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Willy Loman's Death

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Death is often considered the end, but to some people, it can signify new beginnings and can put perspective on the monotonous lives some lead. Even deaths in literature in the media can help one consider the most important aspects of life. Willy’s death in the play Death of a Salesman brings up the themes of the American Dream, the importance of family, and mental health and puts into perspective what should have been the most important to Willy. One of the first themes Willy’s death inherently brings up is his hunger and desire to achieve the American Dream, that being owning a house and working as hard as possible to earn the most money for his family. He believes that he is making a mark on the world by making the most of his career, but no one actually cared about him as a person, leading to a very empty funeral, a concern expressed by Linda at Willy’s gravestone: “Why didn’t anybody come?” (Miller, Requiem). Although Willy did not attain higher education he believed that if he worked as hard as he would be able to attain whatever he wanted, an almost unattainable dream, which led him to be dissatisfied for his entire life. And he almost missed the idea that actually caring about the …show more content…

Although Willy sees this goal to be the most beneficial way to make his family happy, it creates roadblocks in their relationships, so when Willy dies, nothing really is left for his family except a little bit of money, but little to no caring thoughts or memories. He believed that his primary job was to make his family proud by going as far as he could in his career, but what his wife and sons truly wanted was to connect with him and have meaningful interactions with him. This dichotomy of opposing goals is very important to the tension of the show

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