Our Quest For Success

While reading the second act of  The Death of a Salesman, I found myeslf wondering how Willy could allow himself to fall into this fantasy world where all is good and right.  Was his search for success so all consuming that reality never set in? Apparently.  And as I was marveling at how ridiculous and absurd his condition was, I realized that while Willy’s predicament is a vast exaggeration, people do frequently act as he did.  Willy’s search for success neglected to include the steps to get there.  He merely assumed that being a good well-liked person would result in a fortune, without the effort and hard work that such success  entails.  People nowadays buy into the same myth- that success is a right rather than an opportunity with which we are presented.  Treating schoolwork with apathy and the world like it owes you something is a recipe for failure that many people follow today.  Likewise, Willy has a problem accepting responsibility for any of the decisions he’s made in his life.  His current state is not of his doing, but rather an effect of the things everyone else has done to him.  It’s sad and yet something that many people do on a daily basis.  It is such a tragedy that Willy ends his life without ever feeling that he reached a level of success.  It’s the general consensus that people are endlessly working toward “success”.  I think that truly successful people set goals and work hard to achieve them.  However, the goals they strive for do not include “being successful”; success is achieved only when such people accomplish the goals and dreams their hearts have led them to fulfill.