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Death of a salesman character essay
Death of a salesman character summary
Character analysis in death of a salesman by arthur miller
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Linda Loman, the wife of Willy Loman and basis her life of the single to always protect Willy and be there for him at all times. Willy is rude, short tempered and an often lash out at Linda even when what he is saying is irrational. Linda unfortunately, loves Willy so much that she is literally blinded by love, to a point where she is oblivious of the fact that he has a mistress, his poor financial means and that he lost his job. Her lack of knowledge is one the reason why continuously supports Willy through thick and thin. Fear is another reason that drives Linda to act the way she does. Willy’s aggressive behavior and suicidal attempts have scarred Linda to a so she baby’s him. Linda even kicked out her son’s Biff and Happy because they stood up to him and called him out when he was out of line which upset and frustrated Willy. Biff and Happy had the tendency to upset Willy and Linda could not let that happen. Linda Loman is willing to be yelled at, stepped out and cheated on just so she and Willy can continue being together. She …show more content…
refuses to think logically and realistically so she goes along with Willy’s fantasies to please him. Her actions/motives and hopes and dreams are revolved around Willy and preserving his happiness at all costs. In the end of the novel she is confused as to why Willy killed himself trying to once again show her clueless personality. Linda knew all along whom Willy really was and instead of providing him with the help he needed she enabled the behavior almost encouraged it. Thinking it would help him but in the long run it killed him. Before the play started Linda Loman most likely grew up with some kind of unhealthy relationship either between a former lover or a family member, like a father for example. This person probably had some sort of addiction which Linda knew was severely harming their well being. So Linda tried her hardest to convince them to stop this addiction and did anything in her power to give them the help they needed to better themselves. All of her intentions back fired and her helping the person she loved to get better only caused their relationship to break and that person still continuing that addiction and eventually dying from it. This experience probably caused Linda to think helping someone was wrong and it will only result in losing that person. This would explain why her only desire in life is to make Willy happy and not change him because changing him could result in him leaving her. A faulty relationship in her past defiantly could have caused her push-over, attached behavior. After the events of the play all played out I assume Linda never married again or had any other close relationship except with her sons.
Linda probably spent the rest of her life reflecting on her mistakes with her relationship with Willy and with her first lost relationship (with either her former lover or father). Always wondering whether it’s better to do too much to help someone or whether it’s best to do nothing and just make them happy. “We’re free . . . We’re free . . .” (Miller, 139) this was Linda Loman’s last line in the play and it signifies that the mortgage of the house was finally paid off so they were finally free of their financial expenses. Instead of being joyful and celebrating the accomplishment, Willy had already killed himself and Linda is all alone. Linda will always be left wondering what life could’ve been life with Willy living in their home both of them living their lives financially stable and stress
free. If I were to play the role of Linda Loman I would make sure to showcase her pure desperation to do anything to please Willy. I would always use a humble, loving tone even when he lashes out at me for no apparent reason. My calm mellow tone would remain consistent throughout the novel even to my sons except when I (Linda Loman) would get angry at them for upsetting Willy. I would show an immense amount of love, care and support as the actress playing Linda. I would always dress in a modest way, how a normal stable married woman with grown kids would dress at that time. I would create a strong family relationship while filming and even when we aren’t playing the role because I want that bond to be somewhat genuine. My goal as an actress is to clearly show the unconditional love Linda had for Willy and show the irony Linda felt when Linda said, “I made the last payment on the house today. Today, dear. And there'll be nobody home” (Miller, 139). This was all Willy and Linda ever wanted and he wasn’t alive for it because he killed himself right before. I believe this is one of the most important scenes in the play and I want to show the pure devastation Linda feels.
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
Willy Loman’s false pride leads him to believe that he has been successful as a father. He remembers how he was once looked up by his children, especially by his son Biff. However, Willy fails to realize that the relationship he once had with his son Biff has been broken, due to the fact that Biff caught Willy in an affair he was having with another girl; Biff was heartbroken to fin...
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.
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).
This also show that Linda loved her husband more than anything, she would do anything to protect his pride including not telling Willy that she knows he had been trying to commit suicide. Everything Linda di is to protect Willy pride and face, and not letting any of her son
Linda blames everyone but Willy for his insanity, including their son Biff. Linda is so loyal to Willy at the beginning of the play that she is willing to throw her own son under the bus if it means defending Willy. Linda states that Willy only becomes distraught when Biff is around because Happy has disappointed his father so much. Biff views his mother as very fragile but still respects her as the lady of the house. He comments on how grey her hair has gotten, adding to her frail image. Linda is a pacifist who is unable to defend herself. Linda is never seen anywhere other than the house in the play, adding to the “homemaker” idea of this time period. She is always waiting for Willy when he gets home and dutifully keeps the house in order. She is constantly folding laundry or cooking, stereotypical woman ideals. When she buys a new type of cheese, Willy gets honestly angry with her because he does not like change and this
He seems to believe that the best way to be the “man” in the relationship is to be the dominant one and to put her down all the time. “I won’t have you mending stockings in the house! Now throw them out!” Willy feels guilty about Linda mending stockings when he bought the woman he’s having an affair with a new pair. He transfers this guilt into being horrible to her, which isn’t very fair. He seems to believe that this is a way to assert his masculinity, and it could possibly resonate from the way that his father treated women before he left. This is similar to Othello; when Othello believes that Desdemona is having an affair he slaps her in front of everyone, thinking that it is a way to assert his masculinity to the public. Willy also refers to Linda as “kid” a lot, which could be a playful nickname but it also could be a way of him putting her down and making her seem immature. It is an excuse to dismiss her. It also suggests that he thinks he is more mature than Linda, whereas the audience know this not to be the case as Willy is losing it a little and can act incredibly childishly. In treating Linda like this, it also drives Willy and Biff further apart than ever. He doesn’t approve of the way Linda is treated, especially since he knows how much she puts up with from her husband. In being so uncertain of his masculinity Willy can be horrible, which makes him unlikeable and drives him apart from
Linda does not lose respect for Willy for his actions as much as Biff does. Biff cares about his mother dearly and does not like to see her being yelled at. He grinds his teeth when he sees his father yell at his mother, because he knows that if he argues, there will be that much more tension between him and his father. However, Biff cannot take it much longer because he is losing respect for his father. He knows his father should never get physical with his mother, and he finally takes action before it gets violent. He grabs Willy by the arm and screams at him not to yell at her. Willy gets angry at first, but then goes to bed guilt-ridden.
Both stories present the American dream as having wealth, property, to be respected and have many materialistic belongings. Some argue that the American dream was to only have some land, to be free, happy and to be an American. Willy Loman perceived the dream very differently as his aim was to gain lots of wealth and to have a high social status. This view is complemented by the final words in the play by Linda, the repeats of “we’re free, free”. She implies that they are free because they no longer are in debt or owing money as they have just repaid the mortgage on the house but is also implies that the family live in a free society. This compares to the international political situation at the time Miller was writing, and the play was being performed, was changing. The democratic, capitalist USA was in conflict with the communist, state controlled Soviet Union and relations were strained to the point that the era was called the Cold
It surrounds the life of Willy Loman, an aging salesman whose son Biff has just returned from a work stint out in the west. As Biff’s father, Willy desires him to have a good paying job and to settle on one job, two things Biff has been struggling to do. Tensions heighten between the two characters, while the conformist son Happy and Willy’s wife Linda, an optimist to say the least, are stuck in the middle. This is when the reader is really exposed to Willy’s delusion. It is learned that Willy has been suicidal for a very long time, constantly trying to asphyxiate by inhaling gas fumes. On top of this, throughout the play there are flashback scenes of when Biff was younger, and they progress in intensity as the piece moves on. Images of the prosperous Uncle Ben haunt Willy and taunt him of his unsuccess, and scandalous scenes of his cheating affair in Boston haunt him otherwise. Eventually, Willy is fired and Biff does not acquire a job approved by his father. This all ends in the ultimatum of Willy’s suicide by car crash and Biff’s acceptance of the life he wants to live. The last audible words of the play are in a line spoken by Linda while walking away from the grave: “We’re free… we’re free...” (Miller 109). These powerful words, and from this character especially, pound the destructive nature of Willy’s dreams
Willy Loman becomes incredibly involved in work-related matters, instead of the happiness surrounding his family life. He discourages Biff to take his own path, and instead, nearly forces him to become a salesman, in hopes that Biff will be more successful than he turned out to be. Willy tells Biff that his dreams will “cut down (his) life…!” Willy cannot simply hope for Biff and Happy to attain satisfaction in life, which is the element that Willy misses. He is so consumed by the idea of success that he had not once stopped to reflect on being a good father or loving his wife. Having an affair was one of his main problems-he could not put enough love into his family, so he put it anywhere else he could. He visited his mistress on business ventures, which is the only aspect of his life he truly appreciated. Therefore, his home life became full of lies, Biff saying that they “never told the truth for ten minutes.” Miller is, again, critiquing American households, since their typical values revolve more around money and presentation than a loving, kind, and caring home. Willy had a family who loved him, but he neglected to notice this, which lead to his unhappiness. Never placing any type of value of love and kindness can cause a person to become cold and bitter, which is exactly what Willy became. He may have avoided suicide if he had realized the love and care he could have been surrounded
In the play Death of a Salesman, Willy who is the father figure in this play to his son Biff , and a husband to his wife linda. Willy is the type of man who needs to be constantly reminded that he is a good person, an attractive person, a person that people like. "I'm fat. I'm very foolish to look at, linda."says Willy (Miller 24). Willy's wife Linda is Willy's rock. He depend on her for support and she is happy to enable him in his choices whether they be good or bad."How can i mention it to him? Everyday i go down and take the little rubber pipe. But, when he comes home i put it back where it was." says Linda (Miller 43). Biff, who is Linda and Willy's first born has so much pressure on him. His father wishes that he would fallow in his footsteps as a salesman, but Biff sees the struggle of his dad and doesn't want to have to go through that. Willy and his son have a very bad relationship because of an affair that willy had with a college. "You picked me?"says willy "I did i've been sitting at the desk watching all the salesman go by, day in day out. But you've got such a sense of humor, and we we do have such a good time together." says willys mistress (Miller 25).
Linda Loman is the enabler of the Loman family, and also uses self- deception to escape her life mentally. Linda never spoke up to Willy, and did nothing but feed his unrealistic dreams. Linda lived a life of “what ifs” with Willy. They both did the bare minimum in every aspect of their life, which is why
Willy’s lack of self-worth translates into the deep state of depression that eventually causes him to attempt to take his own life. His wife, Linda has become aware of this, even warning her own children. She discusses with her sons about Willy’s attempted suicide, showing them a rubber hose she found behind the fuse box in the basement; she believes it was used by Mr. Loman in an effort to try and asphyxiate himself. Also, there is evidence that Willy’s car accidents are inevitably not “accidents” at
Willy Loman also wants his children to have a better than he has and tries to do everything he can so they will have a better life, including ending his own. One realistic situation that many people can relate to is money problems. Money is one of the main problems that Willy Loman had throughout the play. The Loman family had many purchases on payments. Linda even states “for the vacuum cleaner there’s three and a half due on the fifteenth” (Miller 1650). The Loman family was living from week to week. Every time Willy came home from a fairly successful day selling, he would think he was finally getting ahead. Willy would tell Linda how much he had made, but she would then point out how much they owed on everything. Willy then felt overwhelmed and said “My God, if business don’t pick up I don’t know what I’m gonna do!” (1650). Linda would then reassure Willy and tell him “Well, next week you’ll do better” (1650). Many people in real life have this same problem. Every time they feel they are getting ahead financially, a problem occurs and they find themselves right back where they started.