Willy's Influence in A Death of a Salesmen Essay

Willy Lomans Influences

Throughout a mans life, many inspirations influence what he will try to become, or try to be. In the case of Willy Loman from Arthur Millers play, Death of a Salesmen, his influence come from three men; Dave Singlemen, a workaholic who has no family but in the eyes of will is successful because he lives a life of travel and wealth. The second man who inspires Willy is his brother Ben. Ben left home when Willy was extremely young, searching for gold in San Francisco. Like Dave SInglemen, Ben has no family and is very superficial. The last person that Willy really admires is his neighbor Charley. Willy has an unhealthy competition with Charley, for he judges success on an income. Charley has money, something Willy does not, but truly believes he will have some day and have a lot of. Willys priorities do not revolve around what truly matters in life, and what can truly make someone happy, and that is family. He feels that his family will only love him if he is rich and making money, to the point where he has to lie about it. Willys unhappiness, which leads to his eventual suicide, is due to his inability to listen, and allow people to give him advice, and see what truly matters in his life.

Willys inability to see that the people, who truly love him, dont care if he doesnt make a lot of money. Willy has to lie to his wife in one of his flashbacks about how much money he actually made on a business trip. Willy brags, "I did five hundred gross in Providence and seven hundred gross in Boston"(35). However, as Linda begins calculating his commission, the value rapidly diminishes to "roughly two hundred gross on the whole trip"(35). Linda sees what is going on but does not confront him, a true sign of love, knowing that Willy cant admit his failure. Willy makes the same mistake later on in the play when he is no longer on the payroll. He has to go to his friend Charley to help him with his financial situation. Linda again knows of this, but cant muster up the courage to tell him because she knows how bad it will make him feel. His family understands that his vision on what matters in life, what will truly make him happy, doesnt involve them, but being a good salesman. Willy proves this when he states, I realized that selling was the greatest career a man could want (81). Willys statement reveals to us that he sees the job as a salesmen as a path to happiness living in a capitalistic society.

The only people that Willy try to give him advice, ironically, are the ones who mean the least to him, and care the least about him. His advocates come from the same family. They are two men who have gone on and become what Willy dreams of being, rich. Bernard, who grew up with Biff and Happy but chooses a drastically different path, and his father Charley, Willys friend who he indulges in an unhealthy competition with. One day, when Biff as supposed to be studying wit Bernard, but Willy keeps to talk athletics, Bernard comes over the Loman house and warns Willy that, "If he (Biff) doesn't buckle down he'll flunk"(40). Here, Bernard is trying to steer Willys advice for his son in the right direction. Bernard, the smart kid in school, understands that in this world, you arent going to be successful by people liking you, but by how smart you are and how hard you work. Willy refuses to listen because in his eyes Biff fits the role of a true man who walks the path of success. Nevertheless, Willy later sees successful Bernard, and still refuses to take his advice. Bernard sees that Willy holds the same job that has gotten him into this rut of making money and says, "sometimes, Willy, it's just better for a man to walk away"(95). Willy can only respond by asking "But what if you can't walk away?"(95). Charley goes above Bernards advice and puts success on Willys lap, potentially bailing him out and getting away from failure. Charley sees early on that Willy's job is not working out and begins offering him a job. Charley continues to offer this job until the end. Even though Willy refuses to take a job from Charley, Charley still loans Willy the money he needs every week understanding he will not return get anything in return. Charley and Bernard reveal Willys stubbornness through their attempts of helping Willy, and each time being shot down.

Because Willy does not want to listen to the outside world, he finds the need to create his own sources of guidance. This guidance comes in the form of Ben his brother and Dave Singleman. Ben appears to the audience in the form of Willy's flashbacks. He excites Willy with tales of self-made fortune. Willy uses Ben as a scapegoat in order to explain his own failures. He makes himself believe that if he had gone with Ben, he too would be rich. By doing this, he avoids facing his own failures as a salesman. Though we never see Dave Singleman, he is the single most powerful influence on Willy. He is Willy's personification of the perfect salesman. Willy hopes to gain the respect and success that Dave Singleman had. Nevertheless, in reality Dave represents the superficiality, which Willy bases his life on. All of the good qualities that Dave Singleman possessed were superficial. His life or character, however, is never brought to our attention. Willy needs to realize that it is the inner qualities that count.

Willys inability to take advice from the outside world, steer him down a path where he must find his own guidance, and way of doing things. He finds this through his Brother Ben, who has gone on to live a lonely, but successful live, traveling and never settling down. His other role model, very similar to Ben, is Dave Singlemen. Dave also lives the life on the road, never having time for a family or anyone else but himself. Willy, however, figures these two men to be successes in life. Willy views Dave Singlemens life as a success because he could (81). Willy reveals to us early on in the play that the best thing a man can do is sell. Since Dave Singlemen is extremely good at his job as a salesman, he exhibits the true model of a man in Willys eyes. Willy also sees Ben, his brother as a success and feels that he has the key to fulfilling Willys dream. Willy asks Ben, whats the secret (91). Willy feels that one thing has the ability to kick off ones success and help him become rich. Willy thinks that success in life is judged by how much money one man makes.

Willy Loman reveals himself as an arrogant, egotistical, and greed-filled man. He loses his sanity by stressing over money his whole life because he feels that the only way for him to be loved or liked, is to be rich and successful. His role models, dont even have families, exposing the truth that a good salesman cant be capable of having a family. Willy lets his family down by not fulfilling his duties as a father and a husband. Through all of this, Willy can never be called a bad person. Willy is caught up in what a lot of men and women in todays society is caught up in; success. The American Dream, wealth, creates greed and arrogance in many Americans. The greedy bank owners reveal this truth through there gluttony and evil ways every day. No one man comes into this world evil. Society today, like Willy, judges success on wealth, how big of a house a person has, and what car a person drives. How do people in such a materialistic society survive without money engulfing their minds and erasing all the good they have in them? Willy Loman certainly did not have the answer.