Death of a Salesman
...y respectable career, and that by being a carpenter he would never add up to be a success. He worked for over thirty years with the same selling firm and barely had the income to cover the costs of living for his family. As the time went by he had to borrow money from his neighbor Charley and disguise it as his paycheck. He was reluctant to work at his true talent and lost all chance in becoming a success because he was under the impression it was disreputable to work in the trades such as carpentry. When ones self-importance is their main concern they may share with other what seems to be untrue to save themselves from the embarrassment they assume they will face if the truth was told. However, to continuously fabricate tales, one finds it harder to distinguish truth from false. Willy had made a habit of going home and telling his family that he was incredibly vital in his company, and that he made far more money each week then he actually had. After each time he would return home from the road he would tell his family the untrue amount of money he made. This led to Willy himself believing that he was a successful salesman when truly he was not. Willy had built his life around the dreams that success was attainable only if one was well liked and attractive, for Willy to live by these ideals it was necessary for him to tell many lies, which led to those illusions replacing reality in Willy’s mind. If one is living in an alterative to reality, no one can force them out of it. If they are not prepared mentally to see what truly lies before them, they will continue to hide from reality in their shield of illusion. When Biff tried to explain to Willy that their family was not spectacular and tried to bring truth into Willy’s world, it failed to bring Willy to reality. “ I am not the leader of men, Willy, and neither are you. You were never anything but a hard-working drummer who landed in the ash can like all the rest of them! I’m one dollar an hour, illy! I tried in seven states and couldn’t raise it. A buck an hour! Do you gather my meaning? I’m not bringing home any prizes and more, and you’re going to stop waiting fro me to bring them home!” By saying this Biff attempted to get Willy to realize what they truly added up to, but his attempt failed when Willy found an excuse why Biff’s statement was just out of spite and had no truth to it. As impossible as it is to persuade a person who hides from the truth to see reality, it is much simpler to push that person farther into there illusions. Perspectives are changeable but it is proven typically for the worse for mentally unstable individuals like Willy Loman. Linda was Willy’s guide into illusions; she continuously dished out false hope to soothe his troubled mind. Linda was trying to protect Willy from the harshness of his reality by giving him positive feedback. However, Willy did not benefit from Linda’s gracious attempts, rather he slipped farther into his false state of mind. Linda herself wanted to live in the life will dreamt of, for it was far better then the one she was living in. She lived vicariously through the illusions of her husband and forced him to retain the fabricated life he was in. Those who surround the few who depend on illusion for survival, it becomes too easy to allow them to continue their ways of deceit and to go along with them as well. Their perspectives are stolen from them and they are left vulnerable to the strong perspective of those who shield themselves from reality. Happy Loman, the youngest son of Willy and Linda, has been altered to have the same state of mind as Willy. He was never able to escape the family’s web of desperate lies as Biff had. By getting out and discovering who he really was Biff was able to realize what his family all fails to do, although he never achieved the rank of a reputable person. He escaped the contagious tendencies of a dependency on illusion and managed to see what was truly there. Happy was never capable of this and as a result chased his father’s dreams that led Willy to his own demise. Individuals are privileged to have a perspective, a perspective of the world around them and themselves as well. As a result of that the world has a very diverse existence, as no two people will ever share the same perspective on anything, which can cause some tension between people. Charley and Willy were both very stubborn gentlemen, who had very different perspectives on life and how to be successful. Charley taught his son to work hard in school, and in the real world, Willy taught Biff and Happy that all that they needed to do was to be well liked and have attractiveness about them and doors would ope...