Willy Loman and characters
· One of the flat characters in this play is Bernard-Charley’s son. He shows up periodically throughout the play yet he doesn’t really have many individualistic traits or characteristics that can be linked to him. For example, he usually appears as the smart one who ended up succeeding in life through his intelligence. This intelligence in Bernard is what presents Biff as not-so-much-of a model student because Bernard is one of the first characters who complains about Biff failing his school courses. While Willy is more concerned about him being well liked at the time, Bernard is the sensible and the realistic thinker who mentions the consequences of Willy failing his classes such as not graduating. He has frequent conflicts with Willy, who happens to consider Bernard as annoying and usually yelled at him to either, “Shut up!” or “Get out of here!”
· A dynamic character in here would be Biff Loman. Biff, who was close to Willy and respected him during his high school years, changes dramatically in his attitude towards his father and his life in general. Whereas he looked up to Willy before and believed in his words such as when Willy says, “…Because the man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead. Be liked and you will never want...” He used to believe that in order to be successful one needed to simply be liked and that would eventually catalyze their path towards that American Dream-that one day they would all be successful and rich. However, as he came to know of Willy’s affair with another woman, Biff lost that faith in his father and also the American dream. He began to see the true realties of this world and how it is not fair to all. For example, he realizes he likes being outdoors and working on the farm; however, he won’t be able to earn a lot of money from doing so. Whereas, if he worked in a congested office building or somewhere similar he will earn a lot more despite the fact that he does not like or know the job.
· Happy Loman is a static character in this play. In the beginning he didn’t really play a very major role in the development of the plot. However, when the play got to the point where Willy’s condition begins to deteriorate much faster, Happy suddenly becomes a much more intense character and has some major impacts as well. He begins to blame Biff for everything including their dad’s condition and the fact that he himself is always overshadowed by Biff. He yells at him and says that Biff’s problem is that he doesn’t care about anyone else’s pleasure but his own so he won’t even do as Willy says even if it means Willy would get better.
· Willy Loman wears the mask of Pride. He level of self pride is what prevents him from moving forward. Through his mask, he tries to live in the past where he was proud of himself and his family and more importantly Biff. Even though now his life begins to fall apart he doesn’t dare to remove him mask-even for the better. For example, when Charley offers him a job like he has done before, Willy once again rejects him by sayin, “I just can’t work for you Charley, don’t ask me why.” Although he doesn’t give a specific reason to why he does as he does, he hints at the possible reason of pride because he says he keeps count on hoe much money he’s been loaning from Charley.
On Paper Characterization:
· In death of a Salesman there are about four major characters. The first major character is the protagonist of this play-Willy Loman. Willy is a complex character. He is very stubborn, unrelenting to other’s opinions and beliefs, and desperate. For example, in the scene with Howard and Willy, when Howard tells Willy, “I think you need a good long rest, Willy.”, Willy constantly tries to talk Howard into giving him the job in Boston by saying, “Buy I gotta earn money, Howard, I’m in no position-” or “All right, I’ll go to Boston tomorrow”. Being fired from his job still does not prevent Willy from showing his stubborn and desperate side, to get what he wants. In his mind he believes that he should deserve the most in this world; however, it is not always true. Because of this mentality of his, he cannot properly grasp the reality of this world.
· Willy’s son Biff is a character that opposites Willy’s character. Whereas Willy is not able to grasp his reality and constantly contradicts himself such as in a scene with Linda where he says, “Oh I’ll knock them dead next week. I’ll go to Hartford. I’m very well liked in Hartford. You know, the trouble is, Linda, people don’t seem to take to me.” Biff, on the other hand is realistic, ready to acknowledge his shortcomings and move on with his life to his destination. We can see his motivation to work on a farm when he tells Happy, “Well, I spent six seven years after high school trying to work myself up. Shipping clerk, salesman, business of one kind or another. And it’s measly manner of existence. To get on that subway on the hot mornings in summer. To devote your whole life to keeping stock, or making phone calls, or selling or buying. To suffer fifty weeks of the year for the sake of a two-week vacation, when all you really desire is to be outdoors, with your shirt off. And always to have to get ahead of the next fella. And still- that’s how you build a future.” This quote also portrays Biff’s dreams and the fact that he actually knows what he wants to do with his life.
· Happy, Willy’s other son, is somewhat like Willy. He is moderately successful in his life yet he doesn’t enjoy what he does, and although he is similar to Willy in many ways, Willy ignores him and his achievements most of the time. Happy’s unhappiness in his job and life is evident when he explains to Biff about his work and says, “…He can’t enjoy it once it’s finished. And I know that’s just what I would do. I don’t know what the hell I’m working for. Sometimes I sit in my apartment-all alone. And I think of the rent I’m paying. And it’s crazy. But then, it’s what I always wanted. My own apartment, a car, and plenty of women. And still, goddammit, I’m lonely.” This very quote explains all of Happy’s problems in life revolving around his job, women and family. Just like Willy, Happy isn’t very content with his life and probably regrets not striving for something that he actually enjoys doing.
· Linda Loman, Willy’s wife, is also a character that is opposite of Willy, although she loves Willy. She is reasonable and intelligent and understanding of her family’s individual dreams. When Willy says negative comments about Biff wanting to work on a farm out in the west, Linda tries to properly explain to him by saying, “He was crestfallen, Willy. You know he admires you. I think if he finds himself, then you’ll both be happier and not fight anymore.” This quote from the play also shows that Linda is understanding of Biff and his dreams and she also happens to support him-or rather support his journey to find himself. Another interesting aspect that this quote alone brings out is that it shows how Linda takes on the role of the mediator during crises or conflicts between Willy and Biff or other characters throughout the play.
· An important element that kind of represents Willy’s stature in society is his last name. His name itself-Willy Loman- suggests that he is the “low-man” of the society. It means that he is not very successful in his life and because of that he’s not very blithe either. A frequent habit of Willy is that he often has random outbursts towards his family and friends. When Linda tells Willy of her concern of Biff, “He’s too tough with the girls, Willy. All the mothers are afraid of him.”, and when Bernard warns Willy of Biff by saying, “He’ driving without a license!”, Willy suddenly has an outburst and yells at them to , “Shut up!” and “Get outa here!” These outbursts are when Willy’s suppressed anger or frustration comes out all at once. Linda Loman, on the other hand, is calm and collected and she is also mending clothes most of the time. For example, she was mending her stockings when Willy was reminiscing of the woman and also when Willy rushes out in the night. She also addresses her sons and her husband as dear. This shows her collective and polite nature.
· The most complex character in this play is Willy Loman. He is not very clear about anything. So he says he wants to open up his own business, something that is even bigger than Charley’s business, yet he never seems to take any opportunity given to him to move forward in life. For example, Charley repeatedly offers Willy a better job and money source; however Willy keeps rejecting his offer saying, “I-I just can’t work for you, Charley…I can’t work for you, that’s all, don’t ask me why.” His pride gets in the way each time yet he still accepts Charley’s money saying he’s “keeping strict accounts.” Similarly, when Willy is talking with Howard about moving his position closer to home and a sixty five dollars a week salary, he is sure that he will get what he deserves because he was close with Howard’s father, yet when he learns that he is getting fired by Howard he immediately lets go of the self pride he had and keeps lowering his salary to fifty dollars a week to even 40 dollars a week. From these scenes, we can see why Willy Loman who is over the age of sixty is still stuck as this constantly traveling salesman and not happy with his choices.
·Happy Loman is also a complex character as he takes after his father Willy. Unlike his name, he is not happy with his life at all. As I mentioned earlier, when he is talking to Biff about his life and work he mentions how he has no idea why he is doing his job when he has no interest in it and why he is living this life of such loneliness and isolation. His speech gives hints to his feelings of abandonment-particularly by Willy because Willy focuses on his brother Biff who overshadows Happy almost during all occasions. Because he’s overshadowed by Biff, when they learn how Willy has been attempting suicide, Happy who had always wanted attention and love from Willy, because extremely angry with Biff and blames him for Willy’s deteriorating condition. He says to Biff things like, “Sure you will. The trouble with you in business was you never tried to please people.” ,or “You don’t raise a guy to a responsible job who whistles in the elevator!”. By saying these things, Happy is not only defending his father but also himself because he knows he is similar to his dad.
·Willy’s motivation for the things he does is mainly because of his failure to cope with his unsatisfactory life. Because of this he frequently tries to relieve his past memories by constantly daydreaming. He wants to stick to the traditional values and absolutely does not like the change in society and its values. In a conversation with Linda about something as trivial as cheese he says, “I don’t want a change! I want Swiss cheese. Why am I always being contradicted?” Another example is when he is talking to Howard about keeping his job and he shouts, “I’m talking about your father! There were promises made across this desk! You mustn’t tell me you’ve got people to see-I put thirty-four years into this firm, Howard, and now I can’t pay my insurance! You can’t eat the orange and throw the peel away-a man is not a piece of fruit! Now pay attention. Your father-in 1928 I had a big year. I averaged a hundred and seventy dollars a week in commissions.” This particular quote also emphasizes his obsession with how things and he himself used to be in the past. It also portrays his frustration at the fact that many things including himself have changed since then and this is what drives him crazy.
·In order to get what he wants, Willy mostly repeats everything and constantly goes on about talking about that particular subject. When he finds out about Biff’s plan to work on a farm out in the west, he is very determined to get him to change his mind. Every time Willy and Biff have a conversation, he ends up steering the topic to Biff’s life and future, which he constantly criticizes and tries to get biff to change his mind. Similarly, when he gets fired from his job, Willy also continuously tries to persuade Howard to let him go to Boston. Although he is not successful at it, he lowers his standards of the job just so he can keep that job that he doesn’t even like very much. Biff, on the other hand, does not overly express his desire to work on the farm. He states what he wants to do and continues toward that path. He doesn’t like to start the arguments about his choices because he knows what he wants and he knows how he’s going to get to his destination; therefore, he is quiet but motivated.
·One of the miscalculations made in this play is by Happy. As mentioned earlier, Happy was always overshadowed by his brother Biff. Therefore, he makes the decision to follow in his father’s footsteps and find a somewhat tolerable job. According to his plan, he should be feeling successful and pleased but he instead feels “lonely”. He feels what Willy feels because of the fact that he really doesn’t enjoy his job. In a way this also brings in the element of regret because, now they both have regrets that they didn’t do something that they wanted to do in the past. For example, in a past memory of Ben Willy expresses his desires to live Ben’s wealthy and unique lifestyle and says, “Oh sure, there’s snakes and rabbits and-that’s why I moved out here. Why, Biff can fell any one of these trees in no time! Boys! Go right over to where they’re building the apartment house and get some sand. We’re gonna rebuild the entire front stoop right now! Watch this, Ben!” It is almost as if he is trying to impress Ben because he regrets that he did not go to Alaska with him in the past.
·One of the characters who greatly intensifies is the protagonist Willy Loman. Although Willy was always a complicated and complex character, he becomes even more intense as his condition begins to deteriorate. He has more hallucinations and daydreams of the past. He specially relives the memories he had with Biff because of their current worsening state of relationship. When Willy daydreams about his past, he normally goes back to the time when Biff was in high school and their relationship was much better. When he thinks of that time, he feels proud of Biff for his accomplishments and likes to encourage him. “Without a penny to his name, three great universities are begging for him, and from there the sky’s the limit, because it’s not what you do Ben. It’s who you know and the smile on your face! It’s contacts Ben, contacts! The whole wealth of Alaska passes over the lunch table at the Commodore Hotel, and that’s the wonder, the wonder of this country, that a man can end with diamonds here on the basis of being liked! (He turns to Biff) And that’s why when you get out on that field today it’s important. Because thousands of people will be rooting for you and loving you.” Whereas he had a pretty good and healthy relationship with his son Biff during Biff’s high school years, their relationship dramatically takes a turn when Biff is a thirty-four year old adult. This is mostly due to the fact that Willy has some great and unrealistic expectations from Biff. He thinks he knows what is good for Biff and he constantly pushes him to get a better job. After Biff finally goes to meet one of the people that Willy wants him to meet, Willy and Linda talk about how everything is finally going correct for Biff in his life. He says, “He’s heading for a change. There’s no question, there simply are certain men that take longer to get-solidified! How did he dress?” He believes that only his thoughts and ideas about Biff’s career and life is correct. It is almost as if Willy is obsessed with getting Biff on the “right track” in life.
·Another character that intensifies is Biff. Biff begins to have a completely different attitude toward his father Willy when he goes to visit him in his hotel room in Boston. Whereas he was expecting to see his father being disappointed in him for failing Math, it was Biff who faced the biggest disappointment from Willy. When he sees Willy with another woman at the hotel he is very disappointed and angry with his father and he also begins to rapidly loose his faith in him and others as well. The loss of his faith from Willy can be seen during their conversation where Biff says things like, “You-you gave her Mama’s stockings!...Don’t touch me, you-liar!...You fake! You phony little fake! You fake!” This quote alone points out how betrayed Biff felt by his father. From this, we can also see that previously, he had great respect for Willy and faith and trust in him. However, as he finds out the truth about Willy, he is shattered and feels as if everything he has been told by Willy is a lie, “phony” and “fake”. He also relinquishes his anger at Willy because he shouts at him while saying this. This betrayal that Biff faces ultimately changes his entire attitude towards Willy because he no longer is able to trust him like he previously had done. This is also one of the main reasons that he is so different from Happy in terms of his attitude towards his family, life and goals.
·A scene where a major character faces a crisis is when Linda learns that Biff and Happy leave Willy at the restaurant and walk out on him. She becomes extremely angry and hysterical and she is upset that her boys don’t respect their father enough to spend one night of dinner together. She thinks they don’t value him at all and they don’t care about anything but themselves. She also says that they are heartless for doing this. Her quotes in the play were, “You invite him to dinner. He looks forward to it all day-and then you desert him there. There’s no stranger you’d do that to!...Get out of here both of you, and don’t come back! I don’t want you tormenting him any more. Go on now, get your things together! You can sleep in his apartment. Pick up this stuff, I’m not your maid anymore. Pick it up, you bum, you!...You’re a pair of animals! Not another living soul would have had the cruelty to walk out on that man in the restaurant!” This shows how she really cared and worried for Willy all the time. She truly did love him and always wanted to take care of him. Because her sons did not meet her aspirations in terms of their relationship with their father, she becomes incredibly upset with them and also feels betrayed by them. She believed that they would be able to understand each other since they are family but since seeing how they abandoned their own father at their own dinner, she feels disgusted and extremely upset with them.
·A scene where a major character has a startling revelation is when Willy realizes that everything aside, in the end Biff really does love him and always has. When Biff and Willy argue once again about Biff’s future, Biff finally tells Willy what’s truly in his heart. He asks him to let go of him and his past so that he can move on in the present and make a better future for himself. He eventually breaks down and cries and asks Willy to move on from his unrealistic dreams before he or anyone else around him gets hurt. He truly does care about him as is shown from his dialogue, “I am not a leader of men, Willy, and neither are you. You were never anything but a hard-working drummer who landed in the ash can like all the rest of them! I’m one dollar an hour, Willy! I tried seven states and couldn’t raise it. A buck an hour! Do you gather my meaning? I’m not bringing home any more, and you’re going to stop waiting for me to bring them home!...Pop, I’m nothing! I’m nothing, Pop. Can’t you understand that? There’s no spite in it any more. I’m just what I am, that’s all…Will you let me go, for Christ’s sake? Will you take that phony dream and burn it before something happens? I’ll go in the morning. Put him-put him to bed.” Through this conversation, Willy for the last time tries to explain to his father who he really is and why it’s important that he needs to let go of such big hopes and dreams that he has had for him and Biff because they would never be able to move forward in life unless they stop expecting so much from him. When Willy sees Biff breaking down and crying in the end, he sees that underneath that nonchalant exterior of his, he does have a soft side and that he does love him and care for him. Seeing this, he decides to finally end his life for he knows that the insurance company will give his family twenty thousand dollars for his death. Therefore, he drives off and kills himself in order to let Biff end up with the money and have a chance to achieve his true goals and dreams.
·One of the ways I would portray the character of Biff and Willy is in a modernized version of their struggles. Because they had differences in opinions generated by the generation gaps between them, they frequently got into the arguments related to Biff’s future. By modernizing this, I would try to show the life of an immigrant family in the United States. Similar to Biff, today many children whose parents are a product of their country of origin and their time period have a certain standard or quality that they expect their offspring’s to follow. And if the child had something different planed in his goals and dreams that can cause some family disagreements and arguments. The child may not want to be what his father or mother expects out of him. The child could have a dream that is an antithesis of his parents’. This would show the characters’ personality and values and reveal what they give importance to in life because people are likely to act upon their instincts and feelings in these situations.
·The protagonist Willy Loman has very complicated relationships with all his family members. His most complicated relationship is with his son Biff who he believed was insulting him by not listening to his ‘advice’ on Biff’s career and other choices in life. Because of this they have frequent argument, although on the inside both of them truly care about each other-as is seen on the last scene between Willy and Biff together. Willy’s relationship with Linda is also very much complicated in that he loves her very much and appreciates the fact that she has been supporting him for so long yet he has also cheated on her with another woman. In the beginning of the play Willy says to Linda, “You’re the best there is, Linda, you’re a pal, you know that? On the road-on the road I want to grab you sometimes and just kiss that life outa you.” Yet right after that statement Willy reminisces about his past lover-the woman whom he was involved with in an extramarital affair. Willy’s relationship with his other son Happy is rather dull. Although he loves him just as much as Biff, he doesn’t seem to focus as much on Happy as he does on Biff. With Happy, he is more passive and less questioning. He doesn’t have very many big arguments with him and he is also someone who Willy just overlooks on certain situations-such as when Biff calls Willy crazy and he hears that and gets extremely upset but he doesn’t seem to hear Happy defending him at the same time. With all these complicated relationships in his family, Willy cannot function like a normal person, as he himself is lost in a journey to find his true self. Ultimately, all of these characters do care about each other, but their actions do not necessarily point to that care and their individualistic actions are normally what divide them sometimes.
· A dynamic character in here would be Biff Loman. Biff, who was close to Willy and respected him during his high school years, changes dramatically in his attitude towards his father and his life in general. Whereas he looked up to Willy before and believed in his words such as when Willy says, “…Because the man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead. Be liked and you will never want...” He used to believe that in order to be successful one needed to simply be liked and that would eventually catalyze their path towards that American Dream-that one day they would all be successful and rich. However, as he came to know of Willy’s affair with another woman, Biff lost that faith in his father and also the American dream. He began to see the true realties of this world and how it is not fair to all. For example, he realizes he likes being outdoors and working on the farm; however, he won’t be able to earn a lot of money from doing so. Whereas, if he worked in a congested office building or somewhere similar he will earn a lot more despite the fact that he does not like or know the job.
· Happy Loman is a static character in this play. In the beginning he didn’t really play a very major role in the development of the plot. However, when the play got to the point where Willy’s condition begins to deteriorate much faster, Happy suddenly becomes a much more intense character and has some major impacts as well. He begins to blame Biff for everything including their dad’s condition and the fact that he himself is always overshadowed by Biff. He yells at him and says that Biff’s problem is that he doesn’t care about anyone else’s pleasure but his own so he won’t even do as Willy says even if it means Willy would get better.
· Willy Loman wears the mask of Pride. He level of self pride is what prevents him from moving forward. Through his mask, he tries to live in the past where he was proud of himself and his family and more importantly Biff. Even though now his life begins to fall apart he doesn’t dare to remove him mask-even for the better. For example, when Charley offers him a job like he has done before, Willy once again rejects him by sayin, “I just can’t work for you Charley, don’t ask me why.” Although he doesn’t give a specific reason to why he does as he does, he hints at the possible reason of pride because he says he keeps count on hoe much money he’s been loaning from Charley.
On Paper Characterization:
· In death of a Salesman there are about four major characters. The first major character is the protagonist of this play-Willy Loman. Willy is a complex character. He is very stubborn, unrelenting to other’s opinions and beliefs, and desperate. For example, in the scene with Howard and Willy, when Howard tells Willy, “I think you need a good long rest, Willy.”, Willy constantly tries to talk Howard into giving him the job in Boston by saying, “Buy I gotta earn money, Howard, I’m in no position-” or “All right, I’ll go to Boston tomorrow”. Being fired from his job still does not prevent Willy from showing his stubborn and desperate side, to get what he wants. In his mind he believes that he should deserve the most in this world; however, it is not always true. Because of this mentality of his, he cannot properly grasp the reality of this world.
· Willy’s son Biff is a character that opposites Willy’s character. Whereas Willy is not able to grasp his reality and constantly contradicts himself such as in a scene with Linda where he says, “Oh I’ll knock them dead next week. I’ll go to Hartford. I’m very well liked in Hartford. You know, the trouble is, Linda, people don’t seem to take to me.” Biff, on the other hand is realistic, ready to acknowledge his shortcomings and move on with his life to his destination. We can see his motivation to work on a farm when he tells Happy, “Well, I spent six seven years after high school trying to work myself up. Shipping clerk, salesman, business of one kind or another. And it’s measly manner of existence. To get on that subway on the hot mornings in summer. To devote your whole life to keeping stock, or making phone calls, or selling or buying. To suffer fifty weeks of the year for the sake of a two-week vacation, when all you really desire is to be outdoors, with your shirt off. And always to have to get ahead of the next fella. And still- that’s how you build a future.” This quote also portrays Biff’s dreams and the fact that he actually knows what he wants to do with his life.
· Happy, Willy’s other son, is somewhat like Willy. He is moderately successful in his life yet he doesn’t enjoy what he does, and although he is similar to Willy in many ways, Willy ignores him and his achievements most of the time. Happy’s unhappiness in his job and life is evident when he explains to Biff about his work and says, “…He can’t enjoy it once it’s finished. And I know that’s just what I would do. I don’t know what the hell I’m working for. Sometimes I sit in my apartment-all alone. And I think of the rent I’m paying. And it’s crazy. But then, it’s what I always wanted. My own apartment, a car, and plenty of women. And still, goddammit, I’m lonely.” This very quote explains all of Happy’s problems in life revolving around his job, women and family. Just like Willy, Happy isn’t very content with his life and probably regrets not striving for something that he actually enjoys doing.
· Linda Loman, Willy’s wife, is also a character that is opposite of Willy, although she loves Willy. She is reasonable and intelligent and understanding of her family’s individual dreams. When Willy says negative comments about Biff wanting to work on a farm out in the west, Linda tries to properly explain to him by saying, “He was crestfallen, Willy. You know he admires you. I think if he finds himself, then you’ll both be happier and not fight anymore.” This quote from the play also shows that Linda is understanding of Biff and his dreams and she also happens to support him-or rather support his journey to find himself. Another interesting aspect that this quote alone brings out is that it shows how Linda takes on the role of the mediator during crises or conflicts between Willy and Biff or other characters throughout the play.
· An important element that kind of represents Willy’s stature in society is his last name. His name itself-Willy Loman- suggests that he is the “low-man” of the society. It means that he is not very successful in his life and because of that he’s not very blithe either. A frequent habit of Willy is that he often has random outbursts towards his family and friends. When Linda tells Willy of her concern of Biff, “He’s too tough with the girls, Willy. All the mothers are afraid of him.”, and when Bernard warns Willy of Biff by saying, “He’ driving without a license!”, Willy suddenly has an outburst and yells at them to , “Shut up!” and “Get outa here!” These outbursts are when Willy’s suppressed anger or frustration comes out all at once. Linda Loman, on the other hand, is calm and collected and she is also mending clothes most of the time. For example, she was mending her stockings when Willy was reminiscing of the woman and also when Willy rushes out in the night. She also addresses her sons and her husband as dear. This shows her collective and polite nature.
· The most complex character in this play is Willy Loman. He is not very clear about anything. So he says he wants to open up his own business, something that is even bigger than Charley’s business, yet he never seems to take any opportunity given to him to move forward in life. For example, Charley repeatedly offers Willy a better job and money source; however Willy keeps rejecting his offer saying, “I-I just can’t work for you, Charley…I can’t work for you, that’s all, don’t ask me why.” His pride gets in the way each time yet he still accepts Charley’s money saying he’s “keeping strict accounts.” Similarly, when Willy is talking with Howard about moving his position closer to home and a sixty five dollars a week salary, he is sure that he will get what he deserves because he was close with Howard’s father, yet when he learns that he is getting fired by Howard he immediately lets go of the self pride he had and keeps lowering his salary to fifty dollars a week to even 40 dollars a week. From these scenes, we can see why Willy Loman who is over the age of sixty is still stuck as this constantly traveling salesman and not happy with his choices.
·Happy Loman is also a complex character as he takes after his father Willy. Unlike his name, he is not happy with his life at all. As I mentioned earlier, when he is talking to Biff about his life and work he mentions how he has no idea why he is doing his job when he has no interest in it and why he is living this life of such loneliness and isolation. His speech gives hints to his feelings of abandonment-particularly by Willy because Willy focuses on his brother Biff who overshadows Happy almost during all occasions. Because he’s overshadowed by Biff, when they learn how Willy has been attempting suicide, Happy who had always wanted attention and love from Willy, because extremely angry with Biff and blames him for Willy’s deteriorating condition. He says to Biff things like, “Sure you will. The trouble with you in business was you never tried to please people.” ,or “You don’t raise a guy to a responsible job who whistles in the elevator!”. By saying these things, Happy is not only defending his father but also himself because he knows he is similar to his dad.
·Willy’s motivation for the things he does is mainly because of his failure to cope with his unsatisfactory life. Because of this he frequently tries to relieve his past memories by constantly daydreaming. He wants to stick to the traditional values and absolutely does not like the change in society and its values. In a conversation with Linda about something as trivial as cheese he says, “I don’t want a change! I want Swiss cheese. Why am I always being contradicted?” Another example is when he is talking to Howard about keeping his job and he shouts, “I’m talking about your father! There were promises made across this desk! You mustn’t tell me you’ve got people to see-I put thirty-four years into this firm, Howard, and now I can’t pay my insurance! You can’t eat the orange and throw the peel away-a man is not a piece of fruit! Now pay attention. Your father-in 1928 I had a big year. I averaged a hundred and seventy dollars a week in commissions.” This particular quote also emphasizes his obsession with how things and he himself used to be in the past. It also portrays his frustration at the fact that many things including himself have changed since then and this is what drives him crazy.
·In order to get what he wants, Willy mostly repeats everything and constantly goes on about talking about that particular subject. When he finds out about Biff’s plan to work on a farm out in the west, he is very determined to get him to change his mind. Every time Willy and Biff have a conversation, he ends up steering the topic to Biff’s life and future, which he constantly criticizes and tries to get biff to change his mind. Similarly, when he gets fired from his job, Willy also continuously tries to persuade Howard to let him go to Boston. Although he is not successful at it, he lowers his standards of the job just so he can keep that job that he doesn’t even like very much. Biff, on the other hand, does not overly express his desire to work on the farm. He states what he wants to do and continues toward that path. He doesn’t like to start the arguments about his choices because he knows what he wants and he knows how he’s going to get to his destination; therefore, he is quiet but motivated.
·One of the miscalculations made in this play is by Happy. As mentioned earlier, Happy was always overshadowed by his brother Biff. Therefore, he makes the decision to follow in his father’s footsteps and find a somewhat tolerable job. According to his plan, he should be feeling successful and pleased but he instead feels “lonely”. He feels what Willy feels because of the fact that he really doesn’t enjoy his job. In a way this also brings in the element of regret because, now they both have regrets that they didn’t do something that they wanted to do in the past. For example, in a past memory of Ben Willy expresses his desires to live Ben’s wealthy and unique lifestyle and says, “Oh sure, there’s snakes and rabbits and-that’s why I moved out here. Why, Biff can fell any one of these trees in no time! Boys! Go right over to where they’re building the apartment house and get some sand. We’re gonna rebuild the entire front stoop right now! Watch this, Ben!” It is almost as if he is trying to impress Ben because he regrets that he did not go to Alaska with him in the past.
·One of the characters who greatly intensifies is the protagonist Willy Loman. Although Willy was always a complicated and complex character, he becomes even more intense as his condition begins to deteriorate. He has more hallucinations and daydreams of the past. He specially relives the memories he had with Biff because of their current worsening state of relationship. When Willy daydreams about his past, he normally goes back to the time when Biff was in high school and their relationship was much better. When he thinks of that time, he feels proud of Biff for his accomplishments and likes to encourage him. “Without a penny to his name, three great universities are begging for him, and from there the sky’s the limit, because it’s not what you do Ben. It’s who you know and the smile on your face! It’s contacts Ben, contacts! The whole wealth of Alaska passes over the lunch table at the Commodore Hotel, and that’s the wonder, the wonder of this country, that a man can end with diamonds here on the basis of being liked! (He turns to Biff) And that’s why when you get out on that field today it’s important. Because thousands of people will be rooting for you and loving you.” Whereas he had a pretty good and healthy relationship with his son Biff during Biff’s high school years, their relationship dramatically takes a turn when Biff is a thirty-four year old adult. This is mostly due to the fact that Willy has some great and unrealistic expectations from Biff. He thinks he knows what is good for Biff and he constantly pushes him to get a better job. After Biff finally goes to meet one of the people that Willy wants him to meet, Willy and Linda talk about how everything is finally going correct for Biff in his life. He says, “He’s heading for a change. There’s no question, there simply are certain men that take longer to get-solidified! How did he dress?” He believes that only his thoughts and ideas about Biff’s career and life is correct. It is almost as if Willy is obsessed with getting Biff on the “right track” in life.
·Another character that intensifies is Biff. Biff begins to have a completely different attitude toward his father Willy when he goes to visit him in his hotel room in Boston. Whereas he was expecting to see his father being disappointed in him for failing Math, it was Biff who faced the biggest disappointment from Willy. When he sees Willy with another woman at the hotel he is very disappointed and angry with his father and he also begins to rapidly loose his faith in him and others as well. The loss of his faith from Willy can be seen during their conversation where Biff says things like, “You-you gave her Mama’s stockings!...Don’t touch me, you-liar!...You fake! You phony little fake! You fake!” This quote alone points out how betrayed Biff felt by his father. From this, we can also see that previously, he had great respect for Willy and faith and trust in him. However, as he finds out the truth about Willy, he is shattered and feels as if everything he has been told by Willy is a lie, “phony” and “fake”. He also relinquishes his anger at Willy because he shouts at him while saying this. This betrayal that Biff faces ultimately changes his entire attitude towards Willy because he no longer is able to trust him like he previously had done. This is also one of the main reasons that he is so different from Happy in terms of his attitude towards his family, life and goals.
·A scene where a major character faces a crisis is when Linda learns that Biff and Happy leave Willy at the restaurant and walk out on him. She becomes extremely angry and hysterical and she is upset that her boys don’t respect their father enough to spend one night of dinner together. She thinks they don’t value him at all and they don’t care about anything but themselves. She also says that they are heartless for doing this. Her quotes in the play were, “You invite him to dinner. He looks forward to it all day-and then you desert him there. There’s no stranger you’d do that to!...Get out of here both of you, and don’t come back! I don’t want you tormenting him any more. Go on now, get your things together! You can sleep in his apartment. Pick up this stuff, I’m not your maid anymore. Pick it up, you bum, you!...You’re a pair of animals! Not another living soul would have had the cruelty to walk out on that man in the restaurant!” This shows how she really cared and worried for Willy all the time. She truly did love him and always wanted to take care of him. Because her sons did not meet her aspirations in terms of their relationship with their father, she becomes incredibly upset with them and also feels betrayed by them. She believed that they would be able to understand each other since they are family but since seeing how they abandoned their own father at their own dinner, she feels disgusted and extremely upset with them.
·A scene where a major character has a startling revelation is when Willy realizes that everything aside, in the end Biff really does love him and always has. When Biff and Willy argue once again about Biff’s future, Biff finally tells Willy what’s truly in his heart. He asks him to let go of him and his past so that he can move on in the present and make a better future for himself. He eventually breaks down and cries and asks Willy to move on from his unrealistic dreams before he or anyone else around him gets hurt. He truly does care about him as is shown from his dialogue, “I am not a leader of men, Willy, and neither are you. You were never anything but a hard-working drummer who landed in the ash can like all the rest of them! I’m one dollar an hour, Willy! I tried seven states and couldn’t raise it. A buck an hour! Do you gather my meaning? I’m not bringing home any more, and you’re going to stop waiting for me to bring them home!...Pop, I’m nothing! I’m nothing, Pop. Can’t you understand that? There’s no spite in it any more. I’m just what I am, that’s all…Will you let me go, for Christ’s sake? Will you take that phony dream and burn it before something happens? I’ll go in the morning. Put him-put him to bed.” Through this conversation, Willy for the last time tries to explain to his father who he really is and why it’s important that he needs to let go of such big hopes and dreams that he has had for him and Biff because they would never be able to move forward in life unless they stop expecting so much from him. When Willy sees Biff breaking down and crying in the end, he sees that underneath that nonchalant exterior of his, he does have a soft side and that he does love him and care for him. Seeing this, he decides to finally end his life for he knows that the insurance company will give his family twenty thousand dollars for his death. Therefore, he drives off and kills himself in order to let Biff end up with the money and have a chance to achieve his true goals and dreams.
·One of the ways I would portray the character of Biff and Willy is in a modernized version of their struggles. Because they had differences in opinions generated by the generation gaps between them, they frequently got into the arguments related to Biff’s future. By modernizing this, I would try to show the life of an immigrant family in the United States. Similar to Biff, today many children whose parents are a product of their country of origin and their time period have a certain standard or quality that they expect their offspring’s to follow. And if the child had something different planed in his goals and dreams that can cause some family disagreements and arguments. The child may not want to be what his father or mother expects out of him. The child could have a dream that is an antithesis of his parents’. This would show the characters’ personality and values and reveal what they give importance to in life because people are likely to act upon their instincts and feelings in these situations.
·The protagonist Willy Loman has very complicated relationships with all his family members. His most complicated relationship is with his son Biff who he believed was insulting him by not listening to his ‘advice’ on Biff’s career and other choices in life. Because of this they have frequent argument, although on the inside both of them truly care about each other-as is seen on the last scene between Willy and Biff together. Willy’s relationship with Linda is also very much complicated in that he loves her very much and appreciates the fact that she has been supporting him for so long yet he has also cheated on her with another woman. In the beginning of the play Willy says to Linda, “You’re the best there is, Linda, you’re a pal, you know that? On the road-on the road I want to grab you sometimes and just kiss that life outa you.” Yet right after that statement Willy reminisces about his past lover-the woman whom he was involved with in an extramarital affair. Willy’s relationship with his other son Happy is rather dull. Although he loves him just as much as Biff, he doesn’t seem to focus as much on Happy as he does on Biff. With Happy, he is more passive and less questioning. He doesn’t have very many big arguments with him and he is also someone who Willy just overlooks on certain situations-such as when Biff calls Willy crazy and he hears that and gets extremely upset but he doesn’t seem to hear Happy defending him at the same time. With all these complicated relationships in his family, Willy cannot function like a normal person, as he himself is lost in a journey to find his true self. Ultimately, all of these characters do care about each other, but their actions do not necessarily point to that care and their individualistic actions are normally what divide them sometimes.