Death of a Sales Man
As the curtain is being pulled up, we find Willy Loman, a depressed 60 year old salesman, who is returning from a business trip. Willy has two sons named Happy, and Biff, both of whom are complete failures. The failures of both his children cause Willy to go insane, and he plans to kill himself. He thinks that if he kills himself his son, Biff, will see how well liked his father was and he will come to love his father instead of arguing with him all the time. In the end at Willy's funeral no one, but his family show up to pay their respects. In his sons eyes Willy seemed to be a coward trying to escape the torments of the world, but in truth he was trying to get the $20,000 insurance money so his family could live a happy life. The main conflict in Death of a Salesman deals with the confusion and frustration of Willy Loman. These feelings are caused by his inability to face the realities of modern society. Willy's most prominent delusion is that success is dependent upon being well-liked and having personal attractiveness. Willy builds his entire life around this idea and teaches it to his children. When Willy was young, he had met a man named Dave Singleman who was so well lik
"I'm always in a race with the junkyard! I just finished paying for the car and it's on it last legs. The refrigerator consumes belts like a goddam maniac. They time those things."(Act 2, page 73, lines 16-19) Willy's belief in this statement drew him to believe that big business lacked compassion. Unfortunately he realized this when it was too late. He believe in his invincibility and believed his company would take care of him for the rest of his life, and he neglected hi family. It is because of this that he is abandoned by Biff and disowned by Happy, left babbling in a toilet. It is this flaw which allowed him to die a slow death and played the greatest role in his eventual downfall. Willy did not put his family first, he was always thinking about money and prestige. He did not realize that he was the one driving his family farther and farther away form him. He also didn't realize that he was driving himself over the edge. In the end Willy's son Biff, begins to understand what he is going through and he himself realizes he is going to be what he is going to be, not what his father wants him to be. In many ways Biff is similar to his father. In the beginning of the play we see that Biff shares many of the same ideas as Willy. He values being well-liked above everything else and sees little value in being smart or honest. One of Biff's main flaws is his tendency to steal. Early in the play we learn that he has stolen a football from the school locker. When Willy finds out about this, instead of disciplining Biff, he says that the coach will probably
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Approximate Word count = 1068
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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