Character Analysis Of Willy In Death Of A Salesman

Willy says, “The man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead. Be liked and you will never want”. He mentions this a few other times during the play. The passage is important because it’s Willy 's motto. His motto is what untimely causes him to fail. Willy is a salesman and builds his whole life on how well people like him. Eventually, people forget about him. Thus, his whole life motto crumbles. The only thing he cared about was failing him and due to personality traits, he was stubborn, Willy cared about popularity. Once that was stripped from him, when he lost his job, there was nothing left.

Willy states, I’ve got to get seeds. I got to get seeds, right away. …show more content…
He was a middle-class man who fell from grace, but, the way Miller portrayed Willy was pathetic. Willy had terrible characteristics even before he fell from grace. Willy is stubborn, self-centered, he doesn 't like change. After he fell from grace he became delusional, bipolar, and suicidal. All those characters combined makes a really pathetic person. Willy being stubborn is the main reason I wouldn 't describe him as a tragic hero. He was too prideful and would take anything from anybody. Willy was offered a job from Charlie, but he wouldn 't take it. Willy is technically a tragic hero by Millers definitions, but with Willys characteristics, he is a pathetic person. In ignoring the signs of failure, he in my eyes became …show more content…
The play consists of mostly average people, who don’t have much talent, with a few exceptions. Those exceptions are people who actually got to live the American dream. The people who are living the American dream are Barnard, Ben, and Howard. Not much is said about Howard, but it’s known that he was born into wealth. Starting off with a successful company made his ascent to financial success and power easier. While Barnard is a true American success. He was bullied when he was younger because he was academically driven and intelligent. Because Bernard 's perseverance and brains, he became a lawyer. Ben had the guts and determination to run after something that wasn 't a sure success. Although he didn’t fail there was a chance he would.
Some examples of average people are Willy, Biff, and Linda. Willy had a chance to go on the business venture with Ben, but he was too afraid to leave everything behind. Willy reflects back on that decision as the choice that leads everything astray. A big reason why Biff, who has a football talent didn’t make it was because of his math class, he wasn 't determined like Ben or Bernard was. Linda was a woman held back by her time. She let Willy do all the work which ultimately is another big reason the Lomans didn’t become a