Willy's Comfort Zone
It would be difficult for one to go through life in constant battle with his hardships. The manner in which certain individuals deal with these conflicts may vary as much as the spectrum of colors in a gay pride parade. Some try to solve the problem and get rid of it, while others will try and put it aside for as long as possible. In Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman's method is very dangerous and yields harsh results. Instead of confronting the circumstances, he flees to his memories of the better days, when his life's predicaments were very limited. Willy takes comfort in evading his problems by being reminiscent; however, this comfort is indeed his fatal flaw. Willy's first flash to the past was when his son, Biff, returns home from the west. Willy discusses his disappointment in Biff with his wife, Linda. When Willy fails to cope with this misfortune successfully, he returns in his head to a time when everything was going well and life was more fortunate to him. It is perfectly normal for one to remember more fortunate days at dispirited times of life, as long as the ability to return to the present and deal with the reality of the situation is still available. However, Wi
When one relies in too much of something, the outcome usually turns out badly. This is shown in Willy's next flashback, when his passion for comfort blows up in his face, forcing him to see the painful side of his life. In this flashback, he is brought back to the most disgusting point of his life: when Biff finds out about his other women, and Willy finds out that his son flunked math. This scene is the turning point in his life where everything begins to go downhill. The present time has always been horrible and full of problems for Willy, but his allusions to the past had always been very fortunate. The audience has been left to wonder the origin of the turning point in the Loman's home into a house of tension. Since this point is now unveiled, and there are no happy memories left for Willy to tap into, he has nowhere else to run to. Realizing he no longer has a comfort fortress to seek refuge in, where else can he escape to? It is sad and ironic in that this method of dealing with his problems never actually helped him; instead, it only let him live through another day of his pitiful life, with his false sense of hope and his memories being his guide through life. His next allusion to the past was during a conversation with his wife. Willy is downhearted about his failure to provide for his family, his looks, and basically his whole life in general. He begins to see some of the truth in his life when he makes mention of the fact that he is aware that he seems to
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Approximate Word count = 1006
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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