Life can be hard for a salesman and that is especially true for Willy Loman in “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller. Loman, whose last name perfectly describes him, as a “low man” is a travelling door-to-door salesman. Just like any other person, all Loman wants for him and his family is the American dream. Unfortunately for Loman and his family the American dream turns into an American nightmare. The dream does not come true for Willy because his narcissism constantly gets in the way. Willy can not complete everyday tasks because once he starts, the narcissism kicks in and he starts doing something else. According to Dr. Dave Smolarchik a psychology professor at the University of Hamden, Willy is clearly narcissistic. “Even though he knows
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Everything Willy just told his kids is a lie, America is not full of upstanding people, and no one in New England knows who Willy is. Willy tells his kids that the New England police will protect his car as if it was his own. Only a narcissist would believe this about themselves. Willy is not done bragging about how awesome his life is and now he is telling his wife about how much money he made on his recent business trip. “Well, I—I did—about a hundred and eighty gross in Providence. Well, no—it came to roughly two hundred gross on the whole trip” (Miller 22) Willy actually only made around 70 dollars, yet he tells his wife he made around 200 dollars. Even in his own imagination when he is talking to himself Willy is still narcissistic; he lies to his wife about the money he made just to inflate his own ego. Willy lying about how much money he made is even more damaging because his family is in debt and could actually use the extra money he claimed he made. Willy is so obsessed with himself that he doesn’t even care about his family problems; he just wants to look like the hero. He doesn’t mind that his family is in debt, as long as they think he is this genius businessman. In the middle of his flashback with his wife and his kids Willy switches to a different and more …show more content…
He is estranged from his wife because not only does he lie to her about how much money he has made, but he is also cheating on her. Almost everything Willy says to his wife is a lie, and that is the recipe for a horrible marriage. His children are estranged because he made them feel like they were never good enough. No matter what his children did in the work field Willy never showed them any appreciation. His children have to lie and make up future jobs they plan on having to just make Willy happy. He is estranged from his neighbors because he is constantly lashing out at them and making them feel bad about themselves. His neighbor can’t even ask him about the new ceiling he put in without Willy making him feel like an idiot. Even when his neighbor is nice enough to offer him a job Willy gets offended and tells him he already has a great job, even though he was recently fired. No one even wants to talk to him anymore because he spends most of his days talking to imaginary people. Throughout this entire story it is obvious that Willy is a raging narcissist. The narcissism has complete control over Willy’s life and at the end of the story; it is the narcissism, not Willy that takes his own
Everything Willy just told his kids is a lie, America is not full of upstanding people, and no one in New England knows who Willy is. Willy tells his kids that the New England police will protect his car as if it was his own. Only a narcissist would believe this about themselves. Willy is not done bragging about how awesome his life is and now he is telling his wife about how much money he made on his recent business trip. “Well, I—I did—about a hundred and eighty gross in Providence. Well, no—it came to roughly two hundred gross on the whole trip” (Miller 22) Willy actually only made around 70 dollars, yet he tells his wife he made around 200 dollars. Even in his own imagination when he is talking to himself Willy is still narcissistic; he lies to his wife about the money he made just to inflate his own ego. Willy lying about how much money he made is even more damaging because his family is in debt and could actually use the extra money he claimed he made. Willy is so obsessed with himself that he doesn’t even care about his family problems; he just wants to look like the hero. He doesn’t mind that his family is in debt, as long as they think he is this genius businessman. In the middle of his flashback with his wife and his kids Willy switches to a different and more …show more content…
He is estranged from his wife because not only does he lie to her about how much money he has made, but he is also cheating on her. Almost everything Willy says to his wife is a lie, and that is the recipe for a horrible marriage. His children are estranged because he made them feel like they were never good enough. No matter what his children did in the work field Willy never showed them any appreciation. His children have to lie and make up future jobs they plan on having to just make Willy happy. He is estranged from his neighbors because he is constantly lashing out at them and making them feel bad about themselves. His neighbor can’t even ask him about the new ceiling he put in without Willy making him feel like an idiot. Even when his neighbor is nice enough to offer him a job Willy gets offended and tells him he already has a great job, even though he was recently fired. No one even wants to talk to him anymore because he spends most of his days talking to imaginary people. Throughout this entire story it is obvious that Willy is a raging narcissist. The narcissism has complete control over Willy’s life and at the end of the story; it is the narcissism, not Willy that takes his own