Arcadia Schmid
Mr. Loucks
AVAD
19 March 2012
Death of a Salesman
Willy Loman, despite all attempts, did not succeed in any of his dreams. His first goal being to be rich and able to take care of his family; his second to be well-liked and have Happy and Biff . Willy had all the right intentions, but he chose the wrong path on the way to reach them. He based everything off of appearances and popularity; especially with Biff on the football team and his good looks. Willy became the main cause of most of his troubles: he decided to have an affair with the Woman, and because of that Biff caught them together. That led to Biff not going to summer school, and to him not working towards a good job later in life. Willy kept himself focused on Biff's problems; this effectively shunned Happy away and Happy never had the chance to see the real Willy, and because of this Happy never knew who Willy really was. That is another reason why Happy tried so hard to please his father; he felt like he became the second son that no one really noticed or cared about and wanted to be seen. While Biff recognizes that Willy had a warped value system and chased a dream that was not attainable, Happy seems committed to following in his father's footsteps.
While the play is mainly about Willy, it also underlines Biff's life a lot. Biff, at first, tries to be similar to his father. Willy taught that it was acceptable to steal, and that good looks would get you further in life than working hard. "That's why I thank Almighty God you're both built like Adonises. Because the man who makes an appearance in the business world… is the man who gets ahead." -Willy (21)As Biff grew older, he kept to those values. He did not start to think differently until he caught Willy and the Woman. "You fake! You phony little fake! You fake!" -Biff (95) Biff was never the same after that; he always argued with his father and never got along with him. He did not want to be like Willy, and because of that he moved around from job to job, never settling down or feeling content. "I think he's still lost, Willy. I think he's very lost." -Linda (5) He only wanted to please his father, but he never could and all of the things he did were wrong; nothing was ever right. Only after everything happened to Willy did he realize what his father's true intentions were: to be successful, and for his family to be successful, as well.
The Loman brothers had the typical brother relationship: one was the favorite, and the other left alone and ignored. "'Cause he thought highly of you, Biff. I mean, they all do. You're well liked, Biff." -Happy (14) Happy was always trying to be more like Willy; he thought that if he was, then Willy would notice him more and think of him as an equal to Biff. "I lost weight, Pop, you notice?" -Happy (35) After all Happy did, though, Willy did not take pay attention to him until Biff told Willy that Happy and himself were going to start a ranch together. Happy never caught the Woman or his father, and he didn't understand what was really going on until after events happened. Happy also did not realize how much Willy wanted his two sons to do well. Happy did not recognize the fact that Willy was doing his best for his sons, but in the end Willy could not take all the pressure anymore.
Linda was a caring and loving wife; she also was another factor that drove Willy over the edge. Linda always encouraged him, supported him, and helped him when he was down. "Just try to relax, dear. You make mountains out of molehills." -Linda (6) But because of her constantly saying everything ran smoothly, or Willy had done a great job, Willy kept on believing that he really was successful. "But you're doing wonderful, dear." -Linda (23) When the truth came crashing down around Willy, he found himself in over his head in the pile of lies he had created. "You were never anything but a hard-working drummer who landed in the ash with the rest of them!" -Biff (106) Willy thought he did great business and that he had many friends; he thought that Biff had just flunked out of math because he did not try; he thought that sometimes things were great, but then the next second things were not; last but not least, he thought that everything was great because Linda was always telling him so.
Willy Loman had many dreams; to be rich, liked, successful; he ended up being poor, barely known, and as down in the depths of despair as anyone could be. No one really thought of how something affected him until it already happened. No one really noticed what was really wrong with him until he died because of it. Willy was detached from reality; nothing was present or past anymore, all events were combined. His mental unstableness further drove him apart from everyone else because he could no longer tell the difference between anything going on at the time and his memories. He became so absorbed in his thoughts he failed to notice the outside world anymore; instead, a combination of the two finally confused him so much he killed himself. Willy killed himself to escape from his reality, but his life lived on with his family, and forever haunted them, as they finally appreciated all he had done or tried to do.