Willy Loman's Conversation In Death Of A Salesman

In Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller, Willy, the protagonist, imagines new conversations and recalls old conversations with his deceased brother Ben. The discussions between Willy and Ben include relevant information about Willy as a child, giving deeper insight into Willy’s character. In addition, the exchanges between the two brothers shed light on Willy’s feeling of confinement, his definition of success, and the disappointment he feels when he fails to achieve that standard of success. Ben serves to convey to the audience a deeper understanding of Willy’s persona; Ben achieves this through conversations with Willy that explain Willy’s childhood, standard of success, feeling of confinement, and disappointment in himself. Ben’s role

Ben tells Willy that he has bought timberland in Alaska and needs someone to look after it, and Willy responds saying, “God, timberland! Me and my boys in those grand outdoors! ”(60) Willy’s response to Ben displays Willy’s want to be in the outdoors, where there is freedom and he has a chance to be his own man. In fact, Willy is great at construction work but does not want to become a carpenter because it does not fit with his standard of success. Willy dismisses a blue collar job as he believes he will not become as rich as he would like. He is unable to look past wealth to see that there is more to life than money. Willy’s fixation on material wealth confines him to become a salesman, leaving him

Lamenting, Willy says, “Why didn't I go to Alaska with my brother Ben that time! Ben! That man was a genius, that man was success incarnate! What a mistake! He begged me to go ”(27). This quotation shows Willy’s disappointment with himself that he had made the wrong decision by not going with Ben to Alaska. Furthermore, Willy’s frustration with himself runs deeper than his frustration of not going to Alaska as he has not only made the wrong decision with Ben, but he has also been unable to achieve his standard of success that he has set for himself. Since Willy believes that one’s self worth is determined by his success, Willy feels that he is worth nothing, leaving him frustrated and disappointed in all of his past actions and decisions. Willy’s discussions with Ben reveal Willy’s regret from his past