Who Is Willy Loman A Hero

When a tragedy strikes, One’s personal choices always play a role. In Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman tries too hard to become a successful salesman and is ultimately the director of his own downfall. Over time, Willy Loman attempts to ‘make it big’ so that his family and others will respect him. Willy frantically tries to become respected and well-liked in his community and his desperation to achieve his goals despite never reaching them undoubtedly leads to the deterioration of his state of mind. Willy Loman is the primary cause of his own tragedy due to his lack of mental fortification. This is because he chooses to believe that his expectations are achievable, these beliefs lead to his inflated sense of self-worth. Also,

He often wishes that his success could be equitable to theirs. Willy has lots of admiration for Dave Singleman because of his ability to effortlessly sell merchandise. This is clear when Willy says, “And old Dave, he’d go up to his room, y’understand, put on his green velvet slippers - I’ll never forget - and pick up the phone and call the buyers, and without ever leaving his room, at the age of eighty-four, he made his living. And when I saw that, I realized that selling was the greatest career a man could want” (Miller

Willy wishes that he could be as capable as Dave when it comes to handling sales. Willy feels that since he cannot reach Dave’s level of success, then he is not a good salesman. However, if Willy had focused more on the completion of his own goals, rather than comparing them to other people’s goals, he may have lived a happier life. Willy also always admired his brother Ben and constantly sought out his advice because he valued Ben’s opinion due to his success. Willy admires Ben because he was able to become a success in a foreign land without the help of others. One of Willy’s regrets in life was not going to Africa with Ben. He regrets this because if he had gone, he could have made it rich and have lead a more glamorous life. Willy was always a follower, not a leader. He chose to become a salesman because he saw the wealth and status that it gave other people who were doing it, and chose to pursue a career in the same field. However one can argue that this was not the correct field for Willy, even Willy himself admits it when he says, “You know, the trouble is, Linda, People don’t seem to take to me” (Miller 23).Willy knows that he is not the finest salesman in New York, and he is not content with his job, but he is too proud to switch career paths. Willy was always a skillful carpenter, however since he did not see it as a respectable