Willy, By William Shakespeare Essay - 1439 Words

The most obvious thing about Willy is that he functions off the lies that he has told himself. He has convinced himself that he is good at his job and well-liked, when the truth is, he is neither. Throughout the play, Willy switches between the present and scenes from the past as he recounts events of the past. Some believe that this is a sign of dementia, however, it appears to be a way for him to escape the truth of his situation and the reality of who his sons are. In the play, Willy puts the expectation of success upon himself and Biff. He desires to have the American dream and he convinces himself that he has achieved it despite the fact that he has to borrow money from his neighbour Charley in order to pay his bills each week. When he learns that Biff has tried to get a loan to start a business, he commits suicide so that Biff will have the money that he needs. This is the biggest example of the fact that Willy did not live in reality because if he did he would have realized that the chances of Biff actually using the money to build a business was nil. This is because Biff is the manifestation of all of Willy’s negative attributes both real and imagined. However, unlike Happy who has embraced the American Dream to his own detriment. Biff cannot allow himself to do this. Willy’s responsibility for the situation that his family is in is rather substantial. It is his inability to face the truth that was the cause of his family’s downfall. First, he refused to acceptShow MoreRelatedCharacters Influenced by Traumatic Internal Events: Hamlet, and Death of a Salesman1018 Words   |  5 Pagesinternal thoughts and external action, characters in both William Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman harness Aristotle’s philosophical ideology. 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Often it is irrelevantRead MoreThe Tragedy Effect Of Death Of A Salesman1888 Words   |  8 Pagesthat I knew he’d given up on his life. What happened in Boston, Willy† (Miller 2.317)? The reason why Biff gives up on life points directly towards Willy Loman. Critic Frank Ardolino even mentions that: He believed that Biff, who was already â€Å"divine† as a football player, would become more so as a business man. Before Biff realized Willy’s projected future, however, he lost faith in Willy’s dreams, left the state of mind or paradise Willy has created, and destroyed its coherence (Ardolino). Biff allowedRead MoreTragedy Will Never Be The Same3193 Words   |  13 Pagesjump back and forth between story lines like Modern Tragedy does. It was also a little more difficult because the story only took place in a certain amount of hours because of the exclusion of flashbacks and other literary and technological tools. 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