Everybody feels the penetrating presence of fear throughout life. However, people’s reactions to this fear separate the brave souls from the cowards. Mark Twain once said, “Courage is resistance to fear; mastery of fear, not absence of fear” (Twain 6). In Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman fears rejection by his son, Biff, and the business world. His fears master him, creating in him a fantasy world of life as it was eighteen years ago. Willy’s avoidance of reality and his suicide show his cowardice. However, the emphasis he puts on financial success prevents him from realizing the consequences that his suicide would create.
Willy’s refusal to face reality and accept responsibility shows that he is a coward. According to Gordon Hitchens, Willy “broke the first commandment of American business . . . [which is] to be a success” (Hitchens 81). He not only fails as a businessman, but also as a father. He feels especially let down by the bitter state of his relationship with his son, Biff. Nevertheless, instead of facing his dilemmas, Willy cowardly escapes to a fantasy world in which he relives happier times. Furthermore, Biff’s animosity toward his father stems from his discovery of Willy’s affair. When he was eighteen, Biff visited his father in Boston and found him with a female companion. After receiving this shock, Biff’s ambition and confidence, formerly supported by his father, dwindles. Bernard, Biff’s boyhood friend, notices this change and eventually asks Willy what happened in Boston to cause it. Willy becomes defensive and angry. He asks Bernard, “If a boy lays down is that my fault?” (Miller 1257). He refuses to accept responsibility…
… middle of paper …
…illy fails to master his fears. He allows money and financial success to control his actions. By doing this, he widens the rift between him and Biff. Willy’s dishonesty and denial also add to the tense situation in the Loman household. Willy’s fears of rejection and failure do not make him a coward. His reaction to these anxieties merits him the label coward. The belief that his actions are for the good of the family does not reconcile the lack of courage that he shows.
Works Cited
Hitchens, Gordon. Attention Must be Paid: A Study of Social Value in Four Plays by Arthur Miller. Columbia University. 82-104.
Miller, Arthur. “Death of a Salesman.” Discovering Literature: Stories, Poems, Plays. Ed. Hans P. Guth and Gabriele L. Rico. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1997. 1209-1283.
Twain, Mark. Readings from the Voyageur Outward Bound School. 48.
Willy Loman Died a Coward in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
Willy Loman Died a Coward in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
“In his early sixties he knows his business as well as he ever did. But the unsubstantial things have become decisive; the spring has gone from his step, the smile from his face and the heartiness from his personality. He is through. The phantom of his life has caught up with him. As literally as Mr. Miller can say it, dust turns to dust. Suddenly, there is nothing” (Internet 1). The New York Times has expressed the tragedy in the ‘Death of a Salesman’ with no inaccuracy. The phantom of his life has been the American Dream that he has longed for and has not successfully achieved. Willy has terminated his life as an act of cowardice because of the failure of his career, the inaccuracy of raising his two sons, and neglecting Linda, the wife, that has devoted her life and support to her unfaithful husband.
Willy Loman had always been a confident man for succeeding in his career. The business man, Mr. Loman, was so confident, that he explained to his sons that “they know me up and down New England,” trying to prove his prevalence in the business world (Miller 1223). He had convinced himself of these lies that he had told his family for years and years. He could never admit that he was not a good salesman. So convinced, Mr. Loman was sure that he could advance in his profession and cease traveling to proceed business close to his home. When his dream ended worse than expected, Willy Loman felt that he was a man of absolute failure. Not only were Willy’s failures in his work place adding up, but the management of his household was placing a burden upon him too. Willy always had to pay for repairs, such as the mortgage, the insurance, and other bills. The emb…
… middle of paper …
…onfused and disturbed individual. His incompetence wore on him so much that he suffered from delusions. He believed that there was no end when he had failed his career, sons, and his wife. He had convinced himself that his suicide was an act of love for his family but this was another selfish act of cowardice. “His selfishness and lack of moral character was a flaw that he saw in himself and was more than he could bear to live with” ( Internet 3). Therefore, he died a coward by trying to escape the realities and problems in his life. Finally, “Dust returns to dust. Suddenly, there is nothing” (Internet 1).
Works Cited
Miller, Arthur. “Death of a Salesman.” Discovering Literature: Stories, Poems, Plays, Ed. Hans P. Guth
And Gabriele L. Rico. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1997. 1211-1281.
The New York Times. Feb.11 1949. Death of a Salesman.