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Briefly comment on the character of Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman
The character of Willy Loman in the light of the American dream
Briefly comment on the character of Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman
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Willy, a fervent votary of American dream, believes that he has a chance to rise to a high position and acquire a vast wealth. So, he holds very high opinion about himself and his profession. He believes that he can be rich by means of personal initiative, charisma, attractiveness, and by inserting personal influence on others. He is so much blinded by the illusion of salesmanship that he feels as if salesmanship were the only job to become an important person as well as affluent in life. Hence, he degrades his moral faculty for which his conscience is baffled and he starts overlooking sins and crimes of his sons. In a dream sequence, he tells young Biff and Happy in surprising tone, “Tell you a secret, boys. Don't breathe it to a soul. Someday …show more content…
If a company goes on making loss, it cannot survive in the business world. So, the success of company depends much on the performance of the sales representatives. There is no chance for sympathy and compassion. Willy Loman, a born salesman with dynamic outlook, fails to realise this pragmatic aspect of his job and comprehend the difficulties in his career. Richard T. Hise(1980) points out, “Because of the travel requirements, salespeople frequently find that they have to be away from home for extended periods of time. This can lead to family problems, especially for salespeople with children”(p. 38). In fact, the very nature of salesmanship demands a lot of travel. For this reason, Willy has to travel from city to city and he has to be away from his family and stay at hotels for many days. While living alone in hotel room, he feels lonely and exhausted. For this reason, though he loves his wife, Linda and his children, he is compelled to seduce his buyer’s secretary with stockings and pass night in Boston hotel. When Willy is discovered by Biff, the eldest son, in that hotel with Miss Francis, secretary of J.H. Simmons, Biff gets stunned and puzzled by the debauchery and adultery of his father. Willy, out of embarrassment, tries to convince Biff that the woman is a buyer and her room is being painted. So, she has taken shelter in his room. Biff does not get convinced for which Willywarns Biff, “[W]hen you grow up you’ll understand about these things. You mustn’t−you mustn't over-emphasize a thing like this” (Miller, 1949: 95). Willy means that he is, no doubt, faithful to his wife and children but he is bound to commit adultery because of his depressive loneliness. Willy may be logical but the irony is that the discovery of his sin raises a violent storm over his family and antipathy between father and son develops
At the beginning of the play it is evident that he cannot determine the realities of life, and so he repeatedly contradicts himself to establish that his conclusion is correct and opinion accepted. These numerous contradictions demonstrate that Willy is perturbed of the possibility that negative judgements may come from others. Willy strongly believes that “personality always wins” and tells his sons that they should “be liked and (they) will never want”. In one of Willy’s flashbacks he recalls the time when his sons and him were outside cleaning their Chevy. Willy informs Biff and Happy the success of his business trips and how everyone residing in Boston adores him. He mentions that due to the admiration of people he does not even have to wait in lines. He ultimately teaches his sons that being liked by others is the way to fulfilling one’s life and removing your worries. These ideals, that one does not need to work for success, demonstrate Willy’s deluded belief of achieving a prosperous life from the admiration and acceptance of others. This ultimately proves to be a false ideology during his funeral, when an insufficient amount of people arrive. Willy constantly attempts to obtain other’s acceptance through his false tales that depict him as a strong, successful man. In the past, he attempts to lie to his wife, Linda, about the amount of wealth he has attained during his
Loman, a salesman, travels often. Never home, he is incapable of being a good father to his sons, and a loving husband to his wife. In the post-WWII era, ideally, the father was the family breadwinner, and the mother stayed home to care for the children. Although Willy has held the position of a salesman for a long time, he isn’t necessarily successful at it; the case is actually quite the opposite. A poor businessman, he is left unable to provide for his family, which leads him to borrow money from his neighbor Charley in order to help pay off the mortgage on his house. His incapacity to fulfill these essential roles leaves him lacking gratification and floundering for a perception of worth.
Willy’s dream was to become like Dave Singleman, who was a very popular salesman, liked by his clients and, able to do business by just making a phone call. Because he was so well liked, when Singleman died, customers from all over his region came to his funeral. Willy dared to believe that his funeral would be similar to Singleman's. Throughout his life, Willy believed that if one were attractive and well liked, everything would be perfect. The doors would automatically open for such a man, and he was sure to be successful. Willy’s American dream was to become rich and famous through his sales, a dream that consumed his life, making him live in an imaginary world where he would often talk to himself.
Willy's affair with The Woman is a crucial turning point in his relationship with Biff, his oldest son. When Biff catches Willy and his mistress, Willy first attempts to distract his son and then be rid of him. However, his attempted cover-up fails and forever shatters the idolatrous relationship between father and son.
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
The play, “Death of a Salesman” written by Arthur Miller, presents Willy Loman, as a salesman, who fails to earn a living and slowly loses his mind. Willy continuously seeks the past to find out where he went wrong. During his years in life, Willy wanted his two sons, Biff and Happy to become someone they’re not; Willy wanted them to become a salesman like him. However, because of his obsession in the American Dream of easy success and wealth, he created a life full of lies for himself and his sons. In the end because of “his misconception of himself as someone capable of greatness” leads to his downfall and the end of his life (Death of a Salesman).”
Willy Loman is a 60 year old senile salesman who desperately wants to be a successful salesman; however, his ideas about the ways in which one goes about achieving this are very much misguided, just as his morals are. He believes that popularity and good looks are the key to achieving the American dream, rather than hard work and dedication. He not only lives his entire life by this code, but instills his delusional beliefs in his two sons Biff and Happy. As a result, his sons experience similar failures in their adult lives. Willy led a life of illusion, lies and regret which not only ruined his life, but gad a negative impact on the lives of family as well.
The business world has moved ahead and the way of selling goods has changed, but Willy can't see this. Willy Loman has never come to terms with reality. His life is a dream and derives all his pleasures from the past and he always assures himself that all is well. His problem is that his role models are out. of place in the modern business where heartlessness and hostility win.
As a result, the fabricated life that Willy thought was perfect, ultimately falls apart as it turns into reality. To begin, Willy dreams the wrong dream because it is simply unrealistic. Willy dreams of becoming a salesman that is popular and successful to the extent that he can make sales from his own home, even at an old age. For this reason, Willy idolizes Dave Singleman, an 84 year old salesman that to Willy, exemplifies the pinnacle of success in his field. As Willy explains: His name was Dave Singleman.
Biff is home for a visit and is talking with his brother, Happy in their room just as they did when they were young boys. Willy has come home prematurely from a business trip and is downstairs when the boys overhear him talking to himself in a sort of quasi-reality. In the meantime, the two boys discuss the past. It is interesting here that the roles of the two boys with respect to each other seem to have reversed. Happy was the shy one growing up and Biff had all the courage and self-confidence. Now, Biff appears to have been beaten down by life and is on the brink of the se...
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).
The very first section of the first scene, already defines the basis of Willy’s character for the rest of the play. The stage directions on page 8 identify him as being an exhausted aging man, whose work seems to be wearing him down. “…lets his burden down…” (Miller, 8). Although this makes Willy appear uninteresting, he soon contrasts this characteristic when he shows an optimistic determination towards his own failures. “I’ll start out in the morning. Maybe I’ll feel better in the morning.” (Miller, 9) Another aspect of Willy that makes him more interesting to the audience is his already visible complexity of layers: “I have such thoughts, I have such strange thoughts.” (Miller, 9) This of course leads the audience on to wondering what exactly is taking place in a man’s head to make him say such a thing, evoking a mild fascination in Willy’s character. Another character that is developed almost immediately within the first two pages of the play is Linda. Again the stage directions on page 8 introdu...
Willy saw Dave Singleman to be a great salesman and an embodiment of the American dream, because Dave was wealthy and many people liked him and therefore he could sell things over the phone. Then Willy decided “that selling was the greatest career a man could want.”[pg.63]. The word ‘greatest’ suggests that Willy regards selling as the best and most important career a person could strive for.
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.
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.