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Death of a Salesman
Is Linda a supportive or destructive force in her husband’s life?
“Death Of A Salesman” by Arthur Miller shows the gradual collapse of Wily Loman.
Linda Loman is a destructive force in Willy Loman’s life through her excessive
support. His wife, Linda attempts to help him by continuos support and
encouragement. Although she knows he is distressed, she persuades him to
believe he is successful and well-liked. She conceals the truth in order to protect
her husband.
Linda is described as the personification of family. She holds the family
together by encouraging her husband and protecting him from heartbreak. She
supports Willy’s confidence and defends him against criticism. Her excessive
support is a pathetic effort to protect his identity. Linda will never admit to herself,
nor anyone else that Willy is a failure. She allows him to believe he is more
successful than he really is. Linda can be described as “ordinary, loving, and a blind
leader of the blind.” Linda is aware that Willy is borrowing money in order to
provide Linda with...
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).
Willy demonstrates his desperation for attention when he has his hallucinations of Uncle Ben. After Willy is fired by Howard, and he is still in awe, Ben appears. Willy then proceeds to talk to him: “Oh, Ben, how did you do it? What is the answer? […] Ben, I’ve got to talk to you” (84).
Found within the storyline, Willy implements features of a tragic hero as he shows the reversal of events in his life due to his own actions. Willy, through the downfall with his son, Biff, shows that his actions have caused a bridge between him and his son in which his son chooses to grow apart from his family. As seen at the beginning of the play, Willy represents a tragic hero as he is distressed and troubled as he comes home from another failed sales trip. Although Willy represents a tragic hero in many cases, there are also others found within Death of a Salesman that help implement the role of a profound hero. Willy’s wife, Linda, implements the heroine as she presents herself with many wise and understanding words for Willy has he faces his hardships. Throughout the story, it is seen that Linda represents herself as a put together woman for her husband but is often found distraught by her husband’s actions in which readers and audiences can empathize with
One problem Willy has is that he does not take responsibility for his actions; this problem only gets worse because of his lies. Biff looks up to Willy, so when he finds out that Willy has an affair in Boston, Biff is petrified. Biff realizes his hero, dad, the one he wants to impress, is a phony and a liar. Willy destroys Biff's dream of playing football by saying he does not have to study for the math regents, he also Willy telling Bernard to give Biff the answers. When Biff fails the regents, he does not want to retake the test because he is so disgusted with his hero and does not want to succeed. Not only did Willy destroy Biff's dream, he also broke his vows and refused to admit it. Biff is a failure, in Willy's eye, in most part due to Willy and what happened in Boston. Willy refuses to take responsibility for what he did, so he lies about Biff. Willy tells Bernard that Biff has been doing great things out west, but decided to come back home to work on a "big deal". Willy knows that Biff is a bum who has not amounted to anything, but he refuses to take responsibility for what happened in Boston, so he changes the story of Biff's success. Throughout Willy's life he continued to lie. It might have stopped if Linda did not act the way as she did. Linda is afraid to confront Willy, so she goes along with his outlandish lies.
Blanche Dubios and Willy Loman were both delusional characters whose delusions, and therefore their own “sanity”, relied on the enabling and support of the delusions by the other characters, and once that support was lost, so too were the delusional characters.
Linda is a woman in an awkward situation, she is a character driven by desperation and fear. She knows all the problems that are occurring in the house but I feel bad for her because every time she tries to speak she
Every member of the Loman family is living in denial about their reality or continue a cycle of denial for others. Willy is incapable of accepting the fact
Linda’s enabling is obvious when she helps Willy with suicidal thoughts. Willy tries to suck carbon monoxide through a tube, and instead of telling him to stop, Linda just lets him do it. She enables him because although she is not outright letting him do it, she is allowing him to continue to hurt himself and his family. For example, Linda states, “’Every day I go down and take away that little rubber pipe. But when he comes home, I put it back where it was. How can I insult him that way?’” (Miller 60). Linda is scared of insulting Willy rather than protecting him, which clearly shows that she enables him to be this terrible, sad person. Critic Gavin Cologne-Brooks adds to the proof of Linda’s enabling by saying, “Family and
BANG! Your father is dead. Within a few seconds, although he attempted many times, your father dies. He gave up. All the fights, all the disrespect, and all the struggles are behind you. However, all the hope, all the passion, and all the love is still there. In Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, the main conflict is between Willy Lowman and his son Biff. Most of their struggles are based on disrespect; however, much of the tension throughout the play is also caused by the act of giving up.
To start with, in the play Linda makes many excuses for Willy. For example, Willy says, “I suddenly couldn’t drive anymore. The car kept going off onto the shoulder ya know?” Linda replied, “Maybe it’s your glasses” (Miller 22). By making these kinds of excuses, it’s almost like Linda is ignoring the problems Willy has with his head. Also, Willy says, “I suddenly couldn’t drive anymore.” Linda replied, “Oh, maybe it was the steering again” (Miller 27). Willy doesn’t make excuses for himself, its Linda who acts like nothing is wrong. Willy is living half in the past and half in the present. In the play, Willy says, “It took me nearly four hours from Yonkers.” Linda replied, “Well, you’ll just have to take a rest” (Miller 27). By making all of these excuses, it shows that Linda refuses to believe that Willy has problems, and she tries brushing it off like it’s no big deal. She knows there are problems, but she is unwilling to face them.
Death of a Salesman is probably one of Arthur Miller's greatest achievements. This play describes the sixty-three-year-old protagonist Willy Loman, a rounded and psychologically motivated individual. Willy is also a familiar American Philistine and even a universal type. He embodies the stupidity, immorality, self-delusion, and failure of middle-class values Miller portrays as being sterile and vicious. At the same time Willy's love of his delinquent sons, however harmful and wrongly expressed has made him "a King Lear in mufti." The transparent skeletal settings may be altered instantaneously; they modify naturalism into an expressionistic and dreamlike dramatization of Willy's free association, shifting between and confusing the present, the past, and the hallucinatory. These converge on Willy's tortured consciousness during the last two days of his life.
Willy is always fishing for compliments, especially from his lovers. He complains to Linda about the way he looks by saying, “I’m Fat. I’m very - foolish to look at, Linda” (Miller 24). As a result of his insecurity, Linda immediately compliments him and admires everything about him including how Bill and Happy idolize Willy’s existence. As a result of Willy complaining about the way he looks, he is instantly worshipped by his family. When Willy tries this again with his mistress, he says, “Cause I get so lonely - especially when business is bad and there’s nobody to talk to. I get the feeling that I’ll never sell anything again, that I won't make a living for you, or a business, a business for the boys. There’s so much I want to make for -
Willy believes that he is a 'number one'; man but at the same time he knows and says that he is not what he dreams about, but he just does not want to admit it. You know, the trouble is, Linda, people don't seem to take me… They seem to laugh at me… they just pass me by. I'm not noticed'; (36) says Willy. He knows the fact that he is a total failure, and he never admits it. Then Willy mentions that he cannot sell anything and when Linda says that he is the handsomest, he disagrees with her, says he is fat, foolish to look at.
First, in Source A the woman's name is Linda Loman who is Willy’s loyal and loving wife, and is Biff and Happy’s supportive mother. She has a lot of strength and perseverance throughout her life because she was able to put up with Willy nonsense almost 24/7. She was also cheated on by Willy with another woman which is a lot to handle right there. Her American Dream is out and clear that she just wants happiness and peace throughout her family and not having to put up with the fights and arguments that stick her into the middle of between her husband and children. Also, she wanted Willy to be happy and reach his goal with the million dollar idea! Throughout the novel is it certain that Linda is scared of Willy and scared at the fact that he can change his temper in a blink of an eye. For example, she scolds Ben saying, “Don’t say those things to him! Enough to be happy right here, right now.” (Miller, 67) The reason she said this was because is someone pressed Willy’s buttons he would cause a gigantic scene, making Willy and Linda both very unpleased in two different ways. It is hard for her to put up with him but she has to do it for the kids and the fact that if she leaves, he would have no one to rely on. In Source B, the woman's name is Rose Maxson, the wife to Troy and the mother of his second child, Cory. Rose is a very real person, she sticks to what she says and does
This pity often leads to assistance, since people do not want to see this hero suffer more than they deserve to. Even though Cordelia is banished by Lear, it is evident she will always care for him. When she hears the news of her father going mad upon the heath, she feels sorry for him and immediately seeks help from soldiers and a doctor to find him. Cordelia’s pity on Lear ultimately helps him understand his flaws and realize his daughter’s loyalty. This empathy from others helps the hero to accept himself as he understands he has loved ones who accept him as well. When no one takes pity or pays attention to the tragic hero, it is difficult for them to grasp the reality of their terrible situation. Willy’s family may speak to each other about Willy’s troubles, but do not take extreme actions to reach out to him. Instead of discussing his suffering to his face, Linda just tells the sons, “Don’t- don’t go near him!” (1.55). If Happy or Biff actually went near him, they’re supportive words could have brightened his mood and made him feel better about himself. Biff also proves that he does not feel sorrow for Willy as Cordelia does with her father. Biff explains to Willy, “What is this supposed to do, make a hero out of you?” This supposed to make me sorry for you?” (2.130). After discovering the rubber hose that Willy is attempting to commit suicide with,