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He cannot provide for his family financially, and emotionally he feels bankrupt. That is why the brief, transient sense that Biff likes him provides him with so much joy -- it is the proof, however small, that he has succeeded at something in life. However, even his language of 'liking' echoes the language he uses when speaking of being 'liked' at the office, and almost immediately after speaking to Biff, Willy is dreaming once again of diamond mines, and easy money. Willy is incapable, unlike his son, of truly deep self-awareness.
Willy, Biff, and Happy seem ignorant of the American dream's demand that people work hard to move ahead. Willy and Linda blame Biff's math teacher, not Biff, for their son's failure in school, while brainy, hard-working Bernard grows up to argue a case before the Supreme Court (Miller 111). Biff and Happy never concoct honest schemes to earn money, and Willy's dream is of discovering diamonds, not using his brains and sweat to make a profit.
However, Miller, despite his criticism of the Loman family, clearly views their corrupt values and malfunctioning social dynamic as produced, at least in part, by an American system that equates wealth with self-worth....
The idea that a human being is worth more dead than alive, and that Willy can give his family material prosperity and the ultimate dream of a mortgage-free home through killing himself is shown to be grotesque. The only joy, Miller counsels, comes in forgiveness and love, not on gaining social esteem and easy money.
Willy is not a tragic character, despite the tragedies in his life, because he never achieves true self-understanding. For all of the profoundness of the moment of achieving a truce with his son, Willy still uses the language of 'liking' and being 'liked' as the ultimate compliment -- it is the language of his office, never love. He strives to be well-liked at work, and only achieves in being liked by his colleagues and his son. Because of his refusal to see himself and his son honestly, Willy never succeeds in being loved, which Miller suggests should be the ultimate goal of human existence. To give something to his family, Willy gives his life and his life insurance money, rather than giving love, honesty, and truth -- universal values, rather than the values of American capitalism.
Works Cited
Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. New York: Penguin, 1996.
Works Cited
Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. New York: Penguin, 1996.
Death of a Salesman: Tragedy in Prose Tragedy, can easily lure us into talking nonsense." Eric Bentley In Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, we are introduced to Willy Loman, who believes wholeheartedly in what he considers the promise of the American Dream -- that a "well liked" and "personally attractive" man in business will unquestionably acquire the material comforts offered by modern American life. Willy's obsession with the superficial qualities of attractiveness
Death of a Salesman Culture and Gender in Death of a Salesman American culture is clearly changing. Yet, many within it are refusing to adapt, and are continuing to hold on to outdated middle class values that don't work within today's social context. This is Willy Loman. Arthur Miller presents a sad but realistic look at the destruction of the American Dream and middle class values within his work Death of a
Willy's "psychopathy," he explained, is a manifestation of his being "other-directed" -- or possessing a value system entirely determined by external norms…evidence that goes beyond normal human inconsistency into the realm of severe internal division" (3). The author's analysis illustrates that Willy's "psychopathy" is an inevitable and consistent result of his constant dreaming about success and wealth using the wrong approach. Knowing that he has failed himself and his
Death of a Salesman Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman is about a sad salesman, Willy Loman has spent his entire adult life in sales, with little success, but always believing affirming that a man who is well-liked is always successful. There have been many film and television versions of Miller's play since its first performance in 1949. The 1966 version directed by Alex Segal and starring Lee J. Cobb has
In conclusion, Death of a Salesman tells the tragic tale of Willy Loman's life. We do feel pity for this man as we watch him fail and we do understand that he makes tragic mistakes throughout his life that have brought him to this point. Many critics want to make allowances for the play because it represents the world in which we live. In doing so, they seem to forget
He can't let go of the idea that popularity and wealth are what are most important in a man. In the second act, Willy receives a terrible blow. He explains to his boss, Howard, how he met a salesman when he was about 19, and admired the man's skills, and decided that sales was the very best job a man could have. But he tells Howard he's tired, and he