be in charge of New York by now” (Miller 14). As a result, Willy often ignores his troubles and denies any financial trouble when he says “business is bad, it’s murderous. But not for me of course” (Miller 51). Another false segment of Willy’s dream includes the success of his two sons Happy and Biff. Biff was a high school football star who never cared about academics and now that he needs a job says “screw the business world” (Miller 61). Ironically, Willy suggests that Biff go west an “be a carpenter, or a cowboy, enjoy yourself!”, an idea that perhaps Willy should have pursued. Constantly advising his boys of the importance of being well liked, Willy fails to stress academics as an important part of life (Miller 40). Furthermore, Willy dies an unexpected death that reveals important causes of the failure to achieve the American dream. At the funeral Linda cries “I made the last payment on the house today... and there’ll be nobody home” to say that she misses Willy but in essence his death freed the Lomans from debt and the hopes and expectations Willy placed on his family (Miller 139). Very few people attend

Willy Loman’s family and few friends are affected by his mental breakdowns brought on by his career and disappointment with Biff. In high school Biff was the star of the football team until he failed his mathematics course which led to Willy’s anger, frustration and disappointment towards Biff. His wife is especially concerned with Willy’s relationship with Biff, saying “There is no time for false pride, Willy. You go to your sons and you tell them that you’re tired. You’ve got two great boys, haven’t you?” (Miller 83). Willy, however, has other things on his mind. He is upset about the current industrial atmosphere. This is seen when he comments:

This is what Willy has been trying to emulate his entire life. Willy's need to feel well-liked is so strong that he often makes up lies about his popularity and success. At times, Willy even believes these lies himself. At one point in the play, Willy tells his family of how well-liked he is in all of his towns and how vital he is to New England. Later, however, he tells Linda that no one remembers him and that the people laugh at him behind his back. As this demonstrates, Willy's need to feel well-liked also causes him to become intensely paranoid. When his son, Biff, for example, is trying to explain why he cannot become successful, Willy believes that Biff is just trying to spite him. Unfortunately, Willy never realizes that his values are flawed. As Biff points out at the end of the play, "he had the wrong dreams."

In order for Biff and Happy to flourish and mature as people to their full potential, Willy must fulfill his duty of raising them with strategies that oblige wisdom and evolution of their personal selves. Willy engages in fulfilling this duty from three angles linked together by his amicable methods. Exaggeration is one of the many ways in which Willy attempts to be affable with his sons. He constantly “talks himself up” glorifying his ‘momentous’ title of a notorious salesman. “Go to Filene’s, go to the Hub, go to Slattery’s. Boston,” Willy hollers at Biff, “Call out the name Willy Loman and see what happens! Big shot!” (#, Miller). Willy belabors his immense success in the business world to the point where it is quite obvious that he greatly lacks self-esteem and self-worth. Thus, his position as a role model is anything but flattering and further effects Biff and Happy to falsely recognize morale as they mature. Loman’s small-minded motto of ‘popularity over academics’ connects to his exaggeration flaw. While he exaggerates his ‘good looks’ and popularity he is also emphasizing their importance. Moreover, he passionately believes that these tools for attainment will most likely be achieved by happenstance. For example, a flash back occurs where Willy discusses with his brother, Ben, his accidental trip to Africa where he stumbled upon diamond mines on the Gold Coast causing him to gain a fortune. Willy’s response to his brother’s good fortune portrays his belief that

Willy Loman's dream is an adaptation of the American Dream. Willy believes that the only things that are important in life are the successes that he achieved and the amount of friends that he made. This is easily illustrated when Willy says " It's who you know and the smile on your face! ... and that's the wonder, the wonder of this country, that a man can end with diamonds here on the basis of being liked!" (Movie). Success is an important part of the American dream, but Willy puts too much importance on the need to achieve success. He neglects the needs of his family and chooses to remain in the mindset that as long as he is well liked he will achieve success. Although he has lost his ability to sell, Willy continues to believe that as long as he works hard good things will happen to him and his family. Willy's wife Linda realizes this and conveys these thoughts to her sons when she says "He drives seven hundred miles, and when he gets there no one knows him anymore… what goes through a man's mind, driving seven hundred miles home without earning a cent?" (Movie). Willy has delusional ideas about the American Dream. Even in the end Willy still believes that the only thing Biff needs to be successful is some

Willy Loman has the ups and downs of someone suffering from bipolar disorder: one minute he is happy and proud- the next he is angry and swearing at his sons. Their relationships are obviously not easy ones. Willy always has the deeper devotion, adoration, and near-hero worship for his son Biff; the boy, likewise, has a great love for his father. Each brags on the other incessantly, thereby ignoring the other son- Happy- who constantly tries to brag on himself in order to make up the lack of anyone to do it for him. This turns sour however, after Biff discovers the father he idolizes was not all he had thought him to be. Afterward, familial dynamics are never the same, as Willy continues to hope that Biff will succeed, ignorant- perhaps

Willy’s relationship with Biff and Happy also becomes strained throughout their lives. Since Biff was the older son and football star he made his father proud, and Happy was left without the praise that he needed and deserved, as he was always second best. Biff also was the one who caught his father having an affair with a woman in Boston, causing friction between himself and Willy. More importantly, Biff is extremely disturbed by his father's later behavior, including participating in imaginary conversations and reacting to his memories as though they were happening in the present. Willy's job also falls apart from the beginning of the play towards the end. Willy had been making enough money to support his family, but his unwillingness to learn new sales techniques or utilize modern technology resulted in lackluster sales and the loss of his job. Willy’s house had a mortgage until his death, implying that the family was not even secure in their own home. Finally, the family car, a symbol of pride within the Loman household, was destroyed when Willy committed suicide. This was the last example of Willy's destruction of all that was once important to him. Willy Loman, in this regard, follows Aristotle's suggestion that the tragic hero has "...a change of fortune... from prosperity to misfortune...." (Aristotle,1303)

Willy teaches Biff the concept of being well-liked, reinforcing his own belief in the ideology and furthering his false sense of reality. "Willy Loman subscribes to this view and has taught his sons to

Willy believes that wealth is the key to your happiness, and the extent of your wealth is exposed by the amount of materialistic items one has. Miller explains Willy’s thoughts in Timebends, “The publicity apparatus tells Willy that if he works hard like Edison, that if he perseveres like Goodrich, that, if he is “well-liked” like Dave Singleman, then he will rise like Charley and become rich and powerful.” Willy’s thought process is foolish, and his belief that failure cannot be tolerated in his family causes him to lie about his success. This is evident when Biff says “We never told the truth for ten minutes in this house! [130]” The American Dream is to blame for imprinting wealth is all you need to be happy, into Willy’s mind.

This is not making excuses for him either, it is just looking at his pain from a different perspective (Bloom). Willy Loman’s character suffers a lot of pain, but it is self-inflicted due to the way he follows his dream (Bloom). Bloom described Willy as a person who can make the people around him like him, this is where the salesman part goes in, he aspired to be a likable person and that was all he was, until his family and the other people around him were able to see through him. The American dream was not his only problem, he had an affair, while away from his adoring wife on one of his many unsuccessful business trips (Miller). Miller writes in a few scenes of his play, that a woman begins to laugh, which leads into a scene of Willy and a woman who is not his wife, laughing and talking about their relationship. Miller also leads this affair to go south, just as many things in Willy’s life does, and has Biff walk in to see his dad half naked in a room with another woman. Finally in the last few moments we see Willy’s mistress, he begins to lie to his son while kicking her out (Miller). This along with some other reasons along the way piled up, resulting in Willy starting to contemplate suicide (Bloom). When Willy ended up making his final decision, he thought of it almost like a sales pitch, that he would get money for his son to follow in his footsteps (Bloom). His suicide did not affect Biff as much as a father’s death would, due to the straighn that