Who Is Willy's Loss In Death Of A Salesman

In Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller’s character, Willy Loman, is desperately trying to achieve the unattainable American Dream. Throughout the play, Willy encounters many challenges that have derailed his course and his perseverance drives him and his family insane.

At one point in the play, Willy says, “Biff is a lazy bum”(16). Moments later in the same conversation with Linda, Willy adds, “There’s one thing about Biff, he’s not lazy”(16). Even when confronted by his boys, Willy is unable to deal with the truth, that his sons won’t amount to very much at all. He ignores reality very well, and instead of pointing out that Biff hasn’t established himself yet, Willy tells Biff, “You’re well liked, Biff….And I’m telling you, Biff, and babe you want…”(26). The boys are clearly aware of their status and the status of their father, and Happy is found putting Willy’s personality in a nutshell, “Well, let’s face it: he’s [Willy] no hot-shot selling man. Except that sometimes, you have to admit he’s a sweet personality”(66). Obviously, Willie’s failure to bring up his children effectively, and his delusional thinking including denial of reality helps fortify his depleting condition and confusion.

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.

The father-son conflict between Willy and Biff is complex. First of all, there is a strong personal attachment. He wants Biff to love him. He remembers the fondness shown for him by Biff as a boy, and he still craves this. At this point, however, relations are strained. Although Willy shies away from remembering so painful an episode, he knows in his heart that his affair with the Boston woman left the boy bitterly disillusioned. Feeling some sense of guilt, Willy fears that all of Biff’s later difficulties may have been really attempts to get revenge. In other words, Biff failed to spite Willy. Although outwardly resenting such alleged vindictiveness, Willy still wants to get back the old comradeship, even if he has to buy it dearly. For instance consider when he asked Ben, “Why can’t I give him something and not have him hate me?” and his final moment of joy and triumph occurs when he exclaims, “Isn’t that remarkable? Biff… he likes me!”

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

Willy Loman, the central character in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, is a man whose fall from the top of the capitalistic totem pole results in a resounding crash, both literally and metaphorically. As a man immersed in the memories of the past and controlled by his fears of the future, Willy Loman views himself as a victim of bad luck, bearing little blame for his interminable pitfalls. However, it was not an ill-fated destiny that drove Willy to devastate his own life as well as the lives of those he loved; it was his distorted set of values.

Willy Loman, the lead character in Miller’s play, had dreams which consisted entirely of being important, well known, and most importantly, well-liked. He would spend his entire adult life trying to become exactly like the man that ignited his hopes and dreams of becoming a salesman; however, it becomes apparent that Willy is incapable of accepting

Willy’s mental instability from the neglect of his family and pathological lying has ruined the life of all family. A product of this would be that Willy’s children, Happy and Biff, both have character issues such as being a womanizer and a thief respectively or his wife, Linda, who defends him even though she knows he is an invalid husband. Willy refuses to acknowledge what he’s done to the family and when they confront him he says “Spite, spite, is the word of your undoing! And when you’re down and out remember what did it” (Miller 103). The man, Willy Loman, is clearly a poor father and husband which he neglects but covers it with his career that has

He fails to realize that he failed as a father and a husband. He can't grasp his true reality because he is too caught up in the illusion of his life that his mind made up. His unwillingness to understand the depths of his failures and that his American Dream is no longer alive leads to his torturous day. His real tragedy is where he completely evaluates himself and justifies his suicide because it gave him sense of personal dignity by leaving an inheritance that will allow Biff to fulfill the American Dream. Although Willy still never grasped that his view of the American Dream, which is to be good looking and having a good personality will get people far in life, changed as he got older, he still wishes his sons success and happy lives, even though he doesn't understand that it

When his fake dream of becoming a famous sales man back fired on him, he started to crumble and lose everything he had. Willy wanted to become a salesman because of David singleman who was a salesman who “died the death of a salesman, in his green velvet slippers” (Arthur Miller Act

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."

As a salesman, Willy associates popularity with success. He believes any person could bring success into life through fame. Willy sees the American Dream, which is to gain wealth and a better life with hard work, as a simple and easy goal. He thinks of success as an easy task for people who are “well-liked”, due his misinterpretation of the success of the idols he has decided to follow. Instead of working hard and educating himself in methods of success, Willy focuses completely on his level of popularity, which results in Willy’s unsuccessful career as he continues to age. Not admitting his struggles causes much turmoil in his family, but he knows his ability to achieve the American Dream becomes more feeble as time goes by. Through his increasingly

The tragedy of the Willy is a result of his own mistakes. Willy’s ultimate character faults are that his sense of self-centered forces everyone to fulfill his expectation, and he creates a false image of himself for his family and even for himself, which invisibly ruin the relationship with the ones he loves. The truth about his current life frustrates him. Willy denies Biff’s claim that they are both in common that they are just ordinary people.

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

The concept of being well liked is one of the reasons for Willy’s death. He thinks that Biff would be able to use Willy’s life insurance money for starting him out on the right foot at last. "Thus Willy lived by his dreams