Research Paper On Willy Loman

762 Words4 Pages
Willy Loman is the title character in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman which tells the story of Willy Lowman and his family as Willy tries unsuccessfully to be a successful salesman, but lives in a fantasy that he is. Willy has many mistaken ideas that lead to unfortunate consequences for himself or members of his family. These mistaken ideas include that success comes from luck or popularity, living in the past, and running away from his problems. Success does not come from sole luck or popularity. Willy tells his two sons, Biff and Happy, repeatedly that the key to success in life is to be “well liked” and that all one needs is “a smile and a shoeshine.” According to him, if one can become popular and get people to like them, then one will have it made in life. This belief was derived from Dave Singleman's death because to Willy, being widely…show more content…
Willy craves this idea, ending up not having a grand funeral in the end anyway. The other part of Willy’s success idea was dumb luck. He thought people stumbled into success all the time such as the way his brother came into his diamond fortune while in Africa. However, this mindset sets Willy and both of his sons up for failure as good luck and being well liked will only get one so far in life. He believes he is a very successful salesman and well liked. He thinks his company that he works for likes what he is doing, but is the complete opposite, shown after he is put on commission, and then subsequently fired later. His belief that he is successful leads Howard to eventually fire him. Charley offers him a job after being fired, but due to Willy being too proud

More about Research Paper On Willy Loman

Open Document