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at fault for the tragedy in Willy Loman’s life. It states that brute economics is the reason Willy is unstable and on the brink of disaster. But if this is true why is it that Willy is the only one effected
by this? Charley, Willy’s friend, is depicted as a successful man who has his own business and has a son who argued a case before the Supreme Court. Even Willy’s brother, Ben, has succeeded in such a society, he has made millions off of the diamond business. This proves that society can not be the cause of the Tragedy evident in Willy’s life. The only one responsible for the tragedy seen in the play is Willy himself.
The psychological standpoint most accurately depicts the tragedy of one man, Willy Loman. It supports Miller’s quote regarding the tragic feeling. This perspective states that Willy took his own life to make a menc for his life of shame, by giving his sons the only thing he had left, the insurance policy. As Willy ponders committing suicide he tells his dead brother Ben,”He thinks I’m nothing, see, and so he spites me”(Meyer 1772) , and goes on to say, “Can you imagine the magnificence with twenty thousand dollars in his pocket”(Meyer 1776). Willy Loman is prepared to take his own life because he feels there is dignity in a death that will give his son a life.
This may be the only dignified thing Willy has done throughout the play. Willy is depicted as a pathetic man who is crushed by the world around him. Although, the psychological standpoint concludes that Willy is not destroyed by society but his own personal unconsciousness. Willy is haunted by his past which leaves him disillusioned about his future: “I still feel-kind of-temporary about myself”(Meyer 1734). Willy has lived a life of shame which has resulted in his weakened self image, he is no longer sure if he even still possesses the one tool essential to his trade-a good personality. He often worries that he is too talkative and that people do not take to him. Willy has become unsure of himself and this is what leads to the tragedy of the play not the Capitalistic
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system. This reduces Willy to a feeble man forced to wallow in his own self pity and this is the true tragedy of this play.
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Breecher, Richard. “Willy Loman and the Soul of a Neew Machine: Technology and the Common Man.” Journal of American Studies 17 (Dec. 1983): 325 – 336.
Hadomi, Leah. “Fantasy and Reality: Dramatic Rhythm in Death of a Salesman.” Modern Drama 31 (June 1988): 157 – 174.
Koon, Helene, ed. Twenteth Century Interpretations of Death of a Salesman. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1983.
Meyer, Micheal. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Boston: Bedford Books of St. Martin’s Press, 1989
Sue, David, Sue, Derald, and Sue, Stanley. Understanding Abnormal Behavior. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1991.
Welleck, Judith S. “Kohut’s Tragic Man.” Clinical Social Work Journal. (1993): 216 – 224