Willy's Flaws in Death Of A Salesman Essay

Carve a tunnel of hope through the dark mountain of disappointment. This quote by Martin Luther King Jr. encourages people to seek hope in all of their disappointment. Many people heed this advice, but some decided not to follow it. The stories of people whom do not follow this advice are filled with tragedy. On such story is the story of Willy Loman. He is the main charter in Arthur Millers play Death of a Salesman. In the play, we see how Willy has developed into a tragically flawed character. This development has taken place over his whole life. These flaws eventually lead to his demise and his suicide. Willys demise is lead by his false pride, living vicariously though his sons, and his interpretation of the American Dream.

Willy has a sense of false pride that lead to him suffering many sorrows. First, Willys pride will not allow him to see his failure in the workplace. He still clings to a year of record profits when he debates with Howard. He says I averaged a hundred and seventy dollars a week in the year of 1928! (pg.82) He uses that reasoning to try and maintain his job and reassures himself that his is an excellent salesman. After that, Willy believes that prosperity of his job is endless. Willy believes that his personality will allow him to attain great success, in the firm. He tells Ben Its true, Ben. All he has to do is go into any city, pick up the phone, and hes making a living (pg.86) When wily tells Ben this, his counterfeit hope is shown. Finally, his pride keeps him accepting a job from Charley. Charley continues to offer him a job, but Willy refuses to take it because he already has a job. Charley then asks What kind of job is a job without pay? (pg.96) Willy still continues to reject Charleys offer of salvation because he has too much pride to accept a job from him. Willys false pride causes him to live though his two sons lives.

Willy lives vicariously though his two sons. He feels that is he can pass on his ideology to his sons, than he will be successful. First, he teaches Biff and Happy that the only thing that matters is personality. He tells the boys how a charismatic personality matters while good marks in school are worthless. After that, he pushes his career upon his Biff. He wants Biff to become a salesman at the same firm in which he works. He wants Biff to gain success by accomplishing what he was unable to. Finally, Willy tries to gain an achievement through his sons sporting store idea. He wants them to succeed so he can feel accomplished. He wants to have his ideology proven true. He desires to have Biff and Happy succeed based solely on their personas. Willy determination to gain success though his two sons shows how living vicariously is a major flaw.

Willys analysis of the American Dream helps him in his demise. He believes that success follows those who are well liked. This causes him to obsess about how people feel about him. He is unable to grasp the idea that his personality has little affect upon hid career. He believes that the failure of his career is due to people not liking him anymore. He extensively points out that people no longer smile at him. This shows how people no longer like him, and they will not longer purchase his products. He also feels that society is leaving him behind because of his interpretation of the American Dream. The actual is reason is his ideology about personality that causes him to be left behind, by society. Willys version of how to obtain the American Dream leads to the destruction of his life.

Willys life has been in constant descent. His flaws contribute greatly to this problem. Willys false pride, forceful existence though his sons lives, and his idea about the American Dream lead to his downfall. Mr. Loman continues to sink lower until he finally commits suicide. Willys tragic flaws show how an individuals hopes and dream can be ruined by a few mistakes.