Willy example essay topic

Arthur Miller, winner of many literary and dramatic awards, is an incredibly influential force in American drama. His plays deal with issues common to every society. He makes the audience face fault, weakness, and ignorance; subjects we would typical hide from. At the same time he emphasize Arthur Miller, winner of many literary and dramatic awards, is an incredibly influential force in American drama. At the same time he emphasize Arthur Miller Willy Loman a man of virtue or not? In the play "Death of a Salesman" Willy is a character that has endured hardship his whole life and not made it anywhere.

In the later years of his life he begins to realize that he hasn't amounted to anything and the chances of it happening have withered away. Thus he starts to feel as if his life has entered a downward spiral. Soon after he can't seem to bear living his life in what he sees as ruin and ends it by committing suicide. Willy Loman's downfall is a result of his failure in believing in the American dream, in believing that being well liked would bring him success and the fact that he never realized he was failing.

As a result of his faith in working hard and keeping at his job came Willy's failure in the workplace. If he had not gave in to the American dream, believing it would pay off with hard work, than he would have had a better chance to be successful. A main element that contributed to his belief in this was his wife Linda who always inflated him with encouragement. "Well, next week you " ll do better" (Miller 36). This comment resulted in replenishing Willy's belief as his immediate response was, "Oh, I'll knock 'em dead next week" (Miller 36). Another reason why the American dream didn't work for Willy is because he was never as good at his job as he thought (or admitted to himself).

He had illusions that he was a good salesman that had just suffered bad luck but in truth he was just an average middle class person barely getting by on what they earned. Biff tries to tell this to him when he says, "Pop! I'm a dime a dozen and so are you!" (Miller 132). Or when he says, "You were never anything but a hard working drummer who landed in the ash can like all the rest of them!" (Miller 132). Of course Willy is outraged and denies it. Willy also failed by putting his faith in this dream because his energy was misdirected.

What Willy was naturally good at was carpentry and doing things with his hands but he never gave up trying to be a salesman because he believed in the American dream. Additionally Willy valued the idea that if you are well liked you would make it in life. When he tells Biff and Happy that one day he will have his own business Happy responds by saying he'd be like uncle Charley. Willy confidently says, "Bigger than Uncle Charley! Because Charley is not -liked. He's liked but he's not - well liked" (Miller 30).

This illustrates that Willy truly believes the key to being successful lies in popularity and being well liked. Willy was liked by his previous boss, the father of Howard Wagner and when he failed on the job he kept this in the back of his mind to keep him motivated. Willy believed that because he had helped name him Howard that it gave him some kind of leverage in the eyes of his boss. Willy mentioned this very fact after he gets fired while he is talking to Charley. "That snot nose. Imagine that?

I named him. I named him Howard" (Miller 97). Charley tells him that it doesn't mean anything but Willy doesn't really see reason. Charley then says, "Why must everybody like you? Who liked J.P. Morgan? Was he impressive?" (Miller 97).

In the end Willy began to realize the truth but still denied it. Clearly then it is apparent that Willy was living in a world of denial that sprouted from his indomitable pride. Willy had an arrogant personality ever since he was a salesman and this combined with his pride made him a hard person to get along with. However the fact that Willy has so much pride and for no clear reason proves that he is in constant denial if only because he has that pride. As.