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Death Of Salesman

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Recommended: View of success in death of a salesman

The definition of success does not actually have one definition. There are so many factors that play into a “successful” life or career. The best way to find your meaning of success is to ask yourself what do you love and cherish the most. This can be family, friends, a well paying career, being financially stable, having kids, and of course, having a lot of money, a huge house and not having to work. Whatever your definition may be, don’t let anyone change your views because it is what defines you. This is very evident in Death of Salesman. Many characters are driven by different factors, but the most obvious of them all is Willy. Willy believes money is a path to success, whereas Linda’s thoughts of success is family. Happy, their son, believes …show more content…

Willy’s version of success includes money and being well-liked. Whether it’s by his sons, or friends, or boss, Willy loves to be the center of it all. He continues to refer to his brother Ben, who made a fortune by the age of 21. Ben represents all the things Willy desires for himself and his sons, but he is so wrapped up with the idea of being “successful” in his own terms that he does not realize he already is successful. Willy has worked a salesman for over 30 years, and works for the son of his old boss. When he is unable to get a new job where he doesn’t have to drive, his views of success crumble. Willy wants to able to achieve the success he desires only through Biff, but this changes when Biff learns of the affair. Ultimately, Willy’s view of success led him to a life in the complete opposite …show more content…

Happy incorporates his father's doings of changing reality in order to create situations that are more favorable to him. Happy’s views of success are doing what you love. He grew up listening to Willy lie about everything, so it is not surprising when Happy talked about his career. Instead of telling the truth that he is an assistant to the assistant, Happy lies and tells everyone he is the assistant buyer. Tarnished not only by his father’s views of success, but his own, Happy has another very unique view of success. The vision of success that Happy holds has sprouted off from one very similar to his father’s and has led him down an unpromising path. Whether or not Happy actually loves his job is hard to tell, but by the way he lies to everyone about his position gives the idea that he is embarrassed by it. There should be no embarrassment or regret if you follow a path that you

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To Willy, success is heavily represented by his brother Ben, who “walked into the jungle” at the age of seventeen and “walked out” at the age of twenty one (52). With this unconventional sense of prosperity, Willy seems to develop the idea that it is possible to achieve

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“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.

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Since Willy has only seen success come to those who are well liked he has a firm belief that success can only be achieved through being well liked by others, Willy sees great potential for success in his sons, especially his oldest son Biff whom is his personal favorite. “One such deficit that has long been suggested in the traditional clinical literature as playing an etio-logical role is that abusive parents have unrealistic expectations of their child's behavior (i.e., they overestimate their child's capabilities; Steele & Pollock, 1968).” Biff is the golden child, the one whom he had dreams of greatness, and the first born. “The order in which a person is born into their family plays a substantial role in the individual’s development of personality, character, intelligence, and career choices.” (Stewart et al., 2001).

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A salesman has got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory” (p. 111). Charley’s generous advice and money ignites jealousy in Willy, as he always measures himself against this successful man. Certainly, Charley frustrates Willy to no end, conjuring a display of pride that one can easily see every time Willy rejects help, and the dejection that

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Analysis: This quote is important because a common theme throughout the story is the road to success. It reveals how in Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman believes that to be successful, one has to have contacts in high place, a pretty face, and a good personality. The author says it this way so the readers can understand how Willy views the road to success, so they can see what’s going through Willy Loman’ The tone/mood of this passage is self deception. Analysis: This quote is important because this is what’s constantly going through Willy’s head.

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As Willy considers his plan, he exclaims that his son, Biff, will “worship me for it!” (135). Soon after, Willy says, “When the mail comes he’ll be ahead of Bernard again!” In response, Willy’s image of Ben replies that this suicidal plan is a “perfect proposition all around,” (135). But, as much as Willy yearns for success and happiness, especially through Biff’s career, he fails.

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Overall, Willy and Biff put up illusions to protect the way others view them. Willy hides his unhappiness and cheats on his wife. Willy also borrows money from a friend to support his lifestyle. These things cause Biff to view his father with disappointment and resentment. Biff continuously lies about his career and where it is headed to protect the way his father sees

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This destroyed all of Biff's views of his father, causing him not to graduate high school, and it ruined his future career. Ultimately, all these things build up for Willy, and getting fired is one of his last straws. After an argument with Biff, Willy kills himself, hoping to

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Willy then complains about the career state of their son, Biff, who, despite having a promising future in high school, never attended collage because he flunked math. Biff and his brother Happy were currently staying at their parent's place. That night, they talked about the

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In doing so, they show the audience how each and everyone of them was slightly to blame for Willy’s tragic fate. Of Willy’s two sons, Happy is still infatuated with Willy’s dream. As he says, it’s the dream of being number one. Willy was never number one, nor did he ever really get close to being number one. In fact, for someone in Willy’s position this goal was quite impossible.

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