‘“That huge place there?’ she cried pointing. ‘Do you like it?”’ (pg. 90) F. Scott Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby, reflects how Gatsby’s passion for success was so strictly to please others. Daisy played such a huge part in appeasing Gatsby and satisfying his pure need to impress other people. Meanwhile, in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman’s character is the opposite. Willy’s need for success poisoned him because his need to be self-sufficient and his need to have others rely on him forced him into an unhealthy relationship with himself and with his colleagues. Charley and Willy’s relationship foreshadows what will happen to Willy throughout the play. “‘You want a job?’ ‘I got a job, I told you that. What the hell are you …show more content…
“…When he has to go to Charley and borrow fifty dollars a week and pretend its his pay? How long can that go on? How long?…” (57) Linda knows that Willy’s desire to provide for the family is poisonous. She knows that he has to embarrass himself every week to Charley to make it look as if he is self-sufficient. “‘They laugh at me, heh? Go to Filene’s, go to the Hub, go to Slattery’s. Boston. Call out the name Willy Loman and see what happens! Big shot!”’ Again, Willy tries to prove to his kids that he is the one that is really providing for the family and that people everywhere know how great of a salesman he is. This leads to Willy’s demise because if Willy could have just admitted to his kids that he needed their help and that he isn't what he used to be, maybe he would not have had to end his life. “‘You named him Howard, but you can’t sell that. The only thing you got in this world is what you can sell. And the funny thing is that you’re a salesman, and you don’t know that.”’ (97) This quote from Charley perfectly describes Willy Loman. Charley implies that all Willy has absolutely nothing left except for a little bit of his pride and this is ironic because it is his pride and need for his family and others to realize that he has pride in himself is what leads him to his