Death Of A Salesman Illusion Vs Reality Analysis

Throughout Death of a Salesman the concept of Reality Vs Illusion can be seen very frequently. The family has a hard time seeing what is true because Willy wants them to live in a reality that is not true. Willy likes to live in this illusion about he and his sons being very successful, but the rest of the family begins to realize that it is just an illusion and they try to make Willy realize the reality that they are seeing. Willy has a major problem with seeing the reality of himself as a sales man. Willy does not see the reality behind things because he is too caught up in seeing things the way he wants them to go. He has always believed he and his sons were successful men with lots of potential to do whatever they want. He does not see all the failures he has made as a businessman. He sees himself as being a very successful and respected sales man when in reality he was never able to reach success and is thought of as a joke of a sale man. Will has to face the reality of his failed success when …show more content…
Biff is destined for greatness in Willy’s mind and can do no wrong. In reality Biff failed high school and has to take a job farming out west. Willy knows this, but still believes that he has a great potential and cannot accept or realize that Biff has failed. He wants to believe that Biff is very successful and tells everybody that he is making it big out west. Willy likes to hang on to a past reality where Biff would be a successful business man. He wants to believe Biff is going to be as successful as he sees himself being. Biff is partly taken in by this illusion as well. He sees himself as having this grand future as a successful business man like his father, but he secretly knows deep down that this is not the reality. He like his father wants to see things in his own way to make things seem much better than they really