Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman is a story about the futility of self-deception, but it also examines the definition of "success" in post-World War II America and the danger of suppressing one's own inclinations to meet the expectations of others. Willy Loman's dismal failure is the result of delusions and a false sense of entitlement, but these are symptoms of a deeper problem: his desperate attempt to be something he is not. His collapse is balanced by the awakening of Biff, who questions the rigid definitions of success that led to Willy's downfall. In the end Biff could be the most important character, the only one capable of changing. In Biff's willingness to face himself and pursue an alternative to the conventional American dream, we see the freedom and self-realization that people obsessed with social status rarely achieve. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay In post-World War II America, people believed advertisers' claims that everyone deserved a new car, fancy appliances, and a big house with a white roof. fence. The definition of success was reduced to a rigid set of parameters. For Willy Loman and his ilk, success wore a suit and carried a briefcase. Owning a nicer car, house, or refrigerator than your neighbors was of paramount importance. Willy embraces these material goals, believing that good looks, luck, and charisma are all it takes to "end up with diamonds" (160). Like many contemporary Americans, he lives beyond his means to project an illusion of success. Wealth and upward mobility, or at least the appearance of them, are what he is conditioned to pursue. Despite Willy's grandiose claims, there is a sense that he doesn't belong in the business world: he confesses that "people don't seem to take me" (116), that people laugh at him, that he talks too much or makes too many jokes. Beneath all this lie hints of Willy's talent for working with his hands. He raises a ceiling, installs plumbing, builds a porch, a garage and an extra bathroom. As Charley comments after the funeral, "he was a happy man with a batch of cement" (206). Biff probably sums up the situation correctly when he proclaims, "We don't belong in this city asylum. We should mix cement on some open plain, or—or carpenters. A carpenter can whistle!" (138). Unfortunately, working with his hands doesn't fit Willy's vision of success. He tells Biff that his grandfather was better than a carpenter too. Willy is so trapped in his desire to impress others, to achieve social status and be "well-liked", that he has suppressed his natural inclinations and forced himself to follow a mold that doesn't quite fit him. He bangs his head against the door of corporate America, despising the idea of ​​working on a farm, but we glimpse an internal contradiction when he promises Linda, "We'll get a little place in the country, and I'll raise some vegetables, a couple of chickens ..." (148). After Willy's funeral, Biff says softly, "there's more of him on that porch than in all the sales I ever made" (106). Biff's epiphany, towards the end of the play, comments strongly on the one-size-fits-all idea. notions of the American dream. After attempting to fit into his father's (and America's) definition of success as a briefcase-carrier, Biff finally admits that he's "not good for business" (138), that it's "just who I am, that's all" ( 201). , that the sky is "work, food and time to sit and smoke".