Dreams in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman

867 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Commentary on the family aspect of the death of a salesman

Do you ever have a dream? What is your dream? Having a dream is crucial for people to work hard to make the dream come true. In Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman, the main character, had a dream— to be a well-liked salesman—and had strived for this dream throughout his whole life. But he committed suicide to end his life. He was not happy in the process of achieving his dream. Arthur Miller, the author, reveals a negative attitude towards Willy’s behavior and beliefs. Willy is a man with flaws that leads to his downfall. I share the same attitude with Miller. Yet, I pity the tragedy of Willy.

Miller reveals a negative attitude towards Willy’s behavior by displaying Willy’s poor parenting skills. Being a father of Biff and Happy, Willy should teach Biff and Happy with correct moral values. When Biff steals football from the locker room, Willy first told Biff “to return that.”(30) This is the right thing to say to Biff as stealing is illegal. However, Willy then contradicts himself by saying, “Sure, he’s gotta practice with a regulation size ball, doesn’t he? … Coach’ll probably congratulate you on your initiative!”(30) In this incident, Willy teaches Biff wrong moral ethics that stealing is acceptable. Besides stealing, Willy encourages Biff to play football instead studying. When Bernard, Biff’s friend, asks Biff to study, Willy argues that ‘’with scholarships to three universities they’re gonna flunk him?’’(33) As Biff is good at playing football, Willy is confident that Biff is able to get a scholarship and get accepted by the universities easily.

Aside from having poor parenting skills, Willy also fails to act as a role model for his sons. When Biff discovers his father’s affair with “the woman,” Willy l...

... middle of paper ...

...ly has wasted his years in pursuit of a goal that is unattainable and wants to remind us that we should not set our goal too high. Otherwise, we will waste our life and have nothing in the end. People usually enjoy the happiness during their chasing of dream. However, Willy can’t find the happiness in the progress of chasing his dream. He should have realized that he was chasing a wrong dream and had other dreams instead. Though I agree that Willy deserves his tragedy, meanwhile, I pity Willy’s tragedy. Willy has no parents to learn from so he learns the things all by himself and nobody teaches him what to do. It is not his fault for having a wrong dream. At least, I think that he is better than people who have no dream. He did strive for his dream and tried to make it comes true. However, he was too stubborn to accept others’ opinions and this leads to his tragedy.

Show More
Related

  • Biff And Willy Loman In Arthur Miller's Death Of A Salesman

    1143 Words  | 3 Pages

    Biff loses respect for his father and soon realizes what lie he has been living. Willy is in denial about his involvement with Biff’s failure in life, and when he is confronted about it by Bernard asking, “What happened in Boston, Willy? (141), Willy quickly becomes defensive, saying, “What are you trying to do, blame it on me? Don’t talk to me that way!” (141). After finding out about Biff’s reaction of burning his favorite University of Virginia shoes that symbolize Biff’s hopes and dreams for the future, Willy realizes what impact the affair had on his son. Willy’s lack of acceptance of reality affects his relationship because he never owned up or admitted he had an affair. This weighs heavy on Willy because the hate from his son will always be there. Biff loses all respect for his father and sees not only a failed business man, but in general a failed man. Throughout it all, Willy’s wife still remains supportive of him and constantly reminds him of her love for him. Despite this, Willy still yearns to have what he does not and pursues “the other woman.” It is bright as day that Willy finds some sort of comfort and validation for his affair with a woman who makes him feel wanted, yet his wife does the same thing. This guilt is always carried around with Willy which is just another contributor to the death of Willy

    Read More

  • Catcher In The Rye, Macbeth And Death Of A Salesman Comparison Essay

    1858 Words  | 4 Pages

    One problem Willy has is that he does not take responsibility for his actions; this problem only gets worse because of his lies. Biff looks up to Willy, so when he finds out that Willy has an affair in Boston, Biff is petrified. Biff realizes his hero, dad, the one he wants to impress, is a phony and a liar. Willy destroys Biff's dream of playing football by saying he does not have to study for the math regents, he also Willy telling Bernard to give Biff the answers. When Biff fails the regents, he does not want to retake the test because he is so disgusted with his hero and does not want to succeed. Not only did Willy destroy Biff's dream, he also broke his vows and refused to admit it. Biff is a failure, in Willy's eye, in most part due to Willy and what happened in Boston. Willy refuses to take responsibility for what he did, so he lies about Biff. Willy tells Bernard that Biff has been doing great things out west, but decided to come back home to work on a "big deal". Willy knows that Biff is a bum who has not amounted to anything, but he refuses to take responsibility for what happened in Boston, so he changes the story of Biff's success. Throughout Willy's life he continued to lie. It might have stopped if Linda did not act the way as she did. Linda is afraid to confront Willy, so she goes along with his outlandish lies.

    Read More

  • Death of a Salesman Character Development Essay

    757 Words  | 2 Pages

    Willy also has very poor parenting skills. He has two children Biff and Happy. Willy excuses Biff for a lot of events when he was younger. If Biff stole something, Willy just brushes it off and says that is was no big deal. He didn’t even care when Biff failed math and did not graduate from high school. He measured success in how many people you knew not what your grades are. In one breath Willy would say that Biff is lazy and then in the next say he’s not.

    Read More

  • Willy Loman's American Dream in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman

    671 Words  | 2 Pages

    By the time Willy got to be an old man, his life was in shambles. *One son, Biff, was a hopeless dreamer who wasn’t able to hold on to a job. He could have been successful through an athletic scholarship, but he blew the chance he had to go to school. Happy, the other son, had a job, but was basically all talk, just like Willy. Now near the end of his career as a salesman, Willy realizes his whole life was just a joke, and the hopes he placed in the American Dream were misguided. At the end of the play, his only hope is to leave something for his family, especially for Biff, by taking his own life and leaving his family the insurance money. Through his death, Willy thinks he can achieve success and fulfill his dream.

    Read More

  • Father-son Relationships and Conflicts in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman

    1202 Words  | 3 Pages

    During most father-son relationships, there are certain times where the father wants to become more of a "player" in his son’s life than his son believes is necessary. The reasons for this are numerous and can be demonstrated in different ways. Miller is able to give an example of this behavior through the actions of Willy Loman. When Biff comes home to recollect himself, Willy perceives it as failure. Since Willy desperately wants his oldest son, Biff, to succeed in every way possible, he tries to take matters into his own hands. "I’ll get him a job selling. He could be big in no time" (16). The reason that Biff came home is to find out what he wants in life. Because Willy gets in the way, matters become more complicated. Partly due to Willy’s persistence in Biff’s life, they have conflicting ideas as to what the American dream is. Willy believes that working on the road by selling is the greatest job a man could have (81). Biff, however, feels the most inspiring job a man could have is working outdoors (22).

    Read More

  • Willy Loman's Vision of America in Death of a Salesman

    1510 Words  | 4 Pages

    Willy knows he has failed in life and he knows there is not much left

    Read More

  • Willy Loman's Depression in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman

    631 Words  | 2 Pages

    The first comlication which occurs in Act I, is when the reader acknowledges that Willy put his whole life into his sons, Biff and Happy, and they turned their backs on him. Willy always believed that biff would be this great, successful businessman and it turned out that Biff is still searching to find himself, which disappoints Willy in the worst way. The conflicts between Willy and Biff are rooted very deep. It all started when Biff was younger and he had failed his math class. He traveled to Boston to visit Willy, who was on a business trip. He had told that he had let Willy down and comes to find out that Willy is with another woman. Biff leaves and never takes that math class over. Willy felt guilty about this and believes that deep inside that he is responsible for Biff's choices in life and his failure to be successful. This conflict makes Willy weak and tremendously guilty, which stays with him as a reminder.

    Read More

  • Failure of the American Dream in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman

    933 Words  | 2 Pages

    Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman is a story about the dark side of the "American Dream".  Willy Loman's obsession with the dream directly causes his failure in life, which, in turn, leads to his eventual suicide.  The pursuit of the dream also destroys the lives of Willy's family, as well.  Through the Lomans, Arthur Miller attempts to create a typical American family of the time, and, in doing so, the reader can relate to the crises that the family is faced with and realize that everyone has problems.

    Read More

  • The Importance of A Dream in Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller

    1261 Words  | 3 Pages

    Although his dream might have made his life fulfilling to the very end, it was not a happy life. By examining Willy Loman's dream and the impact of a dream in Death of a Salesman, the reader can see the importance of a dream in one's life and how it can change it for the better or for the worse.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Reality In Death Of A Salesman

    899 Words  | 2 Pages

    This causes Willy to deny the painful reality that he has not achieved anything of real value. Willy’s obsession with a false dream results in him losing touch with reality and with himself. Many times during the play, Willy drifts in and out of flashbacks. Most of these occur during the period when Biff was in high school, and foreshadow the events of the present. For instance, in one of the flashbacks, Biff “borrows” a football from the locker room, and is told by Willy, “Coach’ll probably congratulate you on your initiative.”

    Read More

  • Essay on Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman and Amanda in Glass Menagerie

    1166 Words  | 3 Pages

    A major part of the reader's animosity towards Willy stems from his responsibility for the ruin of his sons. Willy's affair ends up being the reason that Biff ends up a high-school failure and a football has-been. This blunder both disheartens and destroys his eldest son. It becomes the reason Biff refuses to go to summer school; it becomes the reason that Biff leaves home. Yet, this is all a result of Willy's need to be likeable. He cheats on his doting wife simply because it makes him feel special, because it gives him proof that women other that Linda are interested in him, because it makes him feel well liked. A woman "picked [him]"; a woman laughs when he makes jokes about keeping pores open; a woman pays him some attention (38).

    Read More

  • The American Dream in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman

    1020 Words  | 3 Pages

    Willy lived everyday of his life trying to become successful, well-off salesman. His self-image that he portrayed to others was a lie and he was even able to deceive himself with it. He traveled around the country selling his merchandise and maybe when he was younger, he was able to sell a lot and everyone like him, but Willy was still stuck with this image in his head and it was the image he let everyone else know about. In truth, Willy was a senile salesman who was no longer able to work doing what he's done for a lifetime. When he reaches the point where he can no longer handle working, he doesn't realize it, he puts his life in danger as well a others just because he's pig-headed and doesn't understand that he has to give up on his dream. He complains about a lot of things that occur in everyday life, and usually he's the cause of the problems. When he has to pay for the repair bills on the fridge, he bitches a lot and bad mouths Charley for buying the one he should of bought. The car having to be repaired is only because he crashes it because he doesn't pay attention and/or is trying to commit suicide. Willy should have settled with what he had and made the best of things. He shouldn't have tied to compete with everyone and just made the best decision for him using intelligence and practicality. Many of Willy's problems were self-inflicted, the reason they were self-inflicted was because he wanted to live the American dream. If he had changed his standards or just have been content with his life, his life problems would have been limited in amount and proportion.

    Read More

  • Willy's And His Son Biff Relationships

    303 Words  | 1 Pages

    Willy’s and His Son Biff relationship was portrayed as Turbulent, Flawed and totally disengaged on the Truth. The relationship is turbulent due to the past uneasiness, solitude and disappointments between willy and his son cues instant arguing and fighting between the two of them, nearly at any time or place. Angst in Biff’s part lead him to the discovery of his fathering mistress. The discovery occurs in biff’s life when all his successes in high school begin failing and he needs help from his father, the very man who build him up on a pedestal of fantasies. Given the fact that Willy knew how biff his Son feels about him after the discovery of his mistress was a big blow to biffs ego. Willy no longer had the “Perfect Child”to bluster about

    Read More

  • Differences Between Biff And Happy In Death Of A Salesman

    1017 Words  | 3 Pages

    The fact that Biff hasn’t done much with his life, despite being so popular and successful in his high school, surprises Willy making it hard for him to understand why his son is unsuccessful in life.

    Read More

  • The American Dream in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman

    456 Words  | 1 Pages

    Willy is a salesman. Willy believes that success comes from being well liked and popular and has tried desperately to instill his notions to his two boys Happy and Biff, Willy's biggest aspirations in life. His wife Linda is extremely supportive and is Willy's only connection to reality. While raising his boys and trying to instill his "American Dream", he fails to teach them any sense of morality, leading them down to what he feels is the wrong path. At one point, he defended Biff for stealing just because he was an amazing football player.

    Read More

More about Dreams in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman

Open Document