Death of a Salesman

Before I had even read the back flap of Death Of A Salesman I believed I would like the main character. I believed I would sympathize with him and all his hardships. I don’t know how I knew that the general gist of the book would be a Death Of An average Salesman, but somehow I just knew. To my surprise Willy Loman disgusted me, as did his sons. Willy Loman believes in order to achieve success you must be “well-liked”. I suppose there is some truth to this but not technically. Technically being well-liked would be a perk to success. It would give you an advantage but not success. This is explicitly portrayed through his son Biff’s failure in math. He had a respectable dream of going on to college on a football scholarship but didn’t understand in order to get there you would need the grades. Biff relies on Bernard to let him cheat even though Bernard warns him this won’t work and offers to help Biff study. I am disgusted with the way the family, including Linda, treats each other and their peers. Linda lets Willy talk to her as though she is worth nothing and still kisses the ground he walks on. Happy seems like a decent enough man except he only wants to keep peace and make everyone happy, even if that means lying or constantly seeking approval from his father. Biff is a cowardly fool. He should have known he needed to pass math. He should not have turned to stealing just because he wasn’t “rich”. He should not let his father constantly criticize him and tell him how to live his life. He’s 31 for goodness sake. Then there is Willy. Willy Loman. The egotistical, negatively patriarchal, ignorant ______(fill in the blank). He is egotistical when all he seems to do is worry about himself and his “following”. Is he well-liked? His pride and dignity blind him when he needs a steady job that he doesn’t have to travel in and pays fifty dollars and he doesn’t take it simply because Charley is he one offering it to him. He is patriarchal in the way he talks to his wife, in the way he favors Biff over Happy, in the way he ignores Happy, and in the way he will never accept Biff for who he is. Most importantly to this plays them, Willy Loman is ignorant. He does not open his eyes to his life. He chooses not to see the way he treats everyone around him. He choose not to see the way his pride gets in the way of attaining a good job. He does not see that what he is doing is causing his own demise.