A very important issue in Death of a Salesman that is examined is where, if anywhere, is happiness to be found
A very important issue in Death of a Salesman that is examined is where, if anywhere, is happiness to be found? This question is a very complex one indeed, yet there are many possible answers to this particular issue. This play shows a man seeking for happiness in many different ways, yet never satisfied. I believe that happiness can be found in honestly. Though there are many other questions that could be easily asked in regards to where happiness could be found in this play, I believe that honesty is one of the most important human character traits. Through examples of honestly, or lack there of from each Lohman family member, this character trait will be thoroughly examined in comparison with other respective answers to the question that I have proposed.
Death of a Salesman shows a man seeking happiness, yet never satisfied. The end result of this unsatisfied life that main character Willy Lohman experienced was eventually death. If you the reader are thinking he experienced a pleasant and peaceful death, think again. This was not a natural death, but a death that made it all but certain that the blame would be squarely placed on no one but himself. He was deemed a coward by his own family as a result. His excuse was that he was only trying to give his son Biff one last chance at a happy life by defrauding the insurance company. You may be thinking why, exactly is Willy Lohman’s death so important to the question of “where is happiness to be found?” Unfortunately, Willy Lohman’s life was not exactly filled with an abundance of joy and happiness to say the least. He had been dissatisfied with himself his entire life, and even in his old age he was still finding ways to be not only act as a bad husband, but a less then spectacular father to his two boys. Through Willy’s unhappiness, he was unable to teach his boys the difference between right and wrong. As a result, his oldest son Biff was a liar, cheater, and a stealer. All three of these character traits manifested themselves through Willy’s fatherly advice, or lack there of. His other son, Happy, was always looking for approval from his father. He is the only male Lohman family member that had mostly ignored his father’s mentality, as well as his brother’s, by being determined on being a positive and self-improving person. The aggression that he held inside had to due with the household situation between his father Willy and his brother Biff. There was a lot of tension between these two, and Happy was either not involved but listening to it, or he was placed into the middle of it at times. His brother Biff is a complete failure, and his father had always resented the fact that he thought that he did not like him. Through this resentment, there was a sense of happiness, or lack there of that has been lacking in the Lohman family. This lack of happiness was due to a lack of honestly as well. Willy had not been honest about his failures in life. Biff did not admit that he also was a failure. Happy did not admit that he had tried his hardest to become a better person, but at times it just did not work. Linda, who could not admit the fact that the Lohman family were not in a pleasant financial situation, was also another contributing factor to the final result of a salesman’s death.
