Sales Of A Salesman Character Analysis

Throughout the play, Willy is in search of the every elusive dream of being successful. In which he is “well liked”(33) by everyone and has reached his true potential as a salesman just like one of his idols. As the boys are growing up he always tells them, “Be liked and you will never want”(33). Describing how in order to be successful in the business world one must be “well liked”(33). If you are liked by your peers you will no longer have to wait in line just like his idol Dave Singleman who was made out to be bigger than life in Willy’s stories. He’d “pick up his phone and call the buyers, and without ever leaving his room”(81). This is what Willy saw as the true success in his work being able to pick up the phone and have buyers instantly. To go to any city “and be remembered and loved and helped by so many different people”(81). Willy did not only see wealth …show more content…
He encourages bad behavior such as when biff “borrowed [a football] from the locker room.”(29). He also encouraged to boys to cheat on their test in order to pass. Through out the boy’s childhood Willy never instilled in the boys a good moral compass, rather he praised them for their miss doings encouraging their bad behavior. Finally one of the other major ways that he fails to be a role model is with Biff when he came up to Boston. Biff walks in on Willy having an affair and at that moment biff loses Willy as a role model completely. Biff calls Willy “[a] fake! [a] phony little fake! [a] fake!”(121). He no longer cares about going to Virginia for school and football or about his failed math test. He sends Biff into a spiral never sure what he wants to do with his life. Since Biff lost is role model he never had a guide for his life, causing him to go from job to job never staying in one place for to long. Willies constant failures not only let him down but also fail his