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Willy s Unfulfilled Dreams and Frustrated Hopes Death of a Salesman is about the struggles and failure of Willy Loan. A middle aged, quietly dressed, exhausted traveling salesman. In Death of a Salesman Miller begin the play with Willy Loan, who after an unsuccessful attempt to start a selling trip, has just returned home early. Willy s family had notice him talking to himself about things from the past. Linda his wife, seeing his exhaustion knows Willy is close to his psychological breaking point. She pleads with him to seek a non traveling position at the home office, because driving futile miles had become strenuous for him.
Willy is portrayed in the play as a man holding to the past, too afraid to let go, because if he does he would see himself as a failure. Willy focused most of his energy on two events, his son Biff s big football game and the regret of not accompanying his brother to Africa. When his dreams could no longer satisfy him he allowed the image of his brother, Ben, who represented success to guide him. The main tragedy of the play occurred when Willy committed suicide.
To understand Willy s tragedies we must view his psyche, his Unfulfilled dreams, frustrated hope and draw parallels to our present world. Miller shows Willy as a protagonist who no longer distinguishes between memory, imagination, reality and desire (121 Martin). The tragedy begins to unfold when Willy s memory of the past occurs virtually simultaneously with his present action. Although Willy s memory was only illusions apparently they appeared real to him. You can not always believe the evidence of your own eyes, since appearances can be deceiving, it is not our eyes that deceive us; rather, it is our beliefs and expectancies (125 Bugelski).
When Willy moves from the kitchen to Linda and the boys, to the Arthur, back to Linda and then to Happy and Charley in the kitchen (124 Martin). The movement shows Willy taking a double trip into the past before returning to the future. Most people would consider Willy a psychopath that needs psychological assistance. His psychological state caused by depression.
Depression is the most common psychological disorder among the elderly. Willy is the American every man somewhere between the pathetic and the tragic who never forgot his dreams (124 Martin). Willy s dream of his son, Biff becoming a famous football player has filled his memories for years. Biff had been the greatest football player his school had ever known and received three offers for a college scholarship, which he never attended neither (1365).
Since he failed math, he was unable to except the scholarship, unless his father persuades the teacher to change the grade. His father was on a selling trip in Boston. Biff arrived to learned his father was having an affair. The devastation caused Biff his dreams of becoming successful.
Although his sons achievement was nonexistent, he had hoped that his son Biff would by successful. Apparently Willy was unable to let the memory of the big football game Biff had at Ebbets Field rest in the past, because according to Willy it was the highlight of his life. The following statement portrayed a father concerned about the warfare of his son. Now when you kick off, boy, I want a seventy-yard boot, and get right down the field under the ball, and when you hit, hit low and hit hard, because it s important, boy. There s all kinds of important people in the stands and the first thing you know (l. 926). A dream that never achieved anything.
Willy could not understand Biff s failure, because he raised his sons on the philosophy that, success obtained by being well liked and hard working. Willy not knowing his sons failure is his fault turned to his brother for guidance. Apparently all Willy felt he had left was his memories and his brother successful words, when I was seventeen I walked into the jungle and when I was twenty one I walked out. And by God I was rich (l. 506). Willy regretted not going with his brother when they were young so each time he vision his brother he would insist on going with him. Ben had constantly told him it was not time, but when the time came he would take him.
Through the visions of his brother Willy had a reason to hope. He hoped his sons and himself could start a business and become successful. Willy s frustrated hope emerged when he dreamed his biggest dreams. He planned to visit his boss and demand a job at the home office and his sons would go into business together. Biff would visit his former employer and get a loan from the owner before the business become reality. After Biff failed to acquire the loan and Willy s fired from his job the depression drew deeper for him.
Willy believing he was a failure could not face the world with yet another lost. He loses sight of his identity, gives in to his uncontrollable emotions and commits suicide. While most depressed people do not commit suicide, most suicides are attempted by those who are suffering from depression (643 Zimbardo). According to Zimbardo the suicide rate among older males is the highest of any age group (207 Zimbardo).
In most cases, the suicide is a result of some severe life stresses such as Willy Loan s situation (73 Bugelski). There is no single personality type that we consider a suicide risk. Rather, a person can start thinking about suicide for many different reasons. If Willy had lived today he would have received a treatment for depression and on his way to a quick recovery.
Since most of the working class been classified with being depressed, his symptoms would have been recognizable. He would have been able to blend in the crowd and received treatment for his particularly element without feeling like a failure. Although Willy s situation lead to death depression can be treated successful in a number of ways such as Electroconvulsive treatment, or ECT, is widely used by psychiatrists for depressed patients (73 Bugelski). Electroconvulsive therapy may help sever cases improve significantly with psychological treatment and antidepressant medication if used in combination. Antidepressant drugs such as fluoxetine (Prozac) and paroxetine (paxil) given to elevate mood, counter suicidal thoughts and increase the effectiveness of psychotherapy. With proper care and leadership from your Doctor depression will become controllable.
In conclusion Willy Loan finally met his breaking point and committed suicide, apparently he just could not take the pressure of failure any longer and his depression was only growing stronger. He realizes his dream was dead, and now reality has taken place. He realizes he is too old to accomplish anything else and to even provide for his family. Through the play Miller showed Willy were the reason his dream did not become reality. Willy being a self-deluded, deceitful, unfaithful weak and depressed man had to much pride to admit his failure was actually his fault.
To escape the harsh reality of unpaid bills and family problems, Willy reminisced about happier days when everyone admired him. He is at that terrible moment when the voice of the past is no longer distant but quite as loud as the voice of the present (124 Martin). Which allows him to believe suicide is the only way out of his horrifying situation. He also believes the proceeds of his insurance policy will thus stand as a justification of his dreams while offering some kind of belated restitution to the wife and son he had betrayed (Bugelski 116).
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Research essay sample on Death Of A Salesman Committed Suicide
