We can’t all become what we want to be and further more, others can’t become what we want them to be. In the play Death of A Salesman by Arthur Miller, Willy wants to become a very successful, big, respected salesman. But as he could not reach his longed for dream and as his reality starts to sink, he starts to use his very vivid memory to escape his present problems. The ways in which people deal with there personal conflicts can differ as much as the people themselves.
Some insist on ignoring the problem at hand for as long as possible, while others attack the problem to get it out of the way. Willy never really does anything to help the situation, he just escapes into the past, whether intentionally or not, to happier times were problems were scarce. He uses this escape as if it were a narcotic, very addictive and always at hand. This flashback process or what I would rather call it, a drug, occurs only when Willy would become discontent, whether it be because of Biff to economic problems.
These flashbacks shows how Willy is incapable of handling situations and being the great man he claims to be. The conversation between Willy and Linda reflects Willy’s disappointment in Biff and what he has become, which is, for the most part, a bum. After failing to deal adequately with his feelings, he escapes into a time when things were better for his family. It is not uncommon for one to think of better times at low points in their life in order to cheer themselves up so that they are able to deal with the problems they encounter, but Willy 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 one of the happier days of his life. It was a time when no one argued, Willy and Linda were younger the financial situation was less of a burden, and Biff and Happy enthusiastically welcomed their father back home from a long road trip. Willy’s need for the “drug” is satiated and he is reassured that everything will turn out okay, and the family will soon be as happy as it was in the good old days. The next flashback occurs during a discussion between Willy and Linda.
Willy is depressed about his inability to make enough money to support his family, his looks, his personality and the success of his friend and neighbor, Charley. “My God if business doesn’t pick up , I don’t know what I’m gonna do! ” (Miller 36) is the comment made by Willy after Linda figures the difference between the family’s income and their expenses. Before Linda has a chance to offer any words of consolation Willy blurts out “I’m Fat. I’m very–foolish to look at, Linda”( Miller 37). In doing this he has depressed himself so much that he is visited by a woman with whom he is having an affair.
The woman’s purpose in this point of the play is to cheer him up. She raises his spirits by telling him how funny and loveable he is, saying “You do make me laugh…. And I think you’re a wonderful man. ” (Miller 38). And when he is reassured of his attractiveness and competence, the woman disappears, her purpose being fulfilled. Once again the drug has come to the rescue, postponing Willy’s having to actually do something about his problem. The next day, when Willy is fired after initially going to ask his boss to be relocated is when the next journey into the past occurs.
The point of the play during which this episode takes place is so dramatic that Willy seeks a big hit of the flashback drug. Such a big hit in fact, that he is transported back to what was probably the happiest day of his life. Biff was going to play in Ebbets field in the All-Scholastic Championship game in front of thousands of people. Willy couldn’t be prouder of his two popular sons who at the time had everything going for them and seemed destined to live great, important lives, much more so than the “liked, but not well liked” boy next door, Bernard.
Too much of anything, even a good thing, can quickly become a bad thing. Evidence of this statement is seen during Willy’s next flashback, when the drug he has been using for so long to avoid his problems backfires, giving him a “bad trip”, quite possibly a side effect of overuse. This time he is brought back to one of the most disturbing moments in his life. It’s the day that Biff had discovered his father’s mistress while visiting him on one of his trips to ask him to come back home and negotiate with his math teacher to give him the four points he needed to pass math and graduate high school.
When Willy’s feeling down or life seems just too tedious and insignificant, or when things just aren’t going his way, why not take a hit of the old miracle drug, memories. The way he overuses his vivid imagination is sad because the only thing it’s good for is enabling Willy to go through one more day of his piteous life, full of bitterness, confusion, depression, false hopefulness, and a feeling of love which he is trying very hard to express to his sons who seem reluctant to accept it.
Willy can also be seen as a misunderstood hero who eventually takes his own life for the betterment of his family, especially his eldest son. Throughout the story, Willy proves through his actions that he is indeed a tragic hero in Arthur Miller’s eyes. To Arthur Miller, a tragic hero can be a common person who is ready to lay down his life to secure their sense of personal dignity. Tragedy is also the consequence of a person’s total compulsion to evaluate himself “justly”. “Pop! I’m a dime a dozen, and so are you!
I am not a leader of men, Willy, and neither are you. You were never anything but a hard-working drummer who landed in the ash can like all the rest of them! I’m one dollar an hour, Willy! ” (Miller 132). This statement shows that Biff also considers Willy a typical guy. Throughout the story, the reader sees Willy questioning his already deceased brother Ben, and in one case, he even questions Bernard about what he did wrong. During his brief meeting with Bernard, Willy asks, “What-what’s the secret? How-how did you? Why didn’t he ever catch on? Miller 92).
The secret in this case is the secret to success, and here, he’s asking Bernard why Biff never succeeded in anything he did over the age of seventeen. Basically, he did do something wrong, by sleeping with the secretary in Boston, and having Biff find out, it showed Biff that his entire life was a lie. Through his tragedy, he finally sees that Biff loves him despite his affair and lies. Willy realizes this during the huge fight he has with Biff at the end of the play, “Isn’t that remarkable? Biff-likes me! (Miller 133).
During the play, Willy believes Biff is not succeeding in life because he wants to spite Willy. However this is not the case, Biff is not succeeding because of the way he was brought up, “I never got anywhere because you blew me so full of hot air I could never stand taking orders from anybody! That’s whose fault it is! (Miller 131). From this remark, it takes all the blame off Willy’s shoulders, it wasn’t out of spite that Biff didn’t succeed, it was just the way Biff’s personality worked. Throughout the play, Willy tries to secure his sense of personal dignity by laying down his life in committing suicide.
Although he tries to take his life by getting into a “car accident” and inhaling carbon monoxide, he doesn’t succeed until his last attempt. In his last attempt, it occurs after having the huge fight with Biff and realizing that Biff loves him. Because of that, Willy believes that Biff is an outstanding boy, “Yes outstanding, with twenty thousand behind him” (Miller 133). In order to secure his own dignity, he feels that by ending his life, he can leave something behind for Biff, in this case, it’s the twenty thousand from the insurance company.
But sadly enough, the insurance company had already realized his plan after checking up on his past two attempts, and because of this, Biff and the rest of the family never acquires the money. Studying Willy’s actions throughout the story, one can see that Willy is a tragic hero in Arthur Miller’s eyes. Willy’s actions fit all the criteria of a tragic hero. From him being a common man, to his readiness to lay down his life, his entire life from start to finish has been the perfect embodiment of a tragic hero.
In the last paragraph in the play, Linda says, “I can’t cry. I don’t know what it is, but I can’t cry. I don’t understand it” (Miller 139). Perhaps the reason why Linda can’t cry is because she knows that no matter what happened at the end, Willy was finally happy when he was about to kill himself. In the last line when Linda goes, “We’re free and clear” she is indeed also speaking for Willy. By killing himself, Willy was finally free from the horrible life he was living and left the world thinking he finally did something positive for Biff (Miller).
