Death
of a Salesman is very rich story. We can find many values and messages that can
remind us of how difficult a life is; that life sometimes is full of misery,
where the reality is not running as smoothly as what we have expected. That’s
what happens to Willy Loman, the main character of this play. The problem is,
this guy lives in the shadow of his own illusion. He doesn’t know that his
illusion is actually a sign of his own failure, that later on bring him into
death without accomplishing his ‘dream’ mission even once.
Willy
Loman is old and exhausted. At the age of sixty, he should have been enjoying
his time and settling down in a peaceful life. However, he’s still struggling
to build his family’s welfare and to pursue his dream into reality. He’s kind
of person who dreams really high, or we can see that he has a very high
principle about life too. His job, salesman, is his own decision. His notion
about being well-liked and having a good personal attractiveness becomes the
major point of him in educating his sons, Biff and Happy.
“We are more heavily invested in the theories
of failure than we are in the theory of success” (Bandura: 1998)[1].
Sometimes we think about the most righteous thought for us. Willy formulated
his own theory of success and tried to apply it but unfortunately he couldn’t
hold it tight and finally slipped. Having a life notion and principle is not a
wrong thing, it doesn’t break the law, it doesn’t disturb the society, but it
turns into a misery when someone is finally trapped within his/her own notion,
just like Willy. Later this failure will take effects to every side of his
personal life, and we can’t deny that those effects may cause the pressure on
Willy’s shoulder, especially when it comes to the relationship between him and his
sons. Willy had good times with his sons in the past as they saw him as a role
model and also as a good father figure.
Parents
serve as models for their children to imitate, but let’s talk this issue that
Biff and Happy saw Willy as their favorite and inspiring figure in the family,
the one who can provide them with sweet vision about the future. “You and Hap and I, and I’ll show you all the
towns. America is full of beautiful towns…” (p.133). It shows that Willy is
really a dreamer; from that dialogues he seems to give his sons a very big vision
of American dream. “Bigger than Uncle Charley! Because Charley
is not—liked. He’s liked, but he’s not—well liked” (p.122). This part
indicates that Willy also provides his sons with a statement about being well
liked again and again.
It’s
already explained above that Willy used that kind of notion to educate his
children. The result is under expectation as Biff turned around and changed his
mind about his admired father. It happened when Biff was in high school. At
first, he used to be a popular and famous guy among his friends; he was so
good-looking and so many girls were falling for him, and he was very good at
sport—football. Those kinds of achievements seemed to be so precious to Willy.
He was very proud of Biff and he thought that he was successful in educating
his children well, by finally reaching fame and attractiveness. However, there
was one situation that ruined that pride. Biff was flunked in Math. In short,
in this situation we may consider that fame is not everything. Willy always
stated that by being well-liked, we would be able to get a successful life. It
was successful but it’s not permanent, all of Willy’s pride that time was only
a temporary stuff that may have gone in no times.
That
‘math tragedy’ is the beginning of the broken relationship between Biff and
Willy. Ben was looking for his beloved father when he found him in the hotel
room with a woman he didn’t know. In all sudden, all the bright view towards
Willy was destroyed. Willy’s character as an admired father was gone to nowhere
as Biff felt disappointed in him. That’s why he called Willy as a ‘fake’
(p.156), means that all these times he filled his sons’ mind with good things
and values but in the end he fell. He did something contrast with what he had
taught to both Biff and Happy.
However,
Willy shouldn’t be the only one who must take all the blame. He has his own
dilemma and problem too, and unfortunately his sons don’t understand this. It
can be seen through Linda’s words which sound so furious to Biff and Happy for
not understanding Willy’s misery. “Are
they any worse than his sons? When he brought them business, when he was young,
they were glad to see him. But now…” (p.155). It’s right that only Linda
who can understand Willy. She’s a very good wife, she’s very patient, but as a
mother she feels disappointed in her sons.
Willy
feels lonely too. After the father-sons relationship went down, Biff and Happy
was rarely home, just like what Willy said “Work
a lifetime to pay off a house. You finally own it, and there’s nobody to live
in it.” (p.119). Later, it’s supported by Linda’s part “What happened to the love you had for him?
You were such pals! How you used to talk to him on the phone every night! How
lonely he…” (155-156). In the past, Willy travelled around the country and
he only had a little time with the family. Every time he went home and met his
children, he felt happy. But now, his sons are the ones who left him away.
The
father-son relationship can be seen through the way they used to address each
other. ‘Pal’ means good friend. It
indicates they are close each other. Even Biff and Happy called Willy ‘Pop’. I often find the using of word ‘pal’ in the family movies, when a
father addresses his children.
The
term ‘like father like son’ is not fully accepted in this case. At first it may
seem right, as for Biff, the characteristic of Willy who is probably half-lazy
may affect his future as well. When he was in high school, he was probably
blinded by the fame so he ignored the suggestion from his friend, Bernard, to
keep studying hard all the time. At that time, Willy showed such an ignorance
reaction too about this case, because he thought that Biff had already achieved
his goals to be well liked, famous, and attractive. In the other hand, a son is
not always like his father. Biff refused to be a salesman like Willy. He has
tried for sure to gain money by doing various jobs but he kept failing to enjoy
his life. The title “Death of a Salesman” not only represents the death of
Willy literally, but also the death of ‘salesman’ profession itself as Biff
refused to continue his father’s career.
From
this story we can learn about a father who actually forces himself to apply his
own principle to his children. It must be understood that sometimes children
and parents are not all the same, and not all teaching methods suit with the
children’s acceptance. Willy’s notion about being well liked probably seems
right to him but it probably doesn’t seem right to his children. However, in
the end he failed to reach his dream. Instead of gaining fame, he ended up with
a pitiful death, even his requiem was not attended by many people just like
what he had imagined; obviously he has failed to fulfill his notion.
[1] Quotation cited from psychologist Albert
Bandura who’s well-known for his theory of self-efficacy
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