How Does Death Of A Salesman Define Happiness

Pursuing ones happiness can be a very troublesome and a hardening journey that can strengthen ones character and resolve. However, the pursuit of happiness can also be debilitating and will require a lot of vigor that can make or break the person. To really achieve personal contentment, one must first know what it is that they want, then, determine if it is realistic, and finally, figure out a way to achieve it. In the modern play Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller we are delved into a story of disillusionment and unrealistic expectations and values. Willy Loman, a man down on his luck develops mental issues that cause him to hallucinate and have illusions of grandeur. His son, Biff, has developed his father’s value of, “if you are well-liked,
you can get anywhere in life.” Happy, the other son, always craves his father’s attention, and is always trying to make him happy rather than himself. When pursuing ones happiness we must first understand that our happiness should not be infringed upon by others and what they believe. We must not allow the opinions of others, unless they are positive, to enter our minds, because this will only weigh us down and slow us down from achieving our happiness.
Happy is a prime example of a lost soul who needs to seek the approval of others in order to find his way. He does not know what he wants in life, or what makes him content, because he has not spent time focusing on himself. When we do not give the time of day for ourselves, we tend to lose knowledge of ourselves that we may not ever get back. This happens when we spend all of our time pleasing others. Happy does this with his father, he has this mentality that his father is some amazing being that knows all. When in reality, Willy is a very stubborn, uneducated man who is stuck in his way, the wrong way, and he drags his sons down with him. To truly break free from this toxic bond his snake of a father has him wrapped up in, he must break down that pedestal he spent all his time admiring and building for his father. In doing this, Happy will be able to become free and go out and pursue what makes him feel content. However, this is only the beginning of a long journey to feeling absolute contentment. In life, we will come across people who seem so knowledgeable of life and the world, and they will be so captivating that we will give everything and build them a golden throne for which they can sit upon. But, never let it come to this, because once they become our world, then everything we are will become insignificant, until there is nothing left.
Willy Loman, a very charismatic, attention getting man, a liar, a cheater, a self-loather.
A snake. He will wrap around anyone and squeeze the life out of them to get them to if he so chooses. Or, he can lie his way into success, and be way in over his head in his endeavors. While he can seem like a inspiring man going through a troubling time, in reality, he did this to himself, and he is going to drag everyone and anyone down with him. Willy is the best example of someone who has too unrealistic expectations and values, and he always ends up crashing and burning when he attempts to pursue his dreams. If one wants to fulfill their dreams, they must set pragmatic expectations for themselves. Without sensible expectations we tend to find ourselves always failing and we look for easier ways out. Add that on top of Willy’s need to lie, cheat, and fake his way to the top, and there is a disaster waiting to happen. There is a right and a wrong way to get through life, and taking the easy way out, lying, stealing, and justifying the unjustifiable, is not the right way. The right way is to be honest and hard working, and actually try, rather than make people like you to get to the top. Willy also suffers from illusions of grandeur, in other words, he believes he is some amazing god-like person who is all-knowing, and unfortunately, this mentality has infected his sons too. This is reinforced by the fact that he thinks he plays some vital role in, everything, “I’m vital to New England!” When in reality, he is not. In the end, Willy cannot pursue his happiness, because he takes short cuts that end up in more failure that bring him back even further than where he started. To counteract this, in life, we must not cut corners, doing this will lead to us having real, lasting contentment, rather than a fake, short, meaningless feeling of bliss if we do cut
corners.
Of all the male Loman’s, Biff was by far the worst off after high school. He developed his father’s tendency to lie and cheat his way to the top, but he also has compulsions to steal. All of these problems, all because he was raised by a man who has to tell everyone how to live their lives. Willy always has to say how he believes people should act, rather than allowing people to act how they want to. When Linda was sewing her stockings, Willy tells her not to, when Biff wants to be his own man, Willy does not allow him to, when Happy craves his father’s approval, he does not give it, because that would be what everyone else wants. Biff eventually does see through Willy’s deceit, and he decides to not follow in his father’s footsteps. He is the first person to break free from Willy’s powerful toxic grasp and pursue his own happiness. In the end, Biff is much better off and it is hinted at the end that he will become a better person who thinks for himself. It all goes to show how important it is to be our own people, much like Biff who eventually thinks for himself and becomes a better person.
To truly seek and attains one’s happiness we must first not allow the voices of others cloud our thoughts and actions. In doing so we can freely do as we please in order to discover who we are. Happy struggles with this, as his father tells him and Biff to act like he does because he is “very successful,” when in reality, he is not. Biff on the other hand does not struggle with this, and he becomes the man he was meant to be without his father demanding he be someone he is not. Finally, we as people should always spend time on ourselves whenever possible, in order to truly discover who we are and what makes us happy. When we do unearth what makes us content, then we must chase after it, and keep chasing after it, until we can clutch that which we sought in our bare hands.