Willy Loman
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller depicts the life of a salesman named Willy Loman and his family in 1950’s New York. Willy Loman reflects on his life in his old age with dissatisfaction, and at the close of the play ends up taking his own life. A family can emotionally hurt each member of it’s content more than any other person because of their closeness and similar thinking, as is shown throughout the play through the Loman family. Arthur Miller uses vividly portrayed flashbacks from Willy’s life to explain how one’s family can influence a person to feel like a failure. One way the author portrays Willy’s regrets is by introducing his older brother, Ben Loman. Ben ventured to Alaska to seek out a fortune and have an adventure, and
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Miller contrasts Willy’s past relationship with his two sons, Happy and Biff, with their current relationship to illustrate how your children’s dissapproval and strained relationship will affect one’s sense of failure. In Act I, Willy gets lost in a daydream where his boys are laughing and joking with him and hanging on his every word. When he tells them of his travels, they ask to be taken along, and offer to carry his bags. (p.1835). Miller uses the small gesture of the boys asking to carry their Father’s bag to show that they had a true respect for him once, and would offer to do the smallest things to please him. This instance is contrasted when Biff is speaking to his Mother about Willy’s well being and yells “I know he’s a fake and he doesn’t like anybody around who knows!” (p. 1848). Throughout their lives, their relationship has become strained and Biff no longer feels the same respect for his Father as he did once before. Willy outwardly resents Biff every time they come in contact, but in reality he is resenting himself inwardly as Biff tells him the things he is starting to believe are true about himself. When a parents child has ceased to believe that their parent is magical and true in every way, that person will feel as though they have failed to teach their children, just as Willy Loman felt he had failed to teach Biff and
Miller contrasts Willy’s past relationship with his two sons, Happy and Biff, with their current relationship to illustrate how your children’s dissapproval and strained relationship will affect one’s sense of failure. In Act I, Willy gets lost in a daydream where his boys are laughing and joking with him and hanging on his every word. When he tells them of his travels, they ask to be taken along, and offer to carry his bags. (p.1835). Miller uses the small gesture of the boys asking to carry their Father’s bag to show that they had a true respect for him once, and would offer to do the smallest things to please him. This instance is contrasted when Biff is speaking to his Mother about Willy’s well being and yells “I know he’s a fake and he doesn’t like anybody around who knows!” (p. 1848). Throughout their lives, their relationship has become strained and Biff no longer feels the same respect for his Father as he did once before. Willy outwardly resents Biff every time they come in contact, but in reality he is resenting himself inwardly as Biff tells him the things he is starting to believe are true about himself. When a parents child has ceased to believe that their parent is magical and true in every way, that person will feel as though they have failed to teach their children, just as Willy Loman felt he had failed to teach Biff and