Jimmy Nguyen Professor Cathy Locks English 1102 9/14/2014 Envying the King of the Jungle Naturally, the inborn instincts of humans are the key qualities to survival when facing primal situations. Protecting one's family from unfortunate situations to guarantee a future for them would be one of many traits from a human's natural instinct. In Arthur Miller's, Death of a Salesman, Willy's pretentious drive brings him downhill and to become schizophrenic; recognizing at the end that he is unable to achieve his style of American dream. Worsening his delusional belief, was his brother's success in Africa; encouraging Willy to push Biff “to walk into a [cruel American] jungle” (act 1) to achieve his American dream. The American dream, what use to …show more content…
After taking countless hits to their cliché mindset of what is the way towards happiness, people are weary that the illusion of security is only temporary, making them fight and work doggedly to assure they have a well-paying job to support their idea of success. This is where goals and achievements truly had a meaning, where “wealth and power are [the] sole badges of success, so long will ambitious men strive to attain them” (Lallas). Willy was extremely obsessed over this mindset that his logic became clouded too, which was symbolically connected to Willy's estate. When Willy became delusional we were given a glimpse of his past where his backyard was wide open with trees and able to see his neighbor Charley; from this we can see how he was still young and with room to improve and grow. Being pulled back into reality constantly we see how every window and door he looks out there is only, “bricks and windows, windows and bricks,” (act 1) only left with the feeling of being “boxed” …show more content…
In an article written by Watson, “A Model of the Materialistic Self,” he explains how the materialism lifestyle is intrinsically awarding to those with, “an external and fragile sense of self” where happiness can be found in “wealth or status.” He explains that “individuals. . . stigmatized as being “less likable” . . . being self centered, selfish [and] manipulative” are usually those that are more easily steered into this costly devotion; this relationship with materialistic worth was also deemed to others in Watson’s research as envy (Watson). Throughout the play we are constantly reminded by Willy, the only way to be successful is being “well-liked” and envied by others; from Watson’s point of view this can be argued as to how this is detrimental to one’s success and only causes destructive habits. In the second act of Miller’s play we find Willy meeting up with Charley; we see not so subtly how jealous Willy is of his friend’s success and his family. Encountering Bernard prior to Charley, he sees a new man who has raised a family and became a successful lawyer even without being well-liked just like his father. After this meeting we see a change in Willy’s behavior, all that he truly believed in for success in the business world has been contradicted