Willy The Woman

Willy is fairly likeable however, he is also equally irritable due to the choices and egotistical confidence he seems to tie himself to in order to cover his deep insecurities. Throughout the play I continuously felt remorse for Willy as a character. He seemed as if he was going insane and trying to relive the ‘good ‘ole days’, when he was a successful man, at the same time. However, his actions with both his prior affair and with the way he spoke about his children not living up to his ‘dream’, perhaps lead up to his suicide. Constantly, Willy would bash Biff due to the way he carried on after flunking. Willy didn’t like Biff’s occupation or the lack of confidence that he once had. Personally, it’s difficult for myself to relate, or even like,

Willy. I just feel sorry for him. He keeps relying on his past accomplishments in order to create new ones but, in the play, Willy seems to be the only one living in the past.
The Woman, in the “Death of a Salesman”, plays a minor but significant role. In fact, The Woman demonstrates a vast amount of Willy’s true personality, this being that he is not the ‘perfect and amazing’ salesman as he portrays himself for his children. However, the scene that reveals Willy’s adultery affected me in two contrasting ways. Although, I despised Willy’s decision to betray his wife, I also felt pity for him. It was at that moment he confessed that he was “lonely” to The Woman. This demonstrates that Willy was perhaps insecure about his marriage with Linda. Additionally, this confession of loneliness suggests that Willy might not be, at the time, a vastly know salesman like he boasts about to his children.
In his son’s younger years, particularly Biff, Willy basically put them on a pedestal. He encouraged them to do great things and filled their heads with ideas and dreams of success. However, these dreams seemed to belong to Willy as he continuously tries to convince others that his sons are very successful, by following in the footsteps of himself. Willy continuously gripes on Biff and himself for not becoming settled and economically sustaining men, like the others that surround Willy. However, Willy’s actions towards his son's primary shows how Willy wanted to live his dream of being successful, through his children, mainly Biff, who inevitably ended up like him.
Miller describes expositions, of both settings and characters, within the several flashbacks and hallucinations of Willy.

In fact, one of the first flashback scenes primarily explore the egotistical effect Willy passes onto Biff, as he praises him for his ‘bright future’. Additionally, the flashbacks expose Willy for his true, insecure, and unsuccessful life that he had once originally boasted about towards his children. In fact, the flashback in the diner, with The Woman, showcases Biff's discovery that his father was delusional and that he had never been continuing someone else's dream. Furthermore, the hallucinations, described, demonstrate the primary cause of Willy’s dream of being a successful businessmen. Many of his illusions are of Willy and his dead brother Ben, who was a major success. The basic information is also given ithin these flashbacks. The audience can understand that Biff was a all-star football player with scholarships to three major colleges. It is also described that Biff needs help to not “flunk” a math exam, which introduces Charley’s son,

Bernard.
Biff, as described by Willy in the beginning, was a fine young man with the ability to make a very successful salesman. However, Biff “became a moody man”. He changed, became a farmhand, and moved around quite a bit. As he stayed with his parents, Willy described his actions, lack of money, and current occupation as disgraceful. Additionally, it's as if Biff had lost a significant amount of his confidence and control over his life. It was as if Willy’s constant appraisal towards Biff, as a young man, turned into criticism and pressure as Biff fell into adulthood without any luck or grasp of success. In contrast, Happy was able to make a successful living, without the appraisal from his father, and without changing anything in his path of life. In the flashbacks, it’s demonstrated that Biff was the ‘special’ son, with his constant recognition from his parents. Happy was underneath Biff’s success, lacking any boost from his father. This is demonstrated when Happy repeatedly asks “I’m losing weight, you notice, Pop,” and is ignored by Willy everytime. However, as Happy grew up with this lack of admiration from his parents, he was able to create a successful living for himself since he didn’t feel the need to conform to his father’s dream. Furthermore, Happy, even if he is very successful, is not providing settlement for his parents Whereas, Biff is constantly “mocked” by his father for not providing settlement for the family. Therefore, it’s as if Happy doesn’t give back to his parents since they never gave him any recognition in his childhood.
Willy’s philosophy can be generally described with his statement: “be liked and you will never want.” In technical terms within the business world, this primarily means that if you can build strong and long lasting connections with colleagues that can back you up whenever it is needed, then you will have no trouble in achieving success.

Comparably Willy’s philosophy suggests that someone who “makes an appearance in the business world” is able to get ahead in the competition, perhaps due to the fact that you have more people to rely on in any predicament. Therefore, becoming more successful in life. Overall, these ideas are definitely idealistic in, not just the business world, but in life in general. I mean, we develop friendships within highschool and college, other than to just have a social interaction. It’s to have people behind you, helping you whenever you’re in need. These ideas describe Willy’s connection with his other colleagues, such as Howard, his prior boss. In fact, Willy knew Howard's father, which then allowed him to retain a job, working for

Howard.
More than likely, Linda is just trying to make Willy feel better about his current situation. Willy has several insecurities, and has become quite delusional over the years. Linda has probably known for years that Willy has started to become senile. She is just trying to cheer up Willy by saying that his children value him in order to suppress his growing depression and acts of suicide. However, Linda’s words can also be taken ironically, since the two boys do not necessarily idolize or thank Willy for any part of their adulthood. In fact, Willy primarily focused his parenting on Biff, who became unsuccessful in life. Whereas Happy wasn’t supported excessively by Willy, but in the end he became successful. Therefore, it’s as if Happy doesn’t need to thank Willy for his success.