Preview

The Downfall Of Willy Loman

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
221 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Downfall Of Willy Loman
Willy’s mindset and outlook on life wasn’t enough to keep up with the new modernizing era, and ultimately lead to his downfall.
“The Loman family live in a materialistic world where dreams and hopes have no directions, where values are diminished and promises are broken.” (157).
Willy believes that in life you must be “well liked” in order to survive. During this time technology was evolving and job competition was increase, and Willy and his son’s couldn’t keep up. Biff has never had a steady job, and has moved state to state to find new ones.

“He remembers his brother Ben and regrets missing the opportunity of going to Africa with him. It was Willy’s regret only by choice because he wanted to play it safe for his family.” (155).

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Willy had a few problems of his own. First he let himself get caught with his mistress by his son, which devastated him. He also acted like his sons were perfect, which they weren't. He should have made sure his son passed math so he could have graduated, but he put that into the hands of their next-door…

    • 630 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    While Biff (Willy’s eldest son) was growing up, he did everything he could to be like his father - he idolised and respected him always. However, as much as his son Biff tried to be like his father, he is, in actuality quite the different to him. Biff’s overall nature is an opposition of what a normal model for the American dream is; he has understood that it is just a myth and a pointless dream- and has acknowledged that reality. Biff’s character is stronger than that of his father, just because of that realisation. The acceptance of that reality can be seen on page 18 when he…

    • 109 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    During the span of the book, Willy attempts to take his life. Whatever motive was behind his actions, one presumes it is almost definitely related to Willy’s. But why? The audience must wonder what horrible thing pushes a man over the edge like that? For willy, his idea of success is unlike many others. He himself believed that he was an above average salesman. Yet, he never exactly “made it big”, much like an amateur actor in Hollywood. Willy never got his hollywood premier no matter how far he traveled or how hard he seemed to work for it.…

    • 1012 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Willy often retreats to the past, because he does not want to deal with his failures in the present. Once Willy finally owns up to his mistakes he fixes the problem by committing suicide, because his family can get insurance money from his death.…

    • 786 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Willy’s dream was to become a successful, well liked salesman. Unfortunately, he never identified himself with that dream. He just wanted to be like a man he once met, and he told Linda about it, “His name was Dave Singleman… and he’d drummed merchandise in thirty-one states. And old Dave, he’d go up to his room… −I’ll never forget−and pick up his phone and call the buyers, and without ever leaving his room, at the age of eighty-four, he made his living” (Miller, 81; act 2). By this, Willy states that meeting Dave gave him the idea that being a successful salesman would be easy and he created his view of success based on this man that he idolized; Willy thought that being a salesman would be a simple task, and that it would bring him nothing but great things such as wealth, social status, recognition and idolization. Willy was blinded by the image of Dave and other wealthy successful men. He wanted others to feel about him the same way he once felt about his father, his brother and Dave. He thought that if all those men could do it, he could do it too. Willy believed that if he became a salesman, by the time he was an older man, he would be just like his brother and Dave; he assumed he would be wealthy, idolized and recognized by his…

    • 1314 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    During the play the main focus point is Willy’s volcanic relationship with his eldest son Biff, in which he is on the same path as his father. “WILLY: Sure. Certain men just don’t get started till later in life. Like Thomas Edison, I think. Or B.F. Goodrich. One of them was deaf. [He starts for the bedroom doorway.] I’ll put my money on Biff. (Act 1)” Willy sticks to his gut and hopes that Biff will be the greatest major business entrepreneur. He’s desperate for Biff to follow in his foot steps even though his advice is not the reality of the new world they live…

    • 860 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Biff Loman is a young man, 34 years of age, who has spent the majority of his adulthood bouncing from one job to the next. For this reason, his father, Willy, has much displeasure in his son’s lack of financial stability, which is a major factor in his own health complications. Although Biff suggest that there are other reasons leading to Willy’s complications, Biff’s brother, Happy, informs him that his father often has conversations with himself that support the claim that Biff is to blame. The relationship between father and son is volatile, yet loving at the same time. Willy has placed high expectations upon…

    • 989 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    One major flaw of Willy is his reliance on false hope. This can stem from his son, Biff. As seen in imaginings, adolescent Biff looks up to Willy as a great man, causing him to seek for his approval. In high school, Biff has many athletic achievements and is well liked. His awards cause for Willy to have high hopes in what he can conquer later in life. This developed vastly and became an influence in Willy’s mood. When he has a sense of hope to hold onto, he is liberated of his daily pressures. When Biff and Happy are at the restaurant with…

    • 661 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This idea clouds his mind and is the catalyst to other mistakes Willy makes in his life. Willy is unable to provide for his family as a salesman because he is paid a very low wage, but he continues to pretend that he is very successful in his firm. Willy’s brother Ben told me he that Willy told him, “Business is bad, it’s murderous. But not for me, of course” (Act 1) Willy’s former boss has also told me that Willy tried to convince him that Willy “averaged a hundred and seventy dollars a week in commissions” (Act 2). Willy is convinced his sales are so remarkable that he fails to realize he is obviously not doing well enough in his job to support his family. Willy also tries to force his ideas of success on his children which causes conflict within his household. Biff, Willy’s son, does not want to be a salesman, but instead, wants to work on a farm. Willy does not believe that a man can be successful on a farm when in reality he would be able to provide for his family better than he is now if he did a more physically demanding job. Willy’s idea of success also gives him a false sense of pride. Willy is too prideful to take a job from his friend Charlie even though he constantly asks to borrow money to pay…

    • 692 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Who Is Willy Flawless

    • 870 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Willy has been a salesman all his life; promoting and deals are all he knows, and it has extended from his business into his own life. For quite a long time he has attempted to shape and shape his life into one that is the most engaging; from his children, Biff and Happy, being upbeat, effective representatives like him, to his marriage to his wife Linda, and particularly his vocation. Willy is an extremely defective man who has committed numerous errors, however over the long run he has decided to overlook the parts of his life where he was at flaw and turn them to make himself the exploited person. He has done this for so long, and lied so well to himself and everybody, that he really starts to accept his own particular lies and declines to assume liability for anything he has done. Albeit extremely clashed and now and again the antagonist he could call his own life, Willy is substantially more relatable in his blemishes than he would be on the off chance that he were a completely flawless character.…

    • 870 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    After this event occurs, Biff throws away everything he ever worked for in order to “punish” his father. He allows himself to fail math, to not go to college, and to abandon his family. Biff then goes to the South, where he works as a farmhand and eventually winds up in jail. He does all of this after realizing that all of the values his father had instilled in him were not even being lived out by his father. Everything Biff thought he knew appears to be a lie to him. In Willy’s mind, these values were true and he was simply showing his sons that they were both more than capable of being successful. By squandering his entire future, Biff shows that he is not capable and does not care enough to be a success.…

    • 555 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    With failure comes consequences, unfortunately Willy fails to acknowledge severity of his. Near the end of the play Willy’s advice seems unreliable in Biff’s eyes due to Willy’s failure to acknowledge his defeat in life and many of his past mistakes that only Biff knew about. Willy chased his American Dream for far too long leading to the destruction of him and his…

    • 748 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Biff started to try to bring his father to his senses, with no luck. Willy needed professional help and saw Biffs trying, as his being spiteful. Biff made it very clear when he had enough and was telling his father exactly what he had done to them both when he stated “There’ll be…

    • 458 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Willy Loman

    • 1283 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Early on, Biff steals a football and, instead of reprimanding him, his father says, "Coach'll probably congratulate you on your initiative" (30). Again, Willy ruins his son by making it seem as if theft is acceptable and sometimes even necessary to prove oneself. Biff learns that stealing is tolerable, just like Happy learns that lying is normal. While Happy uses deception to pretend that he has achieved the American dream, Biff resorts to theft as a form of revenge and contempt for those that are successful. Once again, the motif of theft repeats when Biff says, "I wonder if Oliver still thinks I stole that carton of basketballs" (26). Biff previously worked for Oliver, who was pretty successful since he had his own business. In his mad pursuit of the American dream, Biff deems it acceptable to steal a carton of basketballs because he knows that he is not successful, but tries to attain success by stealing. When Biff goes to visit Oliver to try to get Oliver's support in a business venture, Biff ends up stealing again and he tells Happy that he "took [Oliver's] fountain pen" (104). Happy asks Biff why he did this and Biff answers, "I just -- wanted to take something, I don't know" (104). It seems as if stealing is automatic for Biff because he has acted on his impulses for so long that now, whenever he wants to take something, he does so without thinking.…

    • 1283 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays