Pride&Suicide
...n lie to Linda at times about how much money he made, then admit he had made considerably less. He always told her that he could run the company, and that he was a vital employee. He lied about being the assistant buyer; he was one of the assistants to the assistant buyer. He even tried to lie to his boss by telling him, “I averaged $170 a week in the year of 1928!” (pg. 1726). His false pride kept him from accepting his less than mediocre performance in sales. He could not quit either, because that would be admitting he had failed. His pride, in this regard, led to his suicide; he felt he had no other way out. Willy showed the most pride in his relationship with Charley. Willy constantly insulted Charley when really, he was jealous of him. When Willy told his children he is going to run his own business, he says he will be, “bigger than Uncle Charley! Because Charley is not - liked” (pg 1699). Charley ran his own business and was more successful than Willy, so Willy had to continuously ridicule him and his son Bernard in order to assure himself that he was better than Charley. When things start to go bad for Willy and he loses his salary, Charley offered him a job. Willy’s pride was hurt and he told Charley, “I got a job…don’t insult me” (pg.1706). Even after Willy was fired he still refused a job from Charley because that would have been admitting that Charley was better than him. His pride would not allow it. Even in the end he still could not admit he had failed. His Pride towards Charley led to his suicide. He chose to kill himself rather than accept help or admit he was below Charley. Willy also showed immense pride in his relationship with Biff. He wanted his children to be perfect because he felt they were a reflection of him. When Biff would steal or cut class, cheat on his tests or get in trouble at school, Willy would laugh it off and not see it as a problem. When Linda tried to tell Willy something bad about Biff, Willy yelled, “There’s nothing the matter with h...