The evolution of Illusions in Araby, Hamlet, Death of a Salesman

The main character in Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman, can be compared to Hamlet in the sense that they both seem to be enchanted by some illusion that makes them think reality is something different than it really is. For example, Loman believes that being admired is the only way that he will become rich one day. Furthermore, he thinks that he is popular and on his way to success even though no one even knows his name. Loman thinks linearly in the sense that he sees fame and popularity as the only way to reach success when in reality, being well-liked is only a piece of the puzzle of becoming successful. In Hamlet’s case, he thinks that society is doomed since his father is no longer the King of Denmark. He is blinded by grief, and is unable to see the different ways in which Denmark can grow as a nation with Claudius as king. In the short story Araby by James Joyce, the main character loses himself in materialism while he is trying to impress a girl by buying her a gift at the bazaar. He becomes blind to the important things in life such as family, friends, and living in the present moment and becomes obsessed with the appearance of things (Watch this video to learn more about why it's so hard to live in the moment). Similarly to Loman and Hamlet, his vision becomes more linear as his infatuation with materialism grows. He begins to see society in one way only: in the illusion, just like Loman and Hamlet. Therefore, the common theme in Death of a Salesman, Hamlet, and Araby are that the main characters are closed-minded individuals that are misunderstanding society.

The differences between these texts lie in what kinds of illusions that the characters are charmed by. In Hamlet, Hamlet’s open-mindedness is stolen by the grief that he feels after his father’s death, along with the craving for revenge after he finds out that his father was murdered by Claudius, the current King. Since Hamlet is a very emotional character, these feelings are what influence how he sees the world around him. Unlike the characters in Araby and Death of a Salesman, Hamlet’s illusion does not revolve around wealth. It is driven by his many clashing emotions. As mentioned, the main character in Araby is captivated by the illusion of materialism. It allows his character to become very shallow because he seems to lose all of his emotions in his illusion. Even the love that he once felt for the girl that he liked was replaced by his love for material items and vanity. Similarly to Hamlet, the boy in Araby lost himself in all of his emotions. Potentially, since he felt like he didn’t have a chance with the girl that he was infatuated with so much, he felt the need to replace the void of emotions that he would have without her with money and wealth. This hunger for wealth is well demonstrated by Willy Loman’s character in Death of a Salesman. Willy is charmed by the “American Dream” and wants to work so that he can be successful and live out this dream himself. However, the illusion that consumes Willy is not only materialism, but also the path that he takes to achieve his goal of extreme wealth, as discussed earlier. He is similar to the main character of Araby in the sense that they both desire wealth and materialism, but Willy Loman takes this desire one step further as he is engrossed in the process of becoming well-liked and famous to achieve his goal.

Araby, Hamlet, and Death of a Salesman all share a common theme of illusion versus reality that is expressed through the main characters. There is an evident evolution of the illusions that they are charmed by. Hamlet loses himself in his emotions, the main character of Araby loses himself in his love for a girl and ends up obsessed with vanity. Willy Loman takes the illusion from Araby one step further and loses himself not only in the end goal of wealth, but in the process of achieving it.

Materialism and wealth is a driving factor in the illusions that the main character of Araby and Willy Loman fall for.