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The character of Willy Loman
The character of Willy Loman
Willy loman character analysis
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Linda is so wrapped up and making sure that he is happy that she thinks he can do no wrong. Willy’s affair is not seen as a wrongdoing, but it is seen as an get away for him. It is a portrayed as a dream or hallucination to the audience. In that way it gives off a feeling of sympathy for him, because of his illness.
When arguing with her sons over the mental state of her husband and their father, Linda defends Willy saying, “And you tell me he has no character? The man who never worked a day but for your benefit? When will he get the medal for that? Is this his reward — to turn around at the age of sixty-three and find his sons, whom he loved better than his life, one a philandering bum... ” (Miller 40)
When perceiving Death of a Salesman with a gender lens, Willy and Linda’s relationship throughout the play becomes very noticeable. A direct quote from the play that helps understand their relationship is “Let me help you take off your shoes; untie your shoestrings, take off your cufflinks; what you want to eat boo, let me feed you.” (Miller ?) This quotation shows that Linda is the definition of a “good wife” even if her husband treats her horribly. Linda looks after her husband's emotional needs first before hers and she will always strive to make him happy even if she is not.
Willy clearly had a very serious mental illness throughout this whole play, but never did anything about it. In Willy’s mind, the idea of having a mental illness took away from his masculinity, and he took out his mental illness on his wife as opposed to working on himself. This caused Linda to ultimately be mentally abused by him, and often having to compensate for his rude words and actions even though she never deserved any of it. All she did was care for Willy, so the treatment she received throughout this play was unfair and she was often left taken advantage of. In conclusion, The idea of masculinity strains the relationship between Linda and Willy throughout this depressing
While Linda enabled him, Willy could not help himself too keep ruining the good opportunities he had and turning them into some factious reality. At Willy`s funeral Biff comes to the realization that his father had all the wrong dreams and visions of success. Willy`s only dream was the fake “American Dream” that people believe will happen overnight. Willy`s failed attempts and happiness bonded into one and played a part into him creating this false reality and persona that he was the best salesman and that he was well loved by everyone around him.
From that point on Willy was upset with himself for saying no. Willy saw himself as a failure because he would have been making more money if he would have taken the opportunity of going to Alaska. Although Willy wasn’t going abroad or very far from home, the same idea correlates with Richard Florida’s. In Arthur Miller’s writing, going abroad seemed like a good idea but it was just a regretful
This “false” American Dream made him have issues in his life and didn’t have strong enough support to sustain in his life. He depended on his family to support him but they didn’t. As they always say, it comes down to family support when one struggling, but in this case, he didn’t get any support hence Willy’s
Linda defends Willy and insists that Willy, as a traveling salesman, merely exhausts himself rather than become crazy. Even if Willy’s financial reality reveals the fact that he can never come true his American dream, Linda still refuses to break his fantasies and see through his lies. Instead, she supports Willy’s American dream and believes in Willy’s idea that success is possible for anyone. Even though Willy is often rude to her and ignores her opinions, she protects him at all costs. She loves Willy, so she can accept all of his shortcomings.
A case in point, before discovering that Willy was in a relationship, Biff Willy’s son adored Willy to the point that he accepted all his accounts and he even submitted to his ideology that everything is permissible considering that a person is cherished. Biff is forced to re-evaluate Willy’s thinking and his perception after he learns that he learns that he is unfaithful to Linda. Biff learns that Willy has created a false self-image of his family, the society that he lives in and even for himself. This case highlights what Foster argues in his book; literature grows upon other literature, and narratives grow out of other narratives. Miller uses various descriptions to expand the narrative of Willy Loman, and he highlights show Loman’s story is highlighted by other stories by different characters in the
In “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller and “A Streetcar named Desire” by Tennessee Williams, both authors analyze men and masculinity through their male protagonists. The male protagonists under analysis are Willy Loman 's, Harold Mitchell, and Stanley Kowalski. All of these males mistreat their women; this mistreatment is a result of several factors, such as alcoholism and the power struggle to maintain masculinity. Both Williams and Miller use devices such as imagery, symbolism, setting, musical indicators, stage directions setting and character to illustrate men and masculinity with the main protagonists and the relationship the named with their female partners.
She gets nervous and scared when he takes too long to come to bed. She is so concerned for his mental health that she literally begs her own children to not disturb him, in fear that it may push Willy over the edge. On top of these things, Linda is also nice to everyone in the play even when they are not to her. She never gets angry with Willy when he yells at her and tells her to stop interrupting him. She also does everything for her kids, even though she doesn’t have to.
“WILLY: Oh, I’ll knock ‘em 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.
In her arguments with Biff she explains that “a terrible thing is happening to him. So attention must be paid” (56). This implies that Linda contains a further knowledge of the insight on Willy and even with his faults, she still married him and made the oath that until death do they part. She understands that Willy is not himself and she holds the belief that she can help him as “he’s not to be allowed to fall into his grave like an old dog”(56). Linda comes clean with Biff and tells him that he “can’t just come to see [her], because [she] love[s] him….
Willy finds out his dream of being an popular, well respected salesman is impossible and takes his own life. Linda supports Willy despite the abuse and confusion he puts her through with his various attempts to take his own life, with his delirious ramblings and hallucinations, and with his constant deception. Happy still sees his father as a hero and Biff finally begins to grasp the truth of the “American Dream”. When Willy kills himself, all of the Loman family, including Willy, break free from the web of false dreams he spun and begin to understand Willy’s failings. They also realize their own flaws.
In the play the main character willy had trouble doing his job right. Willy was in a good mood, he woke up happy to go see his boss and ask for a job where he’ll stay in one place without having to travel but there were no jobs available, willy desesperante said “i 'm talking about your father! There were promises made across this desk! You 've shouldn’t tell me you got people to see…”(60). After this big fight with his boss he losses his job.