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Willy Loman is a tragic hero in the drama by Arthur Millers, Death of a Salesman. He has a problem differentiating reality from fantasy. No one has a perfect life; people deal with their personal conflicts differently. Some insist on ignoring the problem as long as possible, while some attack the problem directly. In Willys case, he deals with his life as a general failure, which leads to his dismay, and relationship with everyone around him. Willy never really faced his problems; in fact instead of confronting them he just escapes into the past, whether intentionally or not, to those happier times.
Willy is like an impetuous child who uses dilutions to escape his problems. The first time Willy is seen reminiscing is when he encounters Biff, his son, after arriving home from work. The conversation between Willy and his wife Linda reflects Willys disappointment in Biff, and what he has become, which is for the most part a bum. , Willy ("Biff is a lazy bum" (act 1, pg 1317, ln 37) ). After failing to deal adequately with his feelings, he hallucinates into a time when things were better for his family. In his refusal to accept reality he is transported back in time to his happier days; where no one argued, when he and Linda were younger, and financially stable, and Biff and Happy enthusiastically welcomed him home from his road trips.
Willys need for his dilutions is satiated and he is reassured that everything will turn out okay, unfortunately for the Loman family things are not that simple. Another one of Willys "trip" into the past is when he is fired from his job after requesting to be relocated. This is one of the most serious blows he takes in the entire play, because of his pride in his work. In fact this is such a big hit, that he is transported back to what was probably the happiest day of his life. When Biff was going to play in Ebbets Field in the All-Scholastic Championship game in front of a crowd of thousands. At this point Willy couldnt be more proud of his two sons who, at the time, had everything going for them.
Both Biff and Happy seemed destined to live great, productive lives, much more so than the boy next door, Bernard. This instance is the major turning point in Willys quest for insanity; actually it is now quite eminent that it will happen. Like all vices in life, they are all destined to become a hindrance more than help. This is true in the case of Willy and his dilutions have been using finally got the best of him. You could say that this time around he had a "bad trip", this could be a side effect of his overuse. This time he is brought back to one of the most disturbing moments in his life.
Its the day that Biff had discovered his fathers mistress. This happened when Biff came to visit Willy while he was on a business trip. Biff came to visit him regarding his return back home, and negotiate with his math teacher to give him the four points he needed to pass and graduate high school. This is the first time we see the flashbacks go into a negative time in his life. This scene gives the reader a chance to fully understand the tension between Willy and Biff and how Willys mind takes him off the straight path. He does not differentiate present from past anymore.
Throughout the play, the present has been full of misfortune for the Loman family, while the opposite is true for the past. Now Willy is out of good memories to return to, we see that the play has climaxed and that Willys only driving force in life is all but gone. Without the escape of his dilutions, we see will for what he truly is, a failure. The way he overuses his vivid imagination is sad because the only thing its good for is enabling Willy to go through one more day of his distressing life. Full of bitterness, confusion, depression, false hopefulness, and a feeling of love which he is trying very hard to express to his sons who are reluctant to accept it. The only thing Willy ever wanted was to be a successful role model for his sons and that he was not.
At least not in the practical way, and that is exactly why the abstract can have a way of taking people to a high that they could not reach on their own. Charley said it best when he said to Willy, " When the hell are you going to grow up" (Act 2, pg 1353, ln 31). Willy never did and that is why he is such a tragic hero, with mind of a child and soul of a father he was certainly headed for impending doom. Bibliography: Work Cited Miller, Arthur. "Death of a Salesman. " The Compact Bedford Introduction To Literature.
Ed Michael Meyer. 5 th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2000 1313 - 1377.
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Research essay sample on Death Of A Salesman Biff And Happy
