Death of a Salesman Willy Loman’s Mental Breakdwon Essay

In Death of a Salesman Willy Loman was a man made of false dreams. Willy Loman was a man who destroyed himself with his false hopes and dreams. Throughout his whole life he was trying to become a Salesman like his father and he thought he would die a rich and successful man. Willy Loman was a man who tried so hard to achieve the American dream but failed to do so due to the multiple circumstances throughout his life. Environment around Willy Loman has had a huge affect on him which is causing him to be instable. Willy is not only destroyed by his own ideals but destroyed by his own two children Biff and Happy and Howard firing him also broke him down even more. Willy Loman is destroying himself trying to achieve the American Dream and trying to become a salesman like his own father but is failing to do so. He wants to own his own business. Willy also wants to be â€Å"bigger† then Uncle Charlie and that is why he never takes a job under Uncle Charlie even after getting fired. He wishes to die the â€Å"Death of a Salesmman† where many people to mourn for him and remember him as a great salesman. Willy has spent his whole life trying to achieve all these dreams of his but he still hasn’t really achieved any of them which is causing him to have a mental breakdown. However Willy aims in life have been useless as he hasn’t really achieved anything. Willy Loman is constantly lying to himself and his family to escape from being a failure. He is constantly trying to achieve his dream of becoming a great salesman but is lost in reality and is running out of time. In the play Charlie said to Willy â€Å"When are you going to grow up. † Even though Charlie was made fun of by Willy he still is his only friend and cares for him and even offers him a job after Willy gets fired by Howard but Willy refuses to take the job because of his high standards and his dreams which he hasn’t be able to accomplish yet. Willy knows he hasn’t accomplished anything yet and that is why he is guilty and starts lying to himself and to his family and even goes on and has an affair with another woman. He has the affair with the other woman to give himself a â€Å"boost† or to go into another world because he feels he has been a failure at not achieving the â€Å"American Dream. † Having an affair also caused Willy to breakdown because Biff caught him cheating and Willy feels guilty about it. Willy put in his whole life for his sons, Biff and Happy and they turned their backs on him. Willy always loved Biff and thought he would be an amazing business man but after Biff saw Willy cheating it tore Biff apart. Biff failed math and went to Boston to get his dad to talk to his math teacher but at that time he caught his father cheating which made him not get along with his dad for the rest of his life. Willy knows deep down it his fault that Biff never became a successful business man. The fact that he feels guilty is also a huge factor in his mental breakdown. The psychoanalytic theory describes how the environment around a person has an effect on the person. In Willy’s case it his sons and his failiures in life which is causing him to be unstable. From the multiple causes of Willy’s mental breakdown the biggest thing that broke him down was when Biff at the end of Act II shows him the rubber tube he found and explains to him that he was never what Willy wanted him to be. After all that Willy realizes his sons actually do love him even though they aren’t successful businessman. When will realizes he is almost finished is when Biff says â€Å"Pop, I’m nothing! Im nothing Pop. Cant you understand that? There’s no spite in it anymore. Im just what I am, that’s all. † Biff also says â€Å"Will you let me go for Christ’s sake† Will you take that phony dream and burn it before something happens? After this situation Willy realizes he has not accomplished much in life and his life is almost finished but Biff does love him. Willy has been chasing the American dream for ever trying to follow his father but has never succeeded which has caused him to fail throughout his whole life because he never really did what he was good at which was using his hands. After Willy committed suicide biff tells us what Willy could have been which could have made him successful. Biff says â€Å"Charley, there’s more of him in that front stoop than in all the sales he ever made. † This shows that Willy was never a salesman but was good with his hands. The played concluded with Willy committing suicide so his sons could collect the insurance money and because he had realized he was a failure in life but still wanted his children to be happy and successful. The multiple complications lead to the destruction of an American Dream. Willy wanted a dream that seemed materialistic and unimportant which caused his own life and destruction of his kids. Willy trying to chase the American dream and trying to be better then Charley and trying to be like his dad caused him to be a failure and eventually take his own life. Him not being able to achieve his dreams throughout his life caused him to be a failure and destroying his kids as well.