Because he produced his own flutes and sold them he was an artist and a businessman at the same time, as compared to Willy who only sells things that he does not produce nor own.
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But Willy does not realize that his father was not only a salesman, he was a daring and adventurous individual, too, who even had his own business. One gets the impression that Willy assumes that following in the footsteps of his father, being a salesman, automatically guarantees success. With one gadget he made more in a week than a man like you could make in a lifetime" 7. In the illusionary encounter with his brother Ben, Willy listens to Ben who refers to their father by saying: " Great Inventor, Father. 6įirst of all, Willy's father made a living by selling handcrafted flutes on his way around the country. "Willy Loman is a man who wishes his reality to come into line with his hopes " 5 These hopes, and therefore his concept of success, are predominantly brought upon him by certain people of his past - which would be: his father, his brother Ben and salesman-idol Dave Singleman. The question that should be investigated is: Who could be the sources of Willy's philosophy of life?Īfter that, in chapters 3 and 4, I want to go into further detail and provide specific examples of the major motifs that Miller sustains throughout the play, which in particular are: the importance of "being well liked" and the importance physical prowess. In the subsequent chapter, I will show by whom the main character Willy Loman is influenced. In the following paragraphs, I want to explore some examples of these values and dreams which seem to dictate Willy Loman's life and also, mostly because of him, the lives of his sons Biff and Happy and will eventually lead to his death through suicide, which, in the end, "will create the fortune that his life could never accumulate." 4 This is his biggest flaw and dooms him at last. He holds onto his dream and his ideas long after they cease to correspond with reality. Willy Loman, the protagonist of Miller's classic, which critics label "as one of the most powerful and affecting plays in American theatrical history" 2, appears to overemphasize such things as success, physical ability or personal attractiveness and looses his sense of the real forces of life in his attempt to achieve his "(American) dream" 3. One of the reasons why he fails is because he values the wrong things and leads his life guided by wrong dreams. The plot of Arthur Miller's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Death of a Salesman revolves around the last days in the life of Willy Loman, an aging salesman, whose pursuit of a prosperous and rewarding life for himself and his two sons, especially his oldest one Biff, comes to a tragic end.