How imporatnt is it that willy loman is a salesman

During “Death of a Salesman” Miller uses Willy to portray the progression of the American Dream and the inability of Willy to keep up with this as values which once seemed important are now irrelevant. Early in the play it is established Willy believes all it takes to be successful is to be “well-liked” and “personally attractive”. This falsity stemmed from the effect of the growth of the film and media during the period in which the play was written. During this period the film industry was booming, a means in which people suffering from the effects of the Great Depression after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 could escape into the glamorous and idealistic world of the movies. This helps to emphasise how the American Dream had altered from being personally fulfilled to rich and famous, this being evident in Miller’s writings. It is important that Willy is a salesman as he does not make his own product, does not specialise in any area and addi

Throughout the play we are made aware through Willy being a salesman just how disillusioned Willy is about the term “success”. Willy relates “I realised that selling was the greatest career a man could want. ‘Cause what could be more satisfying than to be able to go, at the age of eighty-four, into twenty or thirty different cities, and pick up a

phone, and be remembered and loved and helped by so many different people?” when speaking of Dave Singleman, Willy’s idol. This demonstrates Willy’s idealistic approach to selling, believing that being “well-liked” means successful as it did in the past.

Willy is prompted to have flashbacks to happier times this showing just how confused a man has been produced. This is demonstrated when Willy describes to Linda; “I was driving along, you understand? And I was fine… And then all of a sudden I’m going off the road! I’m tellin’ ya, I absolutely forgot I was driving”.

Some topics in this essay:
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