Death of a salesman 2

Death of a salesman 2

? Pride, envy and greed are all deadly sins. These deadly sins are shown in the

play "Death of a Salesman" and "Macbeth", unless these sins are controlled, they

can bring you to your tragic downfall.

In the play Death of a Salesman "The play's protagonist, Willy Loman, is a

man whose perspective is clouded by pride that he would rather maintain the false

appearance of success than accept repeated offers of help from his neighbour" (vit

wagner, article). Willy Lowman is not popular and he is no longer attractive. He is

incapable of doing a good job at selling, but he is unwilling to admit his failure. His

imagination and deceit take over, allowing him to tell his wife that he is very

successful and extremely popular. "They don't need me in New York. I'm New

England man. I'm vital in New England" (act one,p.14). Still, he has his doubts and

these are expressed occasionally. The lies he tells entrap him. Howard ask's Willy,

"where are your sons? why don't your sons give you a hand?". Willy replies, "they're

working on a very big deal" Howard remarks, "this is no time for false pride, Willy

you go to your sons and you tell them that you're tired. You've got two great boys,

haven't you?". After willy is fired, he discovers that the only person he can borrow

money from is Charley his next door neighbour. Willy comes to realize that Charley

is his only friend and he says "Isn't that remarkable." It is Charley's success that annoys

Willy and which prevents him later from accepting employment from Charley when he

offers it. Charley continues to lend him money although he feels insulted by Willy's

refusal to work for him. "The excessively proud imagine a universe that plates
themselves firmly at the centre. People who bear grudges - who are too big to

apologize, who can dish it out but can't take it - are apt to discover how private that

universe can be." (Vit Wagner, article).

Macbeth's envy, though it is what brings him to his height of power, it is also

what leads him to his downfall. Envy is Macbeth's flaw, which disables him to

achieve his utmost goals and forces him to face his fate. Without this Macbeth never

would have been able to become king of Scotland or to carry out his evil deeds. In

these instances, envy helped Macbeth do what he wanted to do, but consequently,

his envy leads him to his tragic downfall. Had he not been so enveloped with

learning king and remaining powerful, he would not have continued to kill innocent

people in order to keep his position. It was because of these killings and his

overbearing attitude that caused him to be overthrown and killed himself.


Greed is a flaw which everyone posses, it just depends on how much they let

it control their lives. For example, in the play, "Macbeth." Mabeth the thane of

cowder was greedy and wanted the throne of England for himself. As a result he the throne of



was murdered, but his murder was'nt really disheartening, since