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Willy Loman Essay

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A True Friend: The Role of Charley in Death of a Salesman
The play Death of a Salesman written by Arthur Miller “adapts itself to the principles of Greek tragedy with some borrowed techniques of Expressionism to convey the inner life of Willy Loman. The play is set in New York in the late 1940s” (Kelly, 2015). Willy Loman is the main character in the play and he basically is going through a mental breakdown. Willy is focusing more on his job and making a name for himself than having a normal relationship with his family. His belief is that if your name is widely known then you are successful in life. The beginning of the play shows Willy coming home from a trip he is trying to take, but after almost running off the road because of his illusions, he heads back home. Willy is upset about the confusion he is having that is affecting his job and comes home angry and frustrated. His illusions start to get worse and he believes the illusions are in the present even though they are past memories. His family sees him talking to himself and they are getting worried about him but do not know how to communicate to him the concerns they have for his health without Willy getting offended (Miller 360-452). …show more content…

Charley is considered a minor character in the play Death of a Salesman but we can see as the play progresses Charley’s actions help Willy in a number of situations and makes a big impact on most of the play. Charley is introduced soon after Willy starts having illusions of past events sitting at his kitchen table. Charley walks in to Willy’s kitchen and he is in his pajamas. Over a game of cards, Willy and Charley seem to talk about no important consequential matters. The way this setting being displayed, Willy and Charley have known each other for a while, because of the familiarity they share and later with the interactions of the family members (Miller

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