What Is The Theme Of Success In Death Of A Salesman

736 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The character of Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman

Death of a Salesman Essay
The important role of “success” in Death of a Salesman is Willy Loman working hard for many years and no one appreciating him until they need or want something from him. It focuses on Willy’s failures and and success and conflicts with his family.
When Willy causes conflict with his son Biff, he usually is talking about how he is 34 and still lives at home and doesn't have a job. He says “When the hell did I lose my temper? I simply asked him if he was making any money. Is that a criticism?”(Miller, act 1, scene 1, page 7). He previously argued with Linda that Biff and Happy were sleeping because they went on a date the night before. Willy was angry that he is almost about to pay the house off and there's nobody to live in it when he does pay it off. He says “Figure it out. Work a lifetime to pay off a house. You …show more content…

She was mad because Biff and Happy didn't understand how much Willy had done for them and Linda over the years. Happy said how he gave them money last Christmas and Linda said that didn't mean much to them because Willy had been living off commission over the past few weeks because he hadn't been selling much lately. Biff was saying that he will get a job and just stay in his room and Linda wasn't okay with that. She thought that Willy and Biff need to stop arguing all the time and Biff needs to stop blaming Willy for him not having a successful life, when it's Biffs fault. Linda said that Biff and Happy need to start appreciating Willy more.
I think Miller portrayed Willy Loman this was because back then, the dad of the family worked hard all day just to make a living and to keep his family fed and clothed. Which is what Willy had done for 20+ years. He just wanted his family to be happy and to not worry about money. He also wanted his sons to grow up and be successful, like Willy

Show More
Related

  • Comparison Of Willy Loman's Fences And Death Of A Salesman

    1679 Words  | 4 Pages

    Willy and Biff were so close that no matter what Biff did Willy ignored it. For instance, in one of Willy’s Flashbacks for Act 1 there is a conversation between Willy and his sons about the football that Biff got. Biff tells Willy that he borrowed a football from the locker room and Willy tells him to return it back. However, when Happy

    Read More

  • Death Of A Salesman And The Piano Lesson Essay

    1179 Words  | 3 Pages

    In a flashback Willy has, it is shown that Willy jokes about Charley’s son, Bernard, a “nerd” who helps Biff with his math so he doesn’t fail, by claiming that despite Bernard being smart, he will not get far in life because he is not as “liked: as Biff, who at the time was a football star. After Biff saw his father with is mistress, he began viewing his father more negatively, rejecting all of Willy’s future plans for him, calling him a “phony little fake”. Biff’s rejection of Willy’ future plans for him sends Willy into a downward spiral, making him more and more delusional. Ironically, Willy failed to sell his plans to his own son, when his main profession is selling products to people, as he is a

    Read More

  • death of a salesman

    784 Words  | 2 Pages

    Linda does not lose respect for Willy for his actions as much as Biff does. Biff cares about his mother dearly and does not like to see her being yelled at. He grinds his teeth when he sees his father yell at his mother, because he knows that if he argues, there will be that much more tension between him and his father. However, Biff cannot take it much longer because he is losing respect for his father. He knows his father should never get physical with his mother, and he finally takes action before it gets violent. He grabs Willy by the arm and screams at him not to yell at her. Willy gets angry at first, but then goes to bed guilt-ridden.

    Read More

  • Death Of A Salesman Bernard Quotes

    701 Words  | 2 Pages

    Willy and Biff never got along due to Biff finding out that his father had an affair, and Willy tries to forget the event. Willy also constantly tries to make Biff out as the greatest thing ever, even when one could easily see Biff is a loser. He wants to distort another reality, and believe Biff can make it. But he a lingering thought in his head that goes against this, and that is Bernard. In another of Will’s flashbacks, Bernard comes up and says, “Mr. Birnhaum says he’s stuck up.” This is in reference to Biff, and this shows that Willy really did know he was making Biff out to be something he could never be, but he tries very hard to go against this thought and dwell in his own

    Read More

  • Stubbornnes in Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

    1478 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout the play, Willy has hallucinations of his brother Ben, who left Willy when he was young, “Well, I was just a baby, of course, only three or four years old,” (Miller 47), and the man later offered to take Willy with him, but Willy had a dream “There’s a man eighty-four years old-” (Miller 86) and he felt that he was going to accomplish that dream. “Willy retreats into a dream world consisting of his roseate recollections of the past and of fantasies,” (Hadomi), he hallucinates often, and this is a better way of saying he’s delusional. He did not, he failed miserably, he had to borrow money from Charley “If you can manage it-- I need a hundred and ten dollars,” (Miller 96), then he pretended it was a loan from him “I’m keeping an account of everything, remember,” (Miller 96), that he would pay back “I’ll pay every penny back,” (Miller 96), but Linda and Charley knew he was not going to pay any of it back. Willy had a hard time accepting defeat, and he wanted his boys to succeed where he failed, but Biff was always better with physical labor “when all you really desi...

    Read More

  • Willy Masculinity

    905 Words  | 2 Pages

    He seems to believe that having an office job and earning your own money is the best way to be masculine, and he constantly enforces this view onto his sons, especially onto Biff who doesn’t actually want this kind of job at all; he would much rather work on a farm. Enforcing his beliefs onto his sons, especially Biff, like this has a detrimental effect on his relationship with them. Happy has a desk job, but still isn’t happy at all. He doesn’t know what he wants, and perhaps if he had been left to choose his own career path without this input from his father, then he would have been a lot happier. And with Biff not wanting a desk job, his job working on a farm seems like nothing to his father and means that he puts Biff down for it a lot. Willy constantly tells him things such as “You never grew up. Bernard does not whistle in the elevator, I assure you.” And manages to put Biff down a lot of the time. This makes Biff feel bad about his job, and even makes him consider getting a desk job just to make his father happy; even if it means missing out on his own happiness. The fact that Willy wants Biff to have a desk job also emphasises how uncertain he is about masculinity because before this time period most people worked on ranches and it was seen as an incredibly manly job. The way Willy treats him and pressures him affects their already damaged relationship with one another as there is always some kind

    Read More

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

    1127 Words  | 3 Pages

    Willy Loman, the main character in Death of a Salesman is a complex tragic character.  He is a man struggling to hold onto the little dignity he has left in a changing society.  While society may have caused some of his misfortune, Willy must be held responsible for his poor judgment, disloyalty and foolish pride.

    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

  • The Internal and External Conflicts of Willy Loman

    1177 Words  | 3 Pages

    Like countless characters in a play, Willy struggles to find who he is. Willy’s expectations for his sons and The Woman become too high for him to handle. Under the pressure to succeed in business, the appearance of things is always more important than the reality, including Willy’s death. The internal and external conflicts aid in developing the character Willy Loman in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman.

    Read More

  • Theme of Success in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman

    752 Words  | 2 Pages

    One of the important themes in Death of a Salesman is the nature of success. Many people believe that success is about making a lot of money. They say that with money comes happiness. However this may not always be true. In other words success is defined as the accomplishment of something that was desired. Furthermore it is about being happy, proud and secure about yourself. Although true success originates from the heart, achieving it requires hard work and determination.  In Death of a Salesman, the characters that are successful are Dave Singleman, Ben and Bernard.

    Read More

  • Use of Symbolism in Death of a Salesman

    2233 Words  | 5 Pages

    Death of a Salesman is a play relating to the events leading to the downfall of Willy Loman, an aging salesman who is at one time prosperous, but is now approaching the end of his usefulness (Atkinson, 305).

    Read More

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

    933 Words  | 2 Pages

    Willy Loman equates success as a human being with success in the business world. When Willy was a young man, he heard of a salesman who could "pick up his phone and call the buyers, and without ever leaving his room, at the age of eighty-four, make his living." 8. This salesman is Willy's inspiration; someday to be so respected and so well known that he can still provide for his family, even at an old age. Of course, Willy is no good at being a salesman because his heart isn't in it.

    Read More

  • Family Issues in the Play Death of a Salesman

    905 Words  | 2 Pages

    The play, Death of a Salesman, is a tragic drama about an aging salesman who tries to do all he can to support his family and make them lead successful lives. The struggling salesman, Willy Loman has two sons, Biff and Happy, whom he tries to drive towards success. Willy believes that being well liked and making a good and lasting impression are the keys to success and tries to teach this philosophy to his two sons. Biff, being the favorite son of Willy, has worked as a manual laborer and Willy believes that Biff can do so much more with his life. While Biff is happy, he does not meet Willy’s criteria for success. Biff is unable to fulfill Willy’s dream because Willy’s idea of success is not a life Biff wants to pursue.

    Read More

  • Death Of A Salesman American Dream Essay

    762 Words  | 2 Pages

    One major theme in Death of a Salesman is the pursuit of the American dream. Playwright Arthur Miller details main character Willy Loman’s misguided quest of this dream. Death of a Salesman was written in postwar America, when the idea of the American Dream was a way of life. The United States was flourishing economically, and the idea of wealth was the base of the American Dream. Capitalism was alive and well, and by living in a capitalist society, everyone in America was supposed to have a chance to become rich and successful. Miller makes the reader realize this dream is a falsehood, because it doesn’t always work for everyone as planned. In the play Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman is a prime example of someone trying desperately, yet unsuccessfully, to pursue the false hope of the American Dream, directly resulting from capitalism’s effects.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Ending Of "death Of A Salesman"

    1238 Words  | 3 Pages

    Linda, who "plays along" nicely with his lies and tells him what he wants to

    Read More

More about What Is The Theme Of Success In Death Of A Salesman

Open Document