Failures In Arthur Miller's Death Of A Salesman

Growing up, my siblings and I participated in a variety of competitive sports. For my brother and me, this consisted of soccer, basketball, and running track. We would constantly practice together and would make every aspect of it a competition. For example, whoever was breathing hardest at the end of a sprint lost, whoever shot more goals in soccer won, and whoever could dodge and fake out the other was the best athlete in the family. I would try and try to beat my brother but he always found a way to get the upper hand. Compared to my brother, I saw myself as a failure. It wasn’t until one parent teacher conference night that i realized that I was far more academically capable than my older brother. I had better grades and was more well liked …show more content…
For one, a failure to one can be seen as a success to another. It can be through a job, your family, or through financial success. In the book Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, the author brings up the topic of failure multiple times. Many of these failures are demonstrated through the struggles of the main character, Willy. Though the audience never actually can look into the main character’s mind, one can clearly see the internal battle that is happening inside Willy Loman’s head. He often is seen dwelling on the more upsetting aspects of his life, never particularly taking notice to all the good he has …show more content…
During the span of the book, Willy attempts to take his life. Whatever motive was behind his actions, one presumes it is almost definitely related to Willy’s. But why? The audience must wonder what horrible thing pushes a man over the edge like that? For willy, his idea of success is unlike many others. He himself believed that he was an above average salesman. Yet, he never exactly “made it big”, much like an amateur actor in Hollywood. Willy never got his hollywood premier no matter how far he traveled or how hard he seemed to work for it.
Failure is so broad and adaptable that it somehow finds its way into the lives of every human being in history. But, the only person who can define failure is yourself. Whether or not you succeed depends on how you view yourself and your life. Behind every success is a failure, you just have to know what it is you’re good at. Unfortunately, Willy was never able to see through his failures to his potential success. It’s never easy to continue a pursuit that frequently results in failure. Every success does not signify the end, yet each failure is seldom