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
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.
About the cause of Willy 's death, critic like Bert Cardullo, in his article subtitled The Swollen Legacy of Arthur Miller, argues that: … The salesman figure that comes through is not of a typical grunt brought down by financial failure but of an exceptional invalid, in whom the stress of business only increased existing psychological imbalances ( ' 'Death of a Salesman
“The man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead” (33). In Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller uses foil characters to elucidate Willy’s flaws that ultimately prevent him and his family from succeeding. The contrast between Charley and Willy and Bernard and Biff serves to highlight how Willy’s obsession with achieving his version of the American Dream impacts both his life and his children’s. His poor values are passed on to his children producing even more failures. ¬¬¬¬Both Charley and Willy work as salesmen, however Charley represents what Willy desired to become – successful.
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.
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.
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 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 .
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
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.
He has a Job, two kids, and a wife. Willy is a salesman who dreams to be like his role model, Dave Singleman. Singleman - in Willy perspective- had the ultimate successful life, as expressed in this quote: "Cause what could be more satisfying than to be able to go, at the age of eighty-four, into twenty or thirty different cities, and pick up a phone, and be remembered and loved and helped by so many different people?" [Act 2] Willy believed that success, was equivalent to how well liked he was. Willy's 'flaw' was his foolish pride, his persistence of achieving "his rightful status".
In addition to this, Willy’s old age prevents him from getting different jobs after he was fired, which only makes him all the more desperate to keep the job that he has. Willy was unable to change the fact that he was an old man working a young man’s job, and since he was unable to accommodate, this eventually led to his
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.
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).
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.