“The man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead” (33). In Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller uses foil characters to elucidate Willy’s flaws that ultimately prevent him and his family from succeeding. The contrast between Charley and Willy and Bernard and Biff serves to highlight how Willy’s obsession with achieving his version of the American Dream impacts both his life and his children’s. His poor values are passed on to his children producing even more failures.
¬¬¬¬Both Charley and Willy work as salesmen, however Charley represents what Willy desired to become – successful. Charley’s humility leads to his success, and the contrast of these two characters highlights Willy’s arrogance and impracticality. Charley is humble, realistic, and knowledgeable. His self-confidence allows him to live a happy life without needing to boast. In contrast, Willy constantly brags about his life to boost his self-image. Furthermore, he criticizes others to feel better about himself which comes as a result of his jealousy and insecurity. Willy is shocked when Charley doesn’t mention that his son is “gonna argue a
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Both characters realized that hard work is necessary to get what they want and that success is not a result of popularity. Bernard recognizes this much earlier in his life and becomes successful from an early age. This highlights how fathers play a crucial role in character development. Ironically Biff is similar to Willy, even though he refuses to admit it. Through this, Miller implies that all humans have inherited traits from their parents that cannot be denied. These characteristics may be good or bad, but individuals can learn from them and overcome the
Willy however would not like to listen to Bernard on the grounds that he has the most famous and athletic child around the local area. Be that as it may, even later when Willy sees Bernard's prosperity he won't tune in. Bernard sees that Willy is as yet clutching
Biff’s idea of his father suddenly changed when Biff discovered his dad cheating on his mom. His entire outlook of life changed, and suddenly he no longer cared about his future in football or college. Willy raised Biff to think that being popular would get him further than having good grades: “Bernard can get the best marks in school y’understand but in the business world, y’understand, you are going to be five times ahead of him. That’s why I thank almighty God you’re both built like Adonises. Because the man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who created personal interest, is that man that gets ahead.”
Claims that he is “vital” in the New England when in reality he is not a good salesman (4). Claims that he is expanded the company’s territory (4). Claims also that he is “known” in the New England and cops protects his car; coffee with the mayor (18,19). Willy is trying to put on a façade in order to cover his insecurity. Willy doesn’t ever want to give up his pride so he tries to stay happy with it and tries to keep going by saying all of this stuff.
Imagine the feeling of disappointment Biff felt when he realized that the man who had been building him up and up all these years, the man whose words you use to judge your self worth, is nothing but a disloyal liar. Suddenly, he did not want to be anything like his father. He does not want to resemble his father in any light, including being a salesman. The decision to be a farm hand on the west coast rather than following his father’s dreams of him becoming a salesman only widens the rift and deepens the resentment between Biff and Willy. All of Biff’s negative traits, including his anger and kleptomania, can be traced back to Willy.
In “Death of a Salesman” Charley, Willy Loman’s neighbor, seems to be one of the only characters who is emotionally and financially stable and sure of his life and the choices he has made. Charley serves as a foil for Willy, especially in this passage, in which Charley comes to Willy’s house at night seeing as Willy is also having trouble sleeping. His intentions are to lend some comfort to his neighbor and distract him with a game of cards. Charley (later revealed outside this excerpt) is Willy’s only friend and Willy borrows money from him a lot. He is aware of Willy’s failure and though he is not particularly fond of Willy’s erratic and defensive behavior.
Willy allowed his kids to believe that the American Dream will simply come to them because of the looks they possess. Biff states “Well I spent six or seven years after high school trying to work myself up. Shipping clerk, salesman, business of one kind or another. And it’s a measly manner of existence to get on subway on the hot mornings in summer. To devote your whole life to keeping stock, or making phone calls or selling and buying…” (Miller NEED PG NUMBER) showing that has tried many different times in life he to find a trade only to come up with nothing.
Schneider. While Field calls Schneider's analysis of the play “a bit forced, a bit psychoanalytic,” he does go on to say that Schneider does make a good point. As Willy has moulded his children in his image, he has passed down his resentment of his older brother Ben, to his youngest son Happy. Happy resents Biff because of Willy’s love for Biff is more than he has ever given happy. The most Wily has ever given Happy is his taste for resentment.
Willy’s American Dream The tragic play of Death of a salesman by Arthur Miller tells a story about an old man of 84 years old named Willy. Willy was captured by the American dream. He believed that hard work and ambitions could take him to a life of fame and popularity like the american dream was supposed to be. In Death of a salesman, the american dream reveals disappointment, failure and loss of hope. Thus showing that the american dream is not a great dream after all.
Even after Willys death he still has zero incentive to change. Although Happy mentioned that he wants to finish what his father started, that just makes Happy look even more crazy for still believing Willy made it big. He wants to try to finish what his father started but his father was unsuccessful, Biff tried to explain this to him and make Happy realize that Willy's life has been one big lie, but he is still oblivious to anything anyone tells him. Biff even tried to explain to Happy that Willy was going to kill himself and Happy must have not wanted to believe it so he chooses to ignore it and pretend it was not even brought up. The reader can predict that Happy will most likely be like his father and be unsuccessful as well.
In doing so, they show the audience how each and everyone of them was slightly to blame for Willy’s tragic fate. Of Willy’s two sons, Happy is still infatuated with Willy’s dream. As he says, it’s the dream of being number one. Willy was never number one, nor did he ever really get close to being number one. In fact, for someone in Willy’s position this goal was quite impossible.
During the play, the audience watched a man’s identity and mental stability slip away. “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller had proved the importance of wealth, “ American Dream”, memories, love, pride, betrayal, abandonment and friendship. Willy Loman the protagonist; constantly hallucinates, contradicts and talks to non-existing people. Willy is full of pride and orders. For instance, he had set up Biff and Happy’s life by telling them what to do.
Throughout Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, the relationship between fathers and sons have been a purposeful motif used to exemplify different dynamics and levels of success in parenting styles. The relationships between Willy and his two father figures, his biological father and his older brother Ben, are similar in the sense that neither were able to guide Willy into success or adulthood, leading Willy to attempt to succeed to no avail. Willy’s continued admiration of these figures support the concepts that fantasy can blur one’s sense of reality and that the competence and guidance of one’s father figure dictates one’s success in life. The only relationship between Willy and his biological father is fabricated in Willy’s mind, but
In the novel “Death of a Salesman” by, Arthur Miller, the character of Willy Loman develops a grim understanding of the possibilities and shortcomings of the American dream. Frequently discussed in the book, is the aspirations for parents to set the bar higher for their children. Willy Loman, is the father in the book and is the sole provider for his wife and two children and carries the burden to remove his family from an oppressed working class. With this in mind, Miller's constructive perspective into an anti-capitalistic character Willy Loman who is despised by the majority of readers. He is a victim of groupthink.
In “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller, Willy was not only controlling of his boys Biff and Happy, but he also plans their future.