Success In Arthur Miller's Death Of A Salesman

What is success? The definition of success is the accomplishment of an aim or purpose.

The theme of success is littered throughout Death of a Salesman. Willy Loman is obsessed with

trying to be successful. However, he utterly fails at reaching his goal of being a great salesman

and being well known and liked across a vast area. He puts so much focus on trying to be a great

salesman that he lets the other areas of his life fall through the cracks. Willy Loman is a failure as

a man because he cheated on his wife, he had an awful relationship with his children, and he was

fired from his job which placed his self-worth into.

A man should always stay faithful to his woman no matter what the circumstances may

be. When a couple gets married they create a bond and vow to keep this bond as long as they

If either person breaks the covenant that they made with the other

person then their word is no longer good and many believe that a man is only as good as his

word. “Biff: Somebody in there? Willy: No, that was next door. The Woman laughs offstage.

Biff: Somebody got in your bathroom! Willy: No, it’s the next room, there’s a party- The

Woman, enters, laughing...” (Miller 118-119). While Willy was in Boston on a sales trip he

decided to have a little fun and cheat on his wife. He knew it was wrong but he did it anyway. A

man knows what he stands for and stands by that. By cheating on his wife, Willy not only broke

the vow that he made with her but he went directly against what he knew was wrong. Cheating

on his wife not only messes up his relationship with his wife but it brutally impacts the

relationship with his children.

Willy wants to have a good relationship with his kids and he wants them to love him but

he can never seem to do anything right. He either is too hard on them or he sets a bad example

for them. “Willy: Oh, Ben, how do we get back to all the great times? Used to be so full of