Willy’s desire to grasp wealth by the hands led to his downfall and immediate failure which he failed to run from. He stopped caring about what he could achieve and only focused on what he wanted to achieve. In Death of a Salesman, Willy grudgingly accepted his situation by contemplating, “After all the highways, and the trains, and the appointments, and the years, you end up more worth than alive” (Miller 98). Surprisingly, Willy managed to stay on top of his insurance premiums even though he worked a no-paying job. The money of the insurance premiums would go directly to his family in the case of his death. Willy had a chance in improving his self-worth but refused the job, deluding himself into thinking he lived a better life than what he
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Show MoreMoney is of great importance, however society has been influenced to believe it is the most important element of attaining happiness. Although money may allow for some experiences to take place, it is not necessary. Life experiences are significant in order to reach happiness. Mr. Willy skips out on typical adventures needed to accomplish fulfilment. Another thing he misses out on is true love.
Willy exaggerates to praise himself so that he appears to be wealthy and powerful. Willy says, “I was sellin’ thousands and thousands, but I had to come home”(34), instead of specifying a specific number. He uses “thousands and thousands” to make his selling seem successful, emphasizing the amount of money he made. Willy’s obsession with the business success dream destroyed himself and his family in the
The devices of literature often remain constant throughout the various mediums of writing, be it a novel or a scholarly essay. They are used by the author as a means for conveying pivotal messages or for supporting an argument. In the dramatic performance of “Death of a Salesman,” Arthur Miller utilizes the literary device of motifs to introduce the audience to several ideals the play tackles. Motifs are recurrent elements that serve to establish a tone, and enable readers to see the main themes that the author is trying to express. One of the most common and reoccurring motifs is people’s clothing.
Throughout life people yearn for the thrill of success; however, they often do nothing to achieve that success and instead wish for it. This desire raises the question of how success is truly achieved; is it through pure luck or perseverance? Arthur Miller answers this through Death of a Salesman, where a variety of characters obtain their version of success. Being an unrealistic and unapproachable path to success, Miller emphasizes that luck is not a reliable method to gaining success. Through the use of various characters, Arthur Miller illustrates that relying on hard work brings more success than luck does.
Willy’s old age hinders his ability to sell to all of the connections that he made when he was a younger salesman. Since all of Willy’s previous acquaintances from earlier years are either retired or dead, he has little hope of selling to prospective young buyers. Linda explains this by saying, “But you’re sixty years old. They can’t expect you to keep traveling every week” (4). Willy’s age prompted his disability to connect with the buyers and thus caused him to fail at selling his product, and the company he worked for simply did not have room for salesmen who could not sell.
A few key aspects of Willy cause the reader to classify him as a tragic figure. For example, he started out as a young man with specific dreams, looking up to his brother, Ben, who always recounted, “When I was seventeen I walked into the jungle, and when I was twenty-one I walked out. And by God I was rich” (Miller 48). Willy’s main goal in life was to experience the American Dream as Ben did, but he never accomplished this because he became a salesman, and a poor one at that. For years, Willy lied to himself, which causes extreme psychological issues in the future.
Today, dear. And there'll be nobody home." (Miller 112) Willy’s suicide was an attempt to do his family a favor by getting them money, but after so many years of working as a salesman trying to make enough money to support his family, his work finally paid off. However, Willy won’t get to enjoy his accomplishment which makes the readers feel aggravated and discouraged. This is said because Willy has worked at the same business place for so many years and has went on so many business trips to earn the money but as soon as he commits suicide to get his family money from the insurance, the bills on the house were done being
Willy 's recipe for success in this quote is based entirely around a cult of personality and appearance. As he stated “That’s why I thank the God almighty you’re both built like Adonises. Because the man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead!” , (Miller 1.1721).
Answer; Biff steals things on the grounds that it is his uninvolved forceful method for giving just desserts to individuals he feels have unjustifiably improved in life than he has, additionally in light of the fact that taking gives him a reason to stop whatever deadlock work he happens to be in right now. Biff blames his father for his habit of stealing because his father Willy didn’t stop him them and now he was habitual to steal as an adult too Consider Act 1, in which Biff and Happy are talking alone. Biff: Well, I spent six or seven years after high school trying to work myself up. Shipping clerk, salesman, business of one kind or another.
As a result, Willy did not become successful in his line of work. Willy was a disappointment. He even felt like a disappointment too. It came to Willy’s attention that effort is the only way to success. The thought of having to put in effort in order to be successful astounded him.
The Power of Wealth Money has the ability to drastically change conditions and ease burdens; to obtain physical wealth is to have power. According to Karl Marx, the drive to attain power is the sole cause of any institutional (societal, political, etc.) change. In the play, The Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, the protagonist, Willy Loman is seen attempting to make the dream of economic prosperity a reality. When things begin to go south for him and his family, he tries to conceal his issues in order to maintain his front of having power. Despite, having opportunities that would change his financial status, Willy denies them for he would rather continue to struggle than shatter his front of being well-off and admitting he is an unsuccessful
Willy is a quite self-doubting man. He creates a perfect world to himself and to his family to feel better. In his world of delusion, Willy is an enormously successful salesman who makes great deal of money. He deals reality with extreme arrogance .
His son makes this known to the readers when he says “You were never anything but a hard-working drummer who landed in the ash can like all the rest of them” (Miller 98). Willy worked his entire life to provide for his family. In fact, the greatest sale he made was when he “sold” his life so that his family would receive twenty thousand dollars through his life insurance policy. Walter and Willy both had aspirations of providing for their
Apart from the American dream being an important goal of Willy’s, it has also created a strain on Willy’s mental state. “I’m the New England man. I’m vital in New England,” (8). This quote reveals that Willy has become mentally unstable due to the fact that he believes in something that is not logical. Considering his age, it would actually be an exaggeration to say that he is still useful as a salesman.
Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman naturally brings audience members to reevaluate their perspectives of the American Dream. The main character of the play, Willy Loman, pursues an impossible dream of success and ultimately ends his life when he cannot achieve his pursuit in salesmanship. However, his apparent failures are not brought about to teach the audience about the misconstrued American Dream. Miller's hidden purpose in Death of a Salesman is to make the audience question the undeniability of the Capitalist economic system while not fully abandon it.