Willy Loman's Tragic Pursuit of a Fictional Final Goal in <italic style="font-style: italic">Death of a Salesman </italic>from an Adlerian Perspective

Zhicheng Zhang

doi:10.47297/wsprolaadWSP2634-786548.20260703

PDF
Export
Share
Collection
Album

Willy Loman's Tragic Pursuit of a Fictional Final Goal in <italic style="font-style: italic">Death of a Salesman </italic>from an Adlerian Perspective

Volume 7, Issue 3

Views: 0 Downloads: 0

Willy Loman's Tragic Pursuit of a Fictional Final Goal in Death of a Salesman from an Adlerian Perspective
Willy Loman's Tragic Pursuit of a Fictional Final Goal in Death of a Salesman from an Adlerian Perspective
Yanbian University, Yanbian, Jilin, 133002, China
Vol. 7, Issue 3, Pages: 220-223(2026)
Online First：04 August 2026，

Published：30 June 2026
DOI：10.47297/wsprolaadWSP2634-786548.20260703
Accepted：

Scan QR Code

Zhang Zhicheng.Willy Loman's Tragic Pursuit of a Fictional Final Goal in Death of a Salesman from an Adlerian Perspective[J].Research on Literary and Art Development,2026,07(03):220-223.
DOI：

Zhang Zhicheng.Willy Loman's Tragic Pursuit of a Fictional Final Goal in Death of a Salesman from an Adlerian Perspective[J].Research on Literary and Art Development,2026,07(03):220-223. DOI： 10.47297/wsprolaadWSP2634-786548.20260703.

摘要

Abstract

Arthur Miller's

Death of a Salesman

is widely regarded as a major critique of the American Dream and the social values of postwar American society. Many critics have explained Willy Loman's tragedy in terms of capitalist ideology

psychological conflict

or the collapse of personal aspirations. However

relatively little attention has been paid to the psychological force that drives Willy to persist in an unrealistic ideal despite repeated failures. Drawing on Alfred Adler's theory of the final goal

this paper argues that Willy's tragedy results from his lifelong pursuit of a fictional final goal based on a mistaken understanding of success. Through an analysis of Willy's attitudes toward success

his refusal to accept reality

and his decision to commit suicide

this paper shows that Willy's death is not a rejection of his dream but the ultimate attempt to fulfill it. Therefore

Miller's play reveals the destructive consequences of adhering to an unrealistic ideal when it becomes the guiding principle of an individual's life.

关键词

Keywords

references

Adler, Alfred. What Life Should Mean to You , Little Brown, 1931.

Ibrahim, Ghassan Awad. "The Absurdity of Life in Arthur Miller's Death of A Salesman : A Psychological Perspective. " Manar Elsharq Journal for Literature and Language Studies, vol. 1 , no. 3 , 2023, pp. 13 - 17 .

Marwinda, Kristin, & Englishtina, Inti. "Understanding the hidden meaning of Death of a Salesman : Derrida's deconstructive approach." Journal of Literature, Linguistics and Culture Studies, vol. 11 , no. 2 , 2022, pp. 35 - 43 .

Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman , introduction by Christopher Bigsby, Penguin Books, 1998.

Mocbil, Ahmed Saeed Ahmed. "The Destructive Power of False Ideals: A Reassessment of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman." Journal of Philology and Educational Sciences, vol. 4 , no. 1 , 2025, pp. 29 - 40 .

Siuli, Shantanu. "Defensive Self-Identity and Crisis: Misunderstanding Media and Communication in Miller's Death of a Salesman. " . International Journal of Language and Literature, vol. 12 , 2024, pp. 45 - 48 .

Sun, Mei. "The Collapse of a Low Man's Great Dream:Reading the Fusion of Traditional Marxism in Death of a Salesman ." Advances in Literary Study, vol. 10 , pp. 189 - 196 .