Charley to Willy

When Charley told Willy "the only thing you got in this world is what you can sell" (1256), he meant that Willy was focusing on the unimportant things in life. His main concern was to be successful, not that there is anything wrong with wanting that, but it cannot consume your life. Willy was not only loosing his wife and sons, he was also loosing himself. He viewed life like a carriage horse, with blinders on that only let him see what was directly infront of him. His blinder was success. To him there was one way to be successful and that was in sales. Due to this tragic flaw he lost his relationships with his sons. He wanted them to live his dream, not their's. Even though this story is from the 1940's, it is very relevant to today. Americans have always had an incredible desire for success, why else would a bunch of people hop on a boat and sail to foreign to restart their lives? It is all because they wanted to accomplish success that was unattainable in Europe. So as humans, we come by it naturally. Even Willy's attitude towards his sons can be seen today. Parents are always pressuring their children to live out their dreams. They have the right intentions, but they forget that their child also has a dream. There are thousands of people today in Willy's situation, maybe not as crazy, but they only have what they can sell. Material things are not what make a person happy. Those things can be taken away anytime and what does that leave you with? A life full of debt? Arthur Miller did an excellent job of adding a great moral to this story, whether he meant to or not. We should never be so caught up in something that we loose what is truly important in life.