Flaw In Arthur Miller's Death Of A Salesman

Zeb 1

Adam Zeb

Hajra Naeem

English

February 8, 2016 “Death of A Salesman”

In the play “Death of a Salesman” written by Arthur Miller, the character Willy Loman has flaws in his character that make him responsible for his own misfortune. Willy fails to realize his personal failure and betrayal of his soul and family through the meticulously constructed deception of his life. Willy tries to make himself feel better by lying to himself. Although Willy’s death is unfortunate, if one closely examines his pride, bad temper, and his lies, one can see that these flaws will eventually bring him to his demise.

Throughout the play, Willy demonstrates his sense of pride while talking to his family and friends. In this quote one can

HAPPY: What the hell! WILLY: Tell me what happened! Biff [to Happy]: I can’t talk to him! Willy is only able to cope with the reality the Biff lays before him by escaping entirely into his delusions. The increasing harshness of his life is causing him to sink deeper and deeper into his own dream world. WILLY: I’m definitely going to get one. Because lots of time I’m on the road, and I think to myself, what I must be missing on the radio! HOWARD: Don’t you have a radio in the car? (Act 2) Willy comes off looking like a fool when he attempts to lie in order to impress Howard and soothe his own insecurities. Ironically, his constant need to lie in order to make himself well liked is probably a big part of the reason that people don't really like

I know something about it and— WILLY: He knows something about it! You know sporting goods better than Spalding for God’s sake! (Act 1).” Here, he is attempting to convince Biff that, because Biff was a high school football star, he knows more about sporting goods than professionals in the industry.

Throughout the play, Willy Loman has a bad temper. One can see this when he is talking to his wife

WILLY [sitting down at the kitchen table]: Huh! Why did she have to wax the floors herself? Every time she waxes the floors she keels over. She knows that! (Act 1)

Willy's disgust at Linda waxing the floors herself suggests his bad temper about their economic status. They clearly cannot afford to hire someone to wax their floor, yet he constantly wants to pretend that this isn't so.

CHARLEY: You want a job? WILLY: I got a job, I told you that. [After a slight pause] What the hell are you offering me a job for? CHARLEY: Don’t get insulted. WILLY: Don’t insult me. (Act 1) Willy has always tried to act like he is cooler than Charley. In reality, though, he's always been really jealous of his neighbor. When Charley offers Willy a job, it hurts Willy's pride. If people know that he's working for Charley, then there will be no denying the fact Charley has done better in life—and Willy's delusional pride just won't allow