The Self Destruction of Willy Loman - Death of a Salesman
In Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller, Willy Loman's life seems to be slowly deteriorating. It is clear that Willy's predicament is of his own doing, and that his own foolish pride and ignorance lead to his downfall. Willy's self-destruction involved the uniting of several aspects of his life and his lack of grasping reality in each, consisting of, his relationship with his wife, his relationship and manner in which he brought up his children, Biff and Happy, and lastly his inability to productively earn a living and in doing so, failure to achieve his "American Dream".
Willy's relationship with his wife is clearly a cause of his collapse. Willy neglected to demonstrate honesty in his relationship with his wife. The reader is told of Willy's past and how on business trips he would deceivingly find himself a woman to spend the night with. When Willy is no longer able to make a living he borrows money from his friend, Charley, and claims that it's money that he had made. As Willy's condition slowly deteriorates, he sets up tubing, which he plans to hook up in a fashion with intent of suicide. He neglects to tell Linda how he feels. Due to Willy's lack of honesty with Linda, she too isn't honest with him. She is aware that Willy is borrowing money from a friend, but doesn't say anything about it. After Willy is unable to complete a drive to New England, due to his obviously deteriorating condition, Linda avoids reality and makes excuses for Willy. As Miller wrote, "Maybe it's your glasses. You never went for your new glasses"(13). As Linda became knowledgeable that Willy was planning to kill himself, she didn't confront him and acted as if nothing was wrong. Clearly, if Willy was more honest with his wife, she would have returned the openness, and perhaps talked out the obstacles Willy was facing.
The way in which Willy brought up his children was another factor that led Willy to his defoliation. Willy brought up his sons with little focus on
Willy's relationship with his wife is clearly a cause of his collapse. Willy neglected to demonstrate honesty in his relationship with his wife. The reader is told of Willy's past and how on business trips he would deceivingly find himself a woman to spend the night with. When Willy is no longer able to make a living he borrows money from his friend, Charley, and claims that it's money that he had made. As Willy's condition slowly deteriorates, he sets up tubing, which he plans to hook up in a fashion with intent of suicide. He neglects to tell Linda how he feels. Due to Willy's lack of honesty with Linda, she too isn't honest with him. She is aware that Willy is borrowing money from a friend, but doesn't say anything about it. After Willy is unable to complete a drive to New England, due to his obviously deteriorating condition, Linda avoids reality and makes excuses for Willy. As Miller wrote, "Maybe it's your glasses. You never went for your new glasses"(13). As Linda became knowledgeable that Willy was planning to kill himself, she didn't confront him and acted as if nothing was wrong. Clearly, if Willy was more honest with his wife, she would have returned the openness, and perhaps talked out the obstacles Willy was facing.
The way in which Willy brought up his children was another factor that led Willy to his defoliation. Willy brought up his sons with little focus on