Examples Of Willy's Hubris In Death Of A Salesman

Throughout his life, Willy Loman thinks of himself as well-liked in the play "Death of a Salesman" by Arthur Miller. It is the most important attribute to him. Willy lived his life thinking he had thousands of friends all over the New England territory and that he would be recognized anywhere he would go. He boasts this to his sons and they think he is the greatest man on Earth. He raises his two sons, Biff and Happy, to be well-liked and Willy does not care about their grades. He believes they will be better prepared for the business world if they are well-liked, and does not think education matters as much as personality, appearance, and physical skill. Although he has set high standards for sons, his morals are being well-liked, he

To begin, the first theme that comes up is pride. Willy is constantly lets pride get in his way. So much so that when Willy desperately needed something, his pride would not allow him to accept it. This becomes clear when Linda asked Willy to get a New York job, and Willy replied, “ They don’t need me in New York, I’m a New England man. They need me in New England”(Act I). Willy is falsely insisting that he still an important member even though his sales have not been very good for a long time. Another instance in which his pride gets in the way is when Charley offered him a job and willy replied, “ I’ve got a job”(Act II). Willy refused a job even though he had just gotten fired from his other job. All in all this goes to show that having too much pride is not necessarily a good thing.

Willy thinks, as most children do, that he is more important than he actually is.  At various times throughout the story, he brags about himself, calling himself a great salesman.  He says that he is known everywhere. In daydreaming of

      Arthur Miller succeeds in demonstrating incredibly well in Death of a Salesman that not only is tragic heroism still possible in the modern world, but that it is also an affliction to which both king and commoner are equally susceptible.  However, Wily Loman is not a tragic hero because he is pathetic, not heroic, in his personal "tragedy" that comes from his inability to admit his mistakes and learn from them.  Instead, he fits Miller's description of pathos and the pathetic character, one who "by virtue of his witlessness, his insensitivity, or the very air he gives off, [is] incapable of grappling with a much superior force," (Miller  1728).

Willy Loman is an old salesman (63 years old) who is no longer able to earn a living. He receives only a small commission as he ages, and he slowly loses his mind and attempts to kill himself by inhaling gas from the water heater or from crashing his Studebaker. Dave Singleman is his role model, he wants to become well liked and rich. He spends most of his time dreaming instead of doing anything to improve his life. He is obsessed with the post-war interpretation of the American Dream. In the end, he kills himself by crashing his car, hoping to get the life insurance money for his family.

Salesman Essay with Primary Source Only In the book “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller, Willy is not an admirable character. Willy does a lot of things in the story and also his traits make him a non-admirable character. The traits that make Willy not admirable are his hubristic, untrustworthy, and disrespectful nature. Willy’s first non-admirable trait is his hubristic nature.

Throughout the story Willy makes important discoveries, which is important to be Anagnorisis; This is another example of why he is a tragic hero. A way Willy shows this trait is when he is talking to Bernard about how successful Bernard is, “I’m going to Washington… Oh, just a case I’ve got there, Willy” (91). Bernard is a lawyer and has a case to work up in Washington. Willy made an important discovery because earlier in the play when Bernard was younger, Willy thought he was not well liked by anyone due to the fact he studied too much; and would not be the successful man like he is today. Willy made a bigger discovery when he finally realized in himself, “I’m very –foolish to look at…. But they do laugh at me. I know that” (37). Willy knew he lost his touch in the game of selling. He discovered this about himself when he goes out to see clients and they don’t buy anything and make fun of

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."

Willy tells Charley that he doesn’t have any friends it’s just him. When Willy says that he just knows how embarrassing that must be for him and Charley. Charley gives Willy some money for insurance, Willy was mad because he got fired from Howard. Charley offers him a job again. We all know

He can’t accept that he is merely a mediocre salesman rather than an extremely successful one, and as a result, he lives in denial. Instead of acknowledging his failure, he denies reality by reliving the past, where he perceived himself as successful, through memories. Miller has Willy contradict himself throughout the play as one way to show how this

Jose J. Guzman Dr. Brenda Cornell ENGL 1302 2 December 2014 Death of a Salesman Ever had a dream shattered? Well those jagged edges can hurt quite a bit for a long time. In the story of Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller we find a man who has to confront failure amidst a success driven American society. This tragedy ends in the suicide of the main protagonist Willy Loman.

However, not only does Willy represent "everyman", through his faults we can begin to see a bigger problem-the problem of capitalism. This is because the same rationale that creates his drive and superficiality also creates his weaknesses which are his superficiality, jealousy, his lost of integrity and his role as a manipulator. Willy's superficiality is represented by his adherence to the importance of looks and physical appearance and his emphasis on being like rather than being a good person :"the man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates a personal interest, is the man who gets ahead. Be liked and you will never want." (Act 1, Part 3, pg. 2). This is also seen in his relationship to his two sons, while he praise his son attractive son Biff, who as a high-schooler was popular and well liked, he pays less attention to youngest Happy, who turns out to be more successful. This superficiality also seen in his relationship to his neighbor,

When he went to Boston I believe he never went for his job, but just to have an affair. This is what also lead to no one being at his funeral at the end of the movie, because even though he “worked” he didn’t work to make money, he just worked for his own gain and pleasures. Since he was always working, this is what caused him to miss some of the most important things in his kid’s life, which is what also leads to him making up these illusions in his head that he was included in his kid’s life day after day. The job he was working under a guy named Howard included long hours, even days, on the road just trying to make a profit off the merchandise he was made to sell, but the twisted-up part about all of this is that his employer never paid him for what he did, and just used him to the company’s advantage. Since Willy and Linda had a life to live he was forced to go over to his neighbor, Charlie, to borrow $50 from him just so he can come back to his wife and tell her about his adventures. Charlie also offered Willy a job, since they were close and literally lived next door to each other, but Willy being the stubborn one he is refused the offer and was offended that he would offer him such a thing. The bottom line is that even though willy is old, prideful and stubborn he’s also tired and exhausted both physically and mentally. The stress he had to endure daily I can understand why his mind insisted on going into these fantasy moments where the past was changed and he lived a happy

Willy was affected when he realized that his own actions brought about the reversal in fortune. "Willy, as misled as he is, to the very end of the play is struggling," Miller said. "It's the opposite of a passive person. He's struggling for some meaning in his life. He seizes upon what we would mostly consider the wrong meaning. But the struggle is exemplary”. Willy’s many attempts at suicide were never successful. In a way, instead of him being able to take the easy way out like he wanted to,

Willy feels like having pride is the epitome of having success but the amount of pride tha Willy displays sets him back tremendously. In the play Willy is very prideful, he believes that he is an extraordinary salesman which is not bad, but in this case having to much pride is Willy's greatest downfall. Willys job is suffering because he lets his pride gets in the way of his work which leads him to losing sales and ultimately going broke.