Death Of A Salesman- Overview :: essays research papers

Death of a SalesmanCrazy WillyWilly Loman is one of the most tragic heroes in American drama today. He has a bother discordentiating honesty from fantasy. No one has a perfect life. Everyone has conflicts that they must face sooner or later. The ways in which people deal with these personal conflicts can differ as much as the people themselves. Some insist on ignoring the problem as long as possible, while some attack the problem to get it out of the way. In the case of Willy in Arthur Miller&8217s, Death of a Salesman, the way he deals with his life as a general failure leads to very severe consequences. Willy never really faced his problems in fact in stead of confronting them he just escapes into the past, whether intentionally or not, to those happier childhood measure where problems were scarce. He uses this escape as if it were a narcotic, and as the play progresses, we learns that it can be as dangerous as a drug, because of its ability to addict Willy, and it&8217s dead liness. 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 after arriving home from work. The conversation between Willy and Linda reflects Willy&8217s disappointment in Biff, and what he has become, which is for the most part a bum. , Willy &8220Biff is a lazy bum. After failing to deal adequately with his feelings, he hallucinates into a time when things were go against for his family. It is not uncommon for one to think of better times at low points in their life. This is used as a defense mechanism so that they are able to deal with the problems they encounter, but Willy Loman takes it one step further. His refusal to accept reality is so strong that in his mind he is transported back in time to relive some of the happier days of his life. He gets taken back to a time when no one argued, a time when Willy and Linda were younger, the financial government agency was less of a burden, and Biff and Happy enthusiastically welcomed their father back home from a long road trip. Willy&8217s need for this &8220drug is satiated and he is reassured that everything will turn out okay, unfortunately for the Loman family things are not that simple.