Death of a Salesman response

Willy Loman believes that individual opportunity and success comes when an individual is smart and works hard for what he or she wants. In order to be a success, according to Willy Loman, you must be well liked and it is incredibly important to be well known in not only the area you are from but in all areas. In his opinion this is a large definition of success. We see this numerous times throughout the book. For example, when Biff attempts to get a job the first time. He goes through all of the stages that becoming successful entails. He begins in a low position and seems to work his way up. His father Willy was happy when his son did this because he created his name in his industry and he showed that he earned the success that he would one day receive. We also see this when Willy discusses how many people "know" him in other areas of town and in other cities. 

On the other hand, the author, Arthur Miller, shows in  almost every other character that they are given the success that they obtain. Whether it  was based on who they know or where they came from the other characters get the things that they want. It is because of this that they are considered successful. For  example, Willy's boss obtained his position as the head of the company because he was the son of the owner of the company. The company was not passed on to the person with the most skill, but rather it was passed on to the next generation of the family. Being a smart and successful person had nothing to do with who would obtain this company and it was very evident that they author believed that success is simply given to individuals rather than to individuals who truly deserve the success.