English_Speach-_Death_of_a_Salesman

Year 11 Advanced English Assessment Task Three (sitting down at a table about to play a game of cards) It's not the same with only one player you know, I still don't blame Willy he was obsessed with the dream, a dream that was not rightfully suited to him. He was still chasing that dream even though it had given up on him long ago. Biff understood this more than anyone, maybe even Willy himself. When we were talking at the funeral Biff said 'He had all the wrong dreams' further showing how much he did know about his Father, even though Willy would not except this but rather thought he was being spiteful towards him. It's Willy's loss of recognition in his dream to become a successful salesman like Dave Singleman that ultimately brings himself to commit suicide. It's tragic that Willy didn't follow the dream into a profession that was more suited to his natural ability as a Carpenter, all of the signs were there. Even though he wouldn't admit it Willy enjoyed working with his hands, he had completed many renovations on his house trying to fix it up over the years. Once again Biff proves that he knows more about Willy than anyone one else in the play by providing an analysis of his father at the funeral, 'there's more of him in that front stoop than in all the sales he ever made'. Biff realises that his father lived a life of illusion and implies that his father wasted his life as an unsuccessful salesman, and should of spent it in a profession that he was good at and could take pride in. Willy wasted so much of his life trying to live his false dream that he was blinded by other alternatives. Willy foreshadows his suicide during his final conversation with me when I say, 'After all the highways, the trains, the appointments, and the years, you end up worth more dead than alive'. Willy truly believes that what he is doing is best for his family, by taking his own life, his family will receive a twenty thousand dollar insurance policy which he believes will be worth more to his family than his own life. One of Willy's most dominant flaws is his warped understanding of success, Willy grew up believing that being well-liked and having personal attractiveness was important to becoming a success. An example of this is when Willy tells Biff, 'The man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead. Be liked and you will never want'. This shows how Willy believes that success comes from views that others have of that person, however he doesn't realise that this alone will not provide for the needs of himself or his family. 'Business is business' and requires more than being well-liked to be successful in most cases you need to be hard working and provide the skills needed to complete the given task in order to make a profit. However Willy doesn't believe in this truth and prefers to stay blinded by his values and because of this Willy is abandoned by the business world and by his dream of success as well. If Willy had changed his values and realised that the dream of being a salesman was not made for him, he would have considered himself rich in his later years, feeling grateful to have a wife and two sons that loved him. Yet because he was unable to appreciate the important things in life, he ultimately opted for suicide instead, stealing the opportunity for true happiness away from those who had managed to find their own versions of peace prior to his selfish act.