Character Analysis of Willy Loman From Arthur Miller's A View From the Bridge Arthur Miller introduces us to the character of Willy through the stage directions at the start of the play. Our first impression of Willy is that of an old, tired, hardworking man who gets home after everybody is in bed. We then learn that he has mood swings and massive dreams. As soon as Willy enters the house we get the feeling that something is wrong with the fact that he is home, as Linda calls "with some trepidation". She then asks him if he has crashed the car again. This implies that he has done it before and is a danger on the road. When talking to Linda about what happened when he was driving he says "I cant seem to - keep my mind to it". This gives us the first indication about his state of mind, and, as he finds it hard to get the words out, that he shows some difficulty in telling the truth about his failure. We learn of his inner dream of living in the countryside and growing carrots, but he is hiding this dream under the dream of being successful as a businessman. A bit later we get an idea of how successful Willy is. Willy tries to blame his unsuccessfulness on the fact the Frank Wagner is no longer alive and his son, Howard, does not like him. We then learn that Biff, his favourite son, works on a farm. Willy does not approve of this and says "How can he find himself on a farm? Is that a life? A farmland?" This is completely contradicting his inner dream. This shows that he is confused about what he really wants. Also, when talking about Biff he uses quite aggressive language such as "goddammit!" This indicates that he has ... ... middle of paper ... ...indicates that he does not act morally in business. Charlotte ========= Charlotte is the woman that Happy went out with, with Biff. She is having an affair with Happy as she is going to get married in five weeks. She is used to show Happy's disrespect for women and his belief that it is the way to get successful. He wants to get rid of her, which shows that all he wanted from her was to be reassured that he is better that her husband-to-be. The Woman The Woman was a secretary for a store that Willy sold to, and she would put him through to see the buyers. The Woman is younger than Linda so represents a younger side to Willy. Though she only plays a small part in the play, her presence affects many characters. For example the way in which Biff acts towards Willy is very affected by the Woman.
tries to make her disinterested in him so that again, he may concentrate on the
From the very beginning, we can see that Willy is unable to keep up with the competitive demands. This leads to him feeling hopeless because he is unable to support his family, which could possibly lead to them being in debt. As the story goes
to him; and that he can give and take as he pleases. Therefore, she's willing to accept the
In Arthur Miller’s essay about “Tragedy and the Common Man,” he argues that the common man is as appropriate a subject for tragedy as the very highly placed kings and noble men. Mankind keeps tragedy above all forms because they are given the same mental abilities as the nobles. In “Death of a Salesman”, Willy Loman is a common man and a middle class worker, enough saving to provide food for his family. So if the tragic hero can be a common man, does Willy fit in that category? Even though he is a common man he fails to live up to the standards of being a tragic hero because he never accepts nor admits to his own errors. He, therefore, loses his dignity. One of his biggest errors is his failure of be a good father.
Many dilemmas throughout the recent decades are repercussions of an individual's foibles. Arthur Miller represents this problem in society within the actions of Willy Loman in his modern play Death of a Salesman. In this controversial play, Willy is a despicable hero who imposes his false value system upon his family and himself because of his own rueful nature, which is akin to an everyman. This personality was described by Arthur Miller himself who "Believe[s] that the common man is as apt a subject for a tragedy in its highest sense as kings were" (Tragedy 1).
have a nice talk with him. I’ll get him a job selling. He could be
At the beginning of the play it is evident that he cannot determine the realities of life, and so he repeatedly contradicts himself to establish that his conclusion is correct and opinion accepted. These numerous contradictions demonstrate that Willy is perturbed of the possibility that negative judgements may come from others. Willy strongly believes that “personality always wins” and tells his sons that they should “be liked and (they) will never want”. In one of Willy’s flashbacks he recalls the time when his sons and him were outside cleaning their Chevy. Willy informs Biff and Happy the success of his business trips and how everyone residing in Boston adores him. He mentions that due to the admiration of people he does not even have to wait in lines. He ultimately teaches his sons that being liked by others is the way to fulfilling one’s life and removing your worries. These ideals, that one does not need to work for success, demonstrate Willy’s deluded belief of achieving a prosperous life from the admiration and acceptance of others. This ultimately proves to be a false ideology during his funeral, when an insufficient amount of people arrive. Willy constantly attempts to obtain other’s acceptance through his false tales that depict him as a strong, successful man. In the past, he attempts to lie to his wife, Linda, about the amount of wealth he has attained during his
The man further complicates the discussion by contradicting himself. For each time he reassures the girl he wants what she wants, he spends at least one line identifying exactly what he wants. This is clearly seen in the following conversation: "You?ve got to realize . . . that I don?t want you to do it if you don?t want to. I?m perfectly willing ...
... By assuming he makes not only her feel uncomfortable but hows that he has problems with communicating in the correct manner.
Throughout the play, Willy can be seen as a failure. When he looks back on all his past decisions, he can only blame himself for his failures as a father, provider, and as a salesman (Abbotson 43). Slowly, Willy unintentionally reveals to us his moral limitations that frustrates him which hold him back from achieving the good father figure and a successful business man, showing us a sense of failure (Moss 46). For instance, even though Willy wants so badly to be successful, he wants to bring back the love and respect that he has lost from his family, showing us that in the process of wanting to be successful he failed to keep his family in mind (Centola On-line). This can be shown when Willy is talking to Ben and he says, “He’ll call you a coward…and a damned fool” (Miller 100-101). Willy responds in a frightful manner because he doesn’t want his family, es...
Arthur Miller's, "Death of a Salesman," shows the development and structure that leads up to the suicide of a tragic hero, Willy Loman. The author describes how an American dreamer can lose his self-worth by many negative situations that occur throughout his life. The structure and complications are essential because it describes how a man can lose his way when depression takes over.
though he cares for her a lot as even though she is quite grown up she
As shown in this scene, Willy gains satisfaction from having people remember and love him, because such love would validate Willy’s success. Thus, Willy’s adm...
Willy's goal throughout life was to climb out of his social class. As a salesman, Willy was a failure and he tried desperately to make his sons never end up like him. As a result, he loses his mind and his grasp on reality. Throughout the story, Willy often has flashbacks of the conversations that he and his brother Ben once had and the author intertwines them in past and present very nicely.
Willy Loman, the main character in Death of a Salesman is a complex tragic character. He is a man struggling to hold onto the little dignity he has left in a changing society. While society may have caused some of his misfortune, Willy must be held responsible for his poor judgment, disloyalty and foolish pride.