How Is Willy Loman Selfish

The main character, Willy, is a salesman who has not had much success in his career and is struggling to provide for his family, leading to his failure to live up to this ideal American Dream. On the other hand, his son, Biff, is a former high school football star who is unsure of what he wants to do with his life. Throughout the play, Willy constantly reminisces and projects his hopes and dreams onto his son. He wants his son to be successful and live up to his expectations, but he fails to understand or accept Biff's lack of ambition. However, Biff is resentful of his father's unrealistic expectations and frustrated with his failure to meet them.

In order for Willy to be a successful father, he needs to feel that his kids are respected and accomplished. However this shows that Willy is such an outsider, because Biff is quite the opposite, as the Bill Oliver that is references has no idea who Biff is. Another example that shows how Willy’s goals and dreams turn him into a misfit is when he asks for a promotion “ Well, tell you the truth, Howard. I’ve come to the decision that I’d rather not travel anymore.” ( Miller 59).

Willy gives stockings to the woman he has an affair with and repeatedly yells at linda for mending her stockings in front of his eyes ( they work as a chief reminder of his affair and his inability to provide for his family). Unlike linda the other woman was able to feed willy s ego by liking him he is proud of being able to sell himself to her however this feeling will soon shift into shame when he realizes that by giving stocking to the woman rather than his wife he was sabogating his role as a provider he only then came to realize that his love not material items was the sole thing linda needed from him . Linda was not the only family member to be betrayed by this shameful act will betrayed biff s trust and respect .

Willy tries to make himself feel better by lying to himself. Although Willy’s death is unfortunate, if one closely examines his pride, bad temper, and his lies, one can see that these flaws will eventually bring him to his demise. Throughout the play, Willy demonstrates his sense of pride while talking to his family and friends. In this quote one can

While Linda enabled him, Willy could not help himself too keep ruining the good opportunities he had and turning them into some factious reality. At Willy`s funeral Biff comes to the realization that his father had all the wrong dreams and visions of success. Willy`s only dream was the fake “American Dream” that people believe will happen overnight. Willy`s failed attempts and happiness bonded into one and played a part into him creating this false reality and persona that he was the best salesman and that he was well loved by everyone around him.

Sometimes people succeed and at other times they fail. Willy made Biff’s childhood special because he convinced Biff could do no wrong and that he was perfect. The pitch Willy created failed because Biff catches him cheating. Biff chooses to give up on his life because Willy’s image as a successful and perfect father becomes false. Willy’s guilt is brought up multiple times through the repeated imagery of the stockings.

Biff wants to retake the class in the summer but when he catches his father having an affair his perception of his father, his biggest role model, is shattered causing him to give up on the things he used to want to do. Willy represses this memory entirely and tries to blame others for Biffs behavior instead of himself. Willy also fools himself into thinking he is well liked and successful. In small moments of clarity Willy admits that people have made fun of his physique and no one talks to him anymore when he goes

In the play, it shows Willy is soft and insecure not just a crazy man. Biff, Willy’s son had caught his father cheating on his mother and that made him feel angry at his father. Willy did not know how his son felt; Willy says [directly to Biff] “what’re you doing? What’re you doing?” Biff says [crying, broken] “will you let me go, for Christ’s sake?

Biff, a consequence of Willy, attempts to bring Willy out of his fantasies and his see the realities of his life, but in the end fails to. The two are different in their ideas, demeanors and personas, yet have some akin characteristics.     Willy and Biff’s physical traits are different. At what point, Willy tells his wife Linda, “I’m fat. I’m very foolish to look at, Linda.”

He usually talks to himself about Biff and his troubles. Biff has not been very successful, he works on a farm and has never really made that much. It really stresses Willy out and it causes them to constantly be in a fight and argue. On the other hand, Happy has his own apartment and a stable job in the sales industry.

It is revealed in a conversation between Linda and Biff that shortly after Biff returned from Boston, with knowledge of his father’s affair, Biff was kicked out of the house. Willy found success in his children’s admiration of him. Now that Biff no longer admires him because he knows of his father’s repulsive decisions, Willy must get rid of this constant reminder of his failures. Willy desperately needs to create the illusion that he is leading a fruitful life. Also, Willy’s continually lies about the success of his sons in order to create the appearance of success within himself.

Willy refers to his sons like “Adonis’s” (34), really pressuring the image he wants to have of them onto them. Biff and Happy were raised in a way that led them to be womanizers who often don’t have a sense of respect. Being a masculine man was important, which was one reason why fights between Biff and Willy broke out. Willy did not want his masculinity challenged at all, and never wanted to be seen as weak. He is often yelling at his wife Linda in front of the boys to assert his dominance.

Willy wants Biff to conform to ideas of the American dream, and for that, you need financial success in order to be proud and confident in who you are. This is one of Willy’s major flaws. He lives his life trying to control his sons, desperately trying to mould them into his idea of a what a successful man is. His main ‘target’ would be his

While he is better off than Biff, Happy is still not very successful as he has a low position at a company and has not produced a family. Willy teaches his sons many things, one of them being that one should be well liked.

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.