The image of success is a broad definition that can differ greatly from person to person. In a school setting, a teacher may define success as having good grades and doing well in class, while a student may define success as being attractive and having many friends. In Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, the protagonist Willy Loman has a distorted and narrow-minded image of success. He defines it as coming solely from being well-liked, being rich, and being attractive, completely ignoring all other reasons as to how one might be successful. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay First, like Willy, I believe that being well-liked can definitely lead to success, especially if your job or career requires that quality. This especially applies to Willy because as a salesman he must be charismatic to do his job well. Willy also mentions the importance he places on being well-liked when he talks to his brother Ben about how he raised his sons, Biff and Happy, to be "robust" and "well-liked" so that they could both surely succeed. However, I disagree with Willy on his idea that being well-liked is all it takes to be successful, as well as his idea that success has nothing to do with hard work or intelligence because it simply isn't True. While it can be helpful to be well-liked to get important contacts, it's not the only thing that should matter to a person seeking success, especially since hard work can also play an important role. In contrast, Willy believes that the only way to get ahead in life is to be well-liked and create "self-interest", telling Biff and Happy that even if Bernard gets the "best grades in school", he won't be as successful as them in the business world because they are simply "liked" and not "well-liked" in the same way that Biff and Happy are. Willy links success solely to popularity, which is a flaw that shows the contrast between my views on success versus Willy's; I believe success is defined by hard work combined with being well-liked, while Willy defines success as coming solely from being well-liked. Furthermore, Willy believes that wealth and wealth are the only contributors to one's success, causing him to completely ignore how important his own happiness is to his own success as well. For example, the one sentence Willy always remembers telling his brother Ben is how rich he became after coming out of the jungle, which shows how much importance Willy places on wealth since it is the quality he automatically gravitates towards whenever he thinks to why Ben had succeeded. In contrast, my personal philosophy on success has nothing to do with wealth and everything to do with happiness. If a person is truly happy doing their job/career, they will most likely be successful, regardless of how much money they make from it. Being passionate about what you do is what leads to success, as demonstrated especially in Biff's work situation. Even though he doesn't make much money working on the ranch, he is happy and manages to do it, explaining why he doesn't always throw tantrums like his father. Conversely, if someone hates their job, they will most likely do it poorly and feel incompetent, which could lead to extreme guilt and anger. This is demonstrated in Willy's situation, as he did not choose his job because he was happy to do it, but instead chose it under the impression that he would become rich and.
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