Who Was Responsible For Willy's Downfall

‘A man is worth more dead than alive’ (Willy Loman, Act II). Willy Loman is a man on the verge of mental breakdown which will culminate in his eventual suicide. His ultimate destruction can be blamed on a number of factors, social pressure, family and friend influences, and his psychological and emotional state of mind. However, we are all subjected to the aforementioned issues to some degree throughout our lives and most of us take responsibility for our actions and by doing so endeavour to create reasonable happy, contented lives for ourselves and our families. So, some questions must be asked. Where and how did Willy Loman lose track and focus? To what extent is he responsible for his own downfall? To enable us to understand Willy Loman’s
eventual ruin and demise we must look closer into the mind of the character and the society and influences in his life. Throughout the play it is evident to the audience that Willy Loman is a delusional individual who has built his life on self-deceit and lies. He is tortured with hallucinations and they intrude on Willy at any time. They wreak havoc in his real life, even to a point that he cannot have a simple conversation, for example when playing cards with Charley. His mood swings and contradictory remarks ‘Biff is lazy, Biff is not lazy’ throughout the play coupled with the disturbing hallucinations leaves the audience in no doubt that Willy is a very fragile and mentally ill person.

Willy’s own father and his brother Ben are characters who seem to have much influence on Willy’s life, yet they do not seem to have much substance.
We know that Willy’s father left him when he was a very young child and Ben became an idol for Willy because of his business acumen. However, even though these two characters visit the play only as figments of Willy’s mind, the fact that their presence is acknowledged is indicative of the importance of their role in the construction of Willy’s life. Notably, the portrayal of Willy’s father is depicted by flute music, (his father made flutes) and is present throughout all of Willy’s hallucinations. This maybe an allusion to his yearning for his absent father and perhaps Willy’s idealistic and misplaced admiration for him. Ben, however, is much more prevalent and Willy is very anxious for his approval and praise. Ben’s visits are always very flighty and although Willy is overjoyed at his appearance, he is left frustrated when Ben leaves. Willy has a great need to prove himself successful, yet there is no substantial support evident from these dominant characters in Willy’s endeavours. They both left him when he was very young and the vague encouragements from Ben are just figments of Willy’s own imagination. Yet the result of these desertions have a profound effect on the formation of the young Willy and it is of no surprise that the repercussions that this abandonment at an early age has contributed to the serious flaws we witness in the old Willy. So, we must concede that some guilt has to be accepted on the part of his father and brother in creating and establishing this quite flawed
individual.

Willy’s preoccupation with success and the material world is also very important in understanding how he came to such a tragic end. He values the latest gadgets and material goods as he believes that these are indicators or trophies of success, an unfortunate consequence of a capitalist society. This does not mean that Willy Loman was a bad person, after all he has provided a good home for his family, a house, a car and appears to be reasonably successful in a material obsessed society. Nevertheless he cannot reach the high echelons of wealth that he has strived all his life to attain. He cannot appreciate the reasonably comfortable life he has achieved for himself or his family. A society, in creating a discontented, greedy, insatiable need for more material wealth, must share some culpability for the downfall of one of it’s devotees.

Conversely, Willy takes for granted the unstinting love that his wife Linda has for him and indeed the kindness and loyalty of his friend Charley. The irony is that these two individuals are the only people in Willy’s life who truly love and value him, yet he continually abuses and berates them, either by shouting down at his wife or by refusing Charley’s help and his reluctance to acknowledge his friend’s success. Although he is aware of this, he cannot stop his bad behaviour towards them, and in doing so constantly pushes them to the limits of their patience. Yet the excuses and support, especially by Linda, for Willy’s bad behaviour simply encourages these unacceptable actions and prevents Willy from admitting and making good his poor conduct. He is allowed to behave in this manner and so never learns to behave appropriately and in turn loses his ability to ascertain right from wrong when dealing with personal relationships. The result is that Willy loses focus on the importance of family and friends and fails to appreciate their significant and vital roles in his life.

Willy Loman, however, cannot remain completely blameless for his ultimate downfall. After all he had accomplished a great deal in his life. He made a good marriage, produced two physically healthy, robust sons, owned a comfortable house, a car and a few trappings of wealth, albeit always playing ‘catch-up’ in attaining modern appliances. His affair with ‘the woman’ in one of his business trips may have been one of many, his excuse being ‘I was lonely’. However, it is not until Biff catches him in the hotel room does he even make this excuse. He does not mention his indiscretion again to Biff yet fails to realise the impact that this had on his young impressionable son, who, up until that point had adored him. He does not see that his mistakes affect all around him. He is able to live with these lies and deceit because he is unable to admit his faults and weaknesses even to himself. His downfall was his lack of appreciation in what he had achieved; his refusal to acknowledge his faults and indiscretions; his obsession with trying to impress people in a society that regarded him as a dispensable commodity and his neglect of his deteriorating mental and physical health. For these reasons he must be held at least partially responsible.

To conclude, while Willy Loman, as every individual is, responsible for his own health and well-being and ultimately his own life, I feel we cannot disregard the very real influences that had an input in the formation of this man’s character and his eventual demise. His desertion as a young child had, without doubt, instilled in him a sense of failure and an innate need to prove himself, his indoctrination by society on the importance of materialism and popularity as the only validation of success and finally, the acceptance and tolerance from his wife and family of his self-deception and lies. A person who has been flawed by the improper actions of their parents; subjected to a life measured by material success; not criticized or punished for inappropriate behaviour and is neglectful of their own health will, inevitably, succumb to the pressures of life. They may eventually lose sight of reality, become immersed in a false existence and as in the case of Willy Loman, surrender.