Protagonists looking for Happiness in Death of a Salesman”, “The Great Gatsby”, and “The Devil’s Advocate

That is what he defined success for himself as. Willy Lowman is an amateur salesman, who lives in an ... ... middle of paper ... ...tsby believes in working hard for success and Willy solely believes in lying your way to success and being well liked, Willy does not believe in working hard for success. Both Gatsby and Willy attempt to achieve their dreams, however Jay Gatsby does not live a life based thoroughly on an illusion. Some lies that Gatsby told were parts of the truth, whereas Willy Lowman believes that he is successful, popular and a good father, none of this is true. Finally one can say that the way in which attempting to achieve their dreams ultimately lead to both Jay Gatsby and Willy Lowman’s deaths.

Nowadays, people are concentrating more and more on good looks and likeability because it gives them confidence, and often, these traits come with money and power. In Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller portrays the life of a salesman, Willy, who values the superficial quality of likeability and attractiveness over learning. He is obsessed with the idea of being well-liked which ultimately takes him nowhere. His son unfortunately follows that principle and ends up with an unhappy life. Many events that happen in this play reflect on a principle that being popular is not the only thing one needs to have in order to gain respect and be successful in life.

Willy believed good looks, material goods, and likeability would guarantee his sons this dream. Willy's perspective will eventually lead to his fall as the protagonist of the story. Willy also lies about many things throughout the story to make his image look better than he really is, "Linda asks how much Willy has sold and although he initially lies about the amount, Linda patiently waits for the truth, which is that he has barely made enough to pay the bills." (Arthur Miller) Willy's American dream is to be known to everyone and financially successful. Willy doesn't believe in hard work and honesty to achieve the highest respect but instead focuses on personal appearance and social judgement.

He also sees his son in his eyes go from a star football player to a lazy bum. When Willy looks back and sees this he thinks he has failed his son because to him Biff has no drive and self-urgency. Willy although in his delusion of life thinks he has lived the “American Dream” and succeed he has greatly mistaken. Though he does try very hard to do what in his mind is right. Even though his family might not be provided for after he is gone he has been able to give them an ok life.

It seems that despite all the bad experiences he has while trying to chase his dreams,... ... middle of paper ... ... Even with a tragic ending, the boys learned something. Willy was a good man, but his dreams took him away from himself and his family. But the “American dream” is different for everybody, though Willy only saw one. The boys learned that there is so much more to life than being a salesman, and although their father was wrong to take away their options, he was a good man and he loved his sons very much.

He leads his sons to believe the same ludicrous keys to success, pointing them in the same direction of failure. Everyone but Willy sees fault in his judgement as “his old friends, the old buyers that loved him so and alwaysfound some order to hand him in a pinch -- they’re all dead, retired” (Miller 32). With these factors counting against him, Willy still has not realized his life is at a standstill, not moving at all and he’s failing. His entire life he’d depended on the help of other people. Although he wants his sons to live a successful life, he’s teaching them the wrong points of gaining that particular lifestyle.

Biff is okay with his failures because he doesn’t let them overtake his life the way Willy’s failures have. Biff used to idolize his father and believed that the only way to happiness was through material achievement. Though after Biff caught Willy and his mistress, he realized that Willy didn’t have the answers to a happy successful life. After this, Biff moves out west (which represents freedom from Willy’s expectations) and lives well. Instead of Biff becoming what Willy always wanted to be, he goes and searches for himself which is why Willy dislikes

"In the greatest country in the world, a young man with such personal attractiveness gets lost." In this quote, not only is Willy confused about how Biff's good looks can't help him get a job, but also because his son can't get a job in a country like Ame... ... middle of paper ... ... things that made people successful in life, regardless of whether or not hard work was involved. Because of these simplistic ideas, Willy went through life with a somewhat naive frame of mind, and was unable to reach his goal of achieving the American Dream. Works Cited Lewis, Allan. American Plays and Playwrights.

Throughout life people set goals for themselves and if they reach them or not is how they determine themselves to be a success or a failure. In the play Death Of a Salesman, Willy the main character in order to see himself as success embellishes his accomplishments. These embellishments of the truth make Willy think he is better than he his. Throughout Willy’s life he tries to be as successful as his idols; however in his pursuit to do so he fails not only as a worker but also as a role model to his boys. Throughout the play, Willy is in search of the ever-elusive dream of being successful.

Willy wants to provide his wife Linda, and two sons Biff and Happy, the perfect life. Willy strives for the American dream throughout the entire play, yet never achieves what he hopes because there are too many problems standing in his way. Willy is a salesman trying to find success in a country known for its endless amount of opportunities. He grows up seeing how successful his brother, Ben, has become and because of this he is determined to succed in his lifetime. He wants to show his family that they can achieve whatever they put their mind to.