Willy Lowman, a Victim of American Dream

As his name Willy Lowman implies, this man, the protagonist in the Death of a Salesman, is in reality a low man positioned low in the social ladder. His life, in part, is a tragedy, which also reflects the tragedy of the whole society in America then. Dreams for wealth, social status and dignity keep fueling Willy in his whole life. However, it is this dream and the harsh social reality that push him to his unexpected death.

As a salesman of lower social class, Willy is struggling hard to support the family to make both ends meet, with two lazy and unaccomplished sons complaining about him all the time. He is deeply immersed in the belief that if he is well liked and charismatic, people are sure to buy his merchandise, and the world of wealth and well-being is ready to embrace him gently and passionately. Irrespective of his downward sales career, Willy is still pretty boastful about how important he is in New England and how much he is able to sell. Immersion in all those lies traps him so deeply that he is incapable of functioning in a normal way under the immensely economic and mental stress, which combined with his physical exhaustion lead to his insanity and final death. 

At the beginning of this story, Willy tells Linda that “Figure it out. Work a lifetime to pay off a house. You finally own it, and there is nobody to live in it” (p.7), which is an implication of Willy’s fate. As Linda says at Willy’s funeral “I made the last payment on the house today. Today, dear. And there’ll be nobody home” (p.104). We can hear the heartbreak of Linda as well as the breakdown of this poor family. 

Willy is not alone at that time in America, representing the lower class in America struggling to support a family, to find the meaning of life. Deeply within them is a dream, one for wealth, social status and dignity. But Willy failed, and a lot of them failed. It seems that those men are destined to end up in a collapsed dream, the tough and cruel reality tearing them into pieces. Willy lives a life teeming with toil and tears, nothing to provide for his son to start a career. Forced into a desperate corner, he chooses to commit suicide to get the insurance money for his son. The pathetic death of Willy Lowman is a result of his personality. As a all-the-time bragger, he is unwilling to face the mediocre existence of him as well as of his son. His great expectations of his son to make remarkable accomplishments also fail him relentlessly. When finally pushed into a dilemma where there is refuge for him to take, Willy has to come to terms with the reality and admit his incompetence. Though Linda thinks that they only need a little salary to live a life, we know that poor Willy dreams bigger. His tragic fate is symbolic of those born into the lower class of poverty and inability to change, but with expanding dreams of unreachable prosperity and dignity. 

At the end of this story, Linda keeps asking the question “I don’t understand it. Why did you ever do that?” (p.104) From my perspective, I think the reason for Willy’s suicide is more of the collapse of his unrealistic dream, though we have to admit his economic pressure also gives him a push. It is good that everyone has expectations for a better life. But when we are incapable of making changes, we are supposed to be true to ourselves and face the reality courageously and still hopefully. 


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