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Psychological conflict in the death of a salesman
Death of salesman's character
Character analysis of death of a salesman
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The Death of a Salesman is a play and a film about Willy Loman who is a salesman. He travels in order to make his living for his house and his family. His wife is Linda Loman who works to keep her family sane and together. They have two sons named Biff and Happy. In the Death of a Salesman there are many topics being discussed. One of the topics included in the story is wealth; the American Dream. Willy had this dream for Biff and Happy to get into a good job and make a lot of money for the family; he dreamed of them being successful. Memories of how things used to be also played an important role in the story line. Willy at times would have flashbacks to how it used to be before all this happened with the situations in their family, money, and how he had a certain dream for Biff. The story also has many disputes between the characters, which makes most of the story line. Willy and Biff did not get along …show more content…
They would argue about money, jobs, and how Willy tried to take his own life. They would yell at each other, and then also try to speak calmly about a situation which always resulted in the tone of their voices rising again. Through the movie they need to bring the tone of the characters to life. In the movie they would yell a lot to show the passion the characters had for how angry they would be as well as how much they cared. At times Willy would even fuss with a chair; this was to show his anger. When Linda would talk about Willy you can hear the love and worried-ness for him in her voice. When Willy and Biff fight you can feel the tension between them. In a movie this is important because they need to show an audience how characters react with each other and how their relationships are. In a movie they need to add more suspense and keep the audience interested, the movie makers may change little points in the story to give the audience more clues into the storyline, as to what may
Biff loses respect for his father and soon realizes what lie he has been living. Willy is in denial about his involvement with Biff’s failure in life, and when he is confronted about it by Bernard asking, “What happened in Boston, Willy? (141), Willy quickly becomes defensive, saying, “What are you trying to do, blame it on me? Don’t talk to me that way!” (141). After finding out about Biff’s reaction of burning his favorite University of Virginia shoes that symbolize Biff’s hopes and dreams for the future, Willy realizes what impact the affair had on his son. Willy’s lack of acceptance of reality affects his relationship because he never owned up or admitted he had an affair. This weighs heavy on Willy because the hate from his son will always be there. Biff loses all respect for his father and sees not only a failed business man, but in general a failed man. Throughout it all, Willy’s wife still remains supportive of him and constantly reminds him of her love for him. Despite this, Willy still yearns to have what he does not and pursues “the other woman.” It is bright as day that Willy finds some sort of comfort and validation for his affair with a woman who makes him feel wanted, yet his wife does the same thing. This guilt is always carried around with Willy which is just another contributor to the death of Willy
to be a sensitive subject, as Willy says he became “a moody man”. We also learn Willy disapproves of Biffs’ career as a farmhand. Although Linda tries to defend her elder son by saying that he needs to “find himself” Willy continues to say “not finding yourself at the age of thirty-four is a disgrace” and concludes by labelling his son. as “lazy”, he sees Biff as an underachiever. There is clearly tension.
In the play Death Of A Salesman written by playwright Author Miller, his main character Willy Loman was illustrated as a sympathetic character. In the beginning of the play Willy Loman dedicated his time and money to assist both his sons and help them become successful in their lives for the reason to brag about their achievements. Willy Loman was admired and loved by his sons Biff and Happy, however there was an incident that made Biff loose all hope and admirations towards his father. As Willy starts recalling the past, his son Biff discovers that his father had an affair with another woman and that he gave that woman his wife’s stocking. Biff is devastated and disappointed in his father to the point where he no longer peruses football or
Loss of respect can ruin a relationship. Biff left town for many reasons, but one important one had to do with Willy cheating on his wife. During a flashback in the play, Willy is in a room with a woman when Biff knocks on the door. The woman was actually in the washroom as Biff came in, but came out before Biff left. Biff saw the woman and knew that his father was not being loyal to his mother.
There were multiple instances where he would interrupt Biff when he was trying to tell him something important, yet, he scolded his wife, Linda, several times for simply talking and it didn’t even appear as though she was interrupting anyone. This makes him a hypocrite, if not worse. He also cheated on his wife, which makes him pretty pathetic in my book. And not only did he cheat on his wife, Biff found out and Willy knows that this is the reason Biff never went to summer school to graduate. Even knowing it’s his own fault, Willy acts like Biff has all of the blame and Willy gives him such a hard time about not graduating. Biff realizes that his father treats him the way he does because he found out about the affair, stating “I know he’s a fake and he doesn’t like anybody around who knows” (Miller, 1117). This is so unfair to Biff, making him appear to be the bad guy to Linda and Happy, when Willy is the one to
One negative influence in Willy's life is the inability of his friends to confront him about his problems. It is Willy's wife that causes him the most harm. In her vain attempt to protect Willy, she actually allows his eventual death. The first sign of her negligence comes in one of Willy's flashbacks. Willy brags, "I did five hundred gross in Providence and seven hundred gross in Boston"(35). But as Linda begins calculating his commission, the value rapidly diminishes to "roughly two hundred gross on the whole trip"(35). Linda sees what is going on but does not confront him. A very similar situation occurs later in their life when she finds out that Willy is no longer on salary, but borrows money every week from Charley. Again she will not confront him. By not confronting Willy in either of these instances, Linda allows him to sink further into his false reality. But Linda makes an even worse mistake that allows for Willy's suicide. She acknowledges his suicidal tendencies when she says, "He's been trying to kill himself"(58). She tells the boys that she has found the rubber hose in the basement, but she still will not confront Willy. Another character who is unable to be straight with Willy is Willy's boss Howard Wagner. Howard allows Willy to keep his job, but does not pay him. If he had just fired him right out it would of forced Willy to find a new job. By stringing him along, Howard allows Willy to maintain his fantasy world unchallenged. These are examples of the most negative influences in Willy's life simply because they have the ability to help but choose not to.
In the onset of the play, Willy told Linda that you “work a lifetime to pay of a house. You finally own it, and there is nobody to live in it” (Cohn 56). This quote shows how Willy strives his whole life to make a home for his family and by the time he sees the realization of that one dream, his family has drifted apart and he is alone with his haunting thoughts and his ghosts. Willy has such high expectations for himself and his sons, and when they all failed to accomplish their dreams, they were unable to accept each other for what they truly were. Willy raised Biff with the idea that success depends on whether or not a person can sell himself and not how smart a person is. Biff’s tragic flaw is his acceptance of Willy’s values and not creating any of his own. When Biff realizes his father is a fake, he becomes a lost individual and he does not speak to his father for 14 years. In Willy’s family it is always Biff who receives recognition, however, Happy strives for attention too...
Willy also has very poor parenting skills. He has two children Biff and Happy. Willy excuses Biff for a lot of events when he was younger. If Biff stole something, Willy just brushes it off and says that is was no big deal. He didn’t even care when Biff failed math and did not graduate from high school. He measured success in how many people you knew not what your grades are. In one breath Willy would say that Biff is lazy and then in the next say he’s not.
Growing up, Willy doted on Biff the most, which reflects the way his own father doted on his older brother Ben. Their father-son relationship was strong until the incident with The Woman caused a rift to grow between them. Willy feared seeing his son due to the chance of being exposed, and Biff did not want to be reminded of his father’s betrayal. However, near the end of the play, Biff and Willy had a heart to heart which seemingly did some repair work on their relationship. Biff grew to forgive his father and confessed that he loved him despite their past. He experienced growth through the events of the story, making him another candidate for the
The basis on which the conflict is founded is more or less what the theme means. Both Willy and Biff had their own visions of success, and this conflict of interest ended abruptly with one of the characters' suicide, or self destruction. Willy's flimsy and unrealistic dream of material wealth and respect leads him to his own demise when he realizes that, in his mind, all he worked for was for nought. Because he held his ill-conceived notion of success in such high regard, the realization of its attainability shocked him into his own self destruction. In fact, when he committed suicide, it was for the very reasons he believed would bring happiness to his son Biff. Willy Loman went to his grave believing that material wealth and respect were the only two measures of success, and died with that on his
Death of a Salesman is centered around one man trying to reach the American dream and taking his family along for the ride. The Loman's lives from beginning to end is a troubling story based on trying to become successful, or at least happy. Throughout their lives they encounter many problems and the end result is a tragic death caused by stupidity and the need to succeed. During his life Willy Loman caused his wife great pain by living a life not realizing what he could and couldn't do. Linda lived sad and pathetic days supporting Willy's unreachable goals. Being brought up in this world caused his children to lose their identity and put their futures in jeopardy.
Death of a Salesman is a play relating to the events leading to the downfall of Willy Loman, an aging salesman who is at one time prosperous, but is now approaching the end of his usefulness (Atkinson, 305).
Death of a Salesman is a stage play in the form of tragedy that focuses on the relationship between Willy and his son Biff. The main character is Willy Loman, a sixty-three year old salesman that feels his life is full of failure and missed opportunities to become successful. He often has hallucinations of past happier memories where he reminisces about those times. Willy’s mind seems to be full of illusions and he has
Willy's goal throughout life was to climb out of his social class. As a salesman, Willy was a failure and he tried desperately to make his sons never end up like him. As a result, he loses his mind and his grasp on reality. Throughout the story, Willy often has flashbacks of the conversations that he and his brother Ben once had and the author intertwines them in past and present very nicely.
Willy Loman, the main character in Death of a Salesman is a complex tragic character. He is a man struggling to hold onto the little dignity he has left in a changing society. While society may have caused some of his misfortune, Willy must be held responsible for his poor judgment, disloyalty and foolish pride.