In spite of Loman's effort, it is known that he was not "well-liked" as Heather Callow mentioned about Willy Loman, not a popular man or being great at his job as a salesman (Callow 200). According to the text as Callow says "Men feel it crucial that they be respected and girls and women feel it crucial that they are liked by their peers (Callow 199). He was blind to the bad problems he caused to other people and eve towards his self, reasoning too focused on how his life had many downfalls. Callow explains how Willy uses masculine and feminine in the play and he talks about his importance in appearance about the success that could refer to masculine and get a better understanding of it. Willy Loman was often seen losing control about a lot …show more content…
He also showed the people at that particular time who aspired to material items and the American Dream, that was proved to be a devastating force. According to the Promised End, one day, as Willy Loman walks out the door he "dreams about the past" as he goes out (Hart 62). Later, he predicted his dreams of success down to his son; for the purpose of, not being able to meet his goals in his younger days. Given that, he did not reach his high standpoint, he wants the best for his son as he grows up. Not only does Willy have the strong love for his son, but also as well, he shows even stronger love for his family by providing them everything they need when he can. Willy shows concerns for Biff by having his worries out for him and finances when he can. Granting that, not only did he attach to financial achievements, he also had fame among his colleagues. He notices when he walks in everyone, "seemed to laugh at me" (Hart 62) as stated in the Promised End. Many problems occurred and sometimes touched his heart in many …show more content…
His wife was the only one who was also lost in Willy's part of denial. Koprince demonstrates how Willy carries his life and he also says that "Linda mothers her husband and have patience with him" (Koprince 314). In Death of a Salesman film, it can be seen that Linda treats him like a younger man. In that film, she is more comfortable with the way Willy acts. Linda knew that Willy was going through a lot in his life and she wanted him to know that she would be by his side every step of the way, no matter what he has to go through. She would always tell her boys to encouraged their father to be great in life. For example, when Willy came home at the beginning, she blamed his "glasses" and the "steering" even though she knew Willy was no longer capable of driving (Miller 2034-2035). By this time, Willy did not need that on his mind since he is going through so much right now and everyone seemed to know that but her. This is proved because Willy would scream and complain about everything. There was something always wrong with Loman, he would only be calm is when he would think about his flashbacks in his
Willy Loman is not the only victim of his tragic flaw. The rest of the Loman family is also affected by Willy's problem. Willy's wife, Linda, is the only one who supports and understands Willy's tragic flaw completely. Linda supports every far-fetched claim her husband makes. She is even described as having “infinite patience” whenever she is conversing with Willy (Miller 99). Willy's two sons, Biff and Happy, are also affected by his flaw. Happy, when in the company of two ladies, claims that Willy is not even his father, and “just a guy” (Miller 91). Later in the play, Biff decides that he does not want to be in his father's life anymore. Biff's problems are simply too much for Willy to handle with his current state of being, even though Willy needs Biff in his life. After both internal and external conflict, Biff reveals to Willy that Willy had been lied to for a number of years, and that the life he lives is essentially a lie (Miller 104).
Both sons live with the same concern for Willy as Linda, especially after she explains to them that Willy’s crashes were not accidents. Biff is particularly affected by Willy’s actions as Biff discovered Willy’s affair with one of his coworkers, an action which enraged Biff and caused Biff to refuse to fix his math grade and finish high school. Additionally, Willy’s affair also caused Biff to grow distant from his father, setting the two up for many future arguments such as one in which Willy tells Biff, “stops him with: May you rot in hell if you leave this house!” (129). Not to forget that Willy’s suicide was originally meant to spite Biff as Willy believed his funeral would be grand, claiming “He’ll see what I am, Ben! He’s in for a shock, that boy!” (126)--this being a tragic twist of dramatic irony. This trauma and strife brought upon Biff leads him into a great deal of hardship, never having had a job or settled down. Willy causes Biff to believe himself a failure, and Biff is dragged into Willy’s world of suffering where Biff cannot attain success in the face of his father’s high
In the play Death Of A Salesman written by playwright Author Miller, his main character Willy Loman was illustrated as a sympathetic character. In the beginning of the play Willy Loman dedicated his time and money to assist both his sons and help them become successful in their lives for the reason to brag about their achievements. Willy Loman was admired and loved by his sons Biff and Happy, however there was an incident that made Biff loose all hope and admirations towards his father. As Willy starts recalling the past, his son Biff discovers that his father had an affair with another woman and that he gave that woman his wife’s stocking. Biff is devastated and disappointed in his father to the point where he no longer peruses football or
He is not being true to himself like the advice he gave to Laertes. Willy treats Linda with no respect. He cheats on Linda with another woman. Kenneth Elliot argues “Willy has had a long-standing extramarital affair with a woman he met on the road in Boston, which is the source of much of his guilt-ridden behavior toward his wife.” One of the reasons Willy is unhappy is because he feels guilty for cheating on his wife.
Through the course of this play we get an inside look at the mind of Willy Loman, a salesman from Brooklyn, New York. Willy has worked for almost everything he has, and maintains most of his property by himself. He worked almost his entire life as a traveling salesman, and developed a wholehearted belief in the American Dream which he carried with him until the day he died. Despite Willy’s best efforts, neither of his sons are able to fulfill his vision of success and much less even carry his hope of a better life onwards. Throughout the play we are able to observe his deterioration into madness that accompanies the decay of his mental
Willy Loman becomes incredibly involved in work-related matters, instead of the happiness surrounding his family life. He discourages Biff to take his own path, and instead, nearly forces him to become a salesman, in hopes that Biff will be more successful than he turned out to be. Willy tells Biff that his dreams will “cut down (his) life…!” Willy cannot simply hope for Biff and Happy to attain satisfaction in life, which is the element that Willy misses. He is so consumed by the idea of success that he had not once stopped to reflect on being a good father or loving his wife. Having an affair was one of his main problems-he could not put enough love into his family, so he put it anywhere else he could. He visited his mistress on business ventures, which is the only aspect of his life he truly appreciated. Therefore, his home life became full of lies, Biff saying that they “never told the truth for ten minutes.” Miller is, again, critiquing American households, since their typical values revolve more around money and presentation than a loving, kind, and caring home. Willy had a family who loved him, but he neglected to notice this, which lead to his unhappiness. Never placing any type of value of love and kindness can cause a person to become cold and bitter, which is exactly what Willy became. He may have avoided suicide if he had realized the love and care he could have been surrounded
Linda Loman is the enabler of the Loman family, and also uses self- deception to escape her life mentally. Linda never spoke up to Willy, and did nothing but feed his unrealistic dreams. Linda lived a life of “what ifs” with Willy. They both did the bare minimum in every aspect of their life, which is why
(Miller 2126). Willy manages to hurt everyone’s feelings in some way by being rude to them and saying hurtful things. These relationships that he develops between his wife and his so-called friend, Charley, leaves a bad example to his children, and it makes Willy lonely in the end because he pushes away Charley and almost loses him as a friend by doing and saying the things that he does. Alongside these previous examples, when the kids were younger, Mr. Loman also has a closer relationship with his son Biff than that with Happy.
Anne Frank once said, "Human greatness does not lie in wealth or power, but in character and goodness. People are just people, and all people have faults and shortcomings, but all of us are born with a basic goodness" (Martin, C., 2009). Unfortunately, the wisdom of Anne Frank was lost on the main protagonist in the play, Willy Loman. Willy Loman was a complex individual who had sincere intentions for himself and for his children. However, there were several instances in which he failed to recognize his own personal shortcomings.
Willy is a multi-faceted character which Miller has portrayed a deep problem with sociological and psychological causes and done so with disturbing reality. In another time or another place Willy might have been successful and kept his Sanity, but as he grew up, society's values changed and he was left out in the cold. His foolish pride, bad judgment and his disloyalty are also at fault for his tragic end and the fact that he did not die the death of a salesman.
She is responsible for the cooking, cleaning, and supporting and agreeing with her husband Willy no matter if she does not necessarily agree. Death of a Salesman focuses on Willy Loman’s dreams of being well-liked and successful. In his opinion, “be liked and you will never want” (1199). As Willy’s supporter, Linda never challenges or confronts Willy about his false dreams, but she seems to be more realistic. She believes Willy to be the “well-liked” salesman.
This belief in her husband had prevented her from speaking out on his negative behaviors such as the rubber pipe in the bathroom. She places it back in fear of breaking his fantasy of possibly making it because if Linda lost faith in Willy, who else was going to keep the dream alive. Her belief in her husband’s aspirations has driven a wedge between herself and her children. Preventing arguments among the three was a priority of hers that she too had to play into a fantasy. In Guerin Bliquez‘s article “Linda's Role in Death of a Salesman” showcases how Linda supports her family and may be the true leader of the family.
He discards her and she just takes it, never standing up for herself. In a flashback scene, Linda tries to tell Willy her worries about Biff, and he loses his temper, refusing to accept what he doesn’t want to hear. The stage directions describe her as being “almost in tears” (27). Instead of yelling back at him, Linda just quietly leaves as she silently takes his anger, demonstrating both her submissiveness and her inner strength. She knows the reality of Willy’s unpredictable temper, and how his mind is filled with delusions.
Willy Loman is one of the most tragic heroes in American drama today. He has a problem differentiating reality from fantasy. No one has a perfect life. Everyone has conflicts that they must face sooner or later. The ways in which people deal with these personal conflicts can differ as much as the people themselves. Some insist on ignoring the problem as long as possible, while some attack the problem to get it out of the way. In the case of Willy in Arthur Miller’s, Death of a Salesman, the way he deals with his life as a general failure leads to very severe consequences. Willy never really faced his problems in fact in stead of confronting them he just escapes into the past, whether intentionally or not, to those happier childhood times where problems were scarce. He uses this escape as if it were a narcotic, and as the play progresses, we learns that it can be as dangerous as a drug, because of its ability to addict Willy, and it’s deadliness.
Willy Loman also wants his children to have a better than he has and tries to do everything he can so they will have a better life, including ending his own. One realistic situation that many people can relate to is money problems. Money is one of the main problems that Willy Loman had throughout the play. The Loman family had many purchases on payments. Linda even states “for the vacuum cleaner there’s three and a half due on the fifteenth” (Miller 1650). The Loman family was living from week to week. Every time Willy came home from a fairly successful day selling, he would think he was finally getting ahead. Willy would tell Linda how much he had made, but she would then point out how much they owed on everything. Willy then felt overwhelmed and said “My God, if business don’t pick up I don’t know what I’m gonna do!” (1650). Linda would then reassure Willy and tell him “Well, next week you’ll do better” (1650). Many people in real life have this same problem. Every time they feel they are getting ahead financially, a problem occurs and they find themselves right back where they started.