Willy's Optimism In Death Of A Salesman

In “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller, the character Willy is used as a metaphor for how the ignorance of one leads to the downfall of another. Willy is a prideful person and his pride influences the way he remembers the past which is perfect. Although having an idealist viewpoint of the world can lead to ideal outcomes, Willy’s ideal outlook leads to his demise because of his delusion and projection of his ideals onto his sons.
First, Willy’s optimism comes from his delusion that his life is perfect. Willy is constantly lying about his life stories from how much money he has to accomplishments that never happened. His delusion becomes him and so does his pride. As he imagines his ideal world, he starts to believe that it’s the world that

As Willy develops his ideal view on the world, he begins to expect his sons to live up to his standards. He critiques his sons for not having jobs or a family or a house, but he is truly deflecting his emotions on them while continuing to live in his make believe world. Arthur Miller furthers his argument that ignorance is not bliss by showing how Willy’s ignorance doesn't make the other characters happy. Biff and Happy agree to follow their mother’s toleration towards Willy, but it comes with a cost. When Biff discovered that Willy cheated on Linda he desperately wanted to tell her, but this would uncover his father’s inner world. The inner guilt of Biff demonstrates how letting Willy live with his idealist perspective affected the family alongside Willy. Combined with the constant expectations of his children and the tolerant mindspect of Linda, everyone became unhappy. Arthur Miller illuminates his intentions behind portraying Willy as the obvious villain as he reveals how the family contributed and was the main cause of his delusion. Although Willy caused pain to his family, his delusions were always about making a better life for his family, but the family was a contributing factor to destroying this possibility. In the end Willy’s ideal view of the world didn’t just lead to his demise, but it led to his family's