Death Of A Salesman Character Analysis

When Linda refers to Willy as a "little boat looking for a harbor," another wind blows against Linda, pushing her to act with pity (1247). To her, he is nothing more than a small, helpless old man. She blames the business for forgetting Willy in his old age, and passing him over like an orange peel. Toward the end of Act I, Linda presents a sorry image of Willy, describing his past greatness as a salesman and ending with a sad description of treachery. She tells her sons that Willy is "exhausted" from driving 1400 miles without earning a penny, and that his reward from the ones he loved the most, his sons, is spite and rejection (1237). The picture she paints of her husband is on filled with pity and sorrow.

They have a psychological effect on his younger son, Happy. There is no information about Happy’s high school career, but as an adult he is the assistant to the assistant buyer at a decent-sized company. He gloats about his success, since he was always hidden in the shadow of his older brother’s success in high school. When the boys were teenagers, Willy constantly poured out his affection and pride into Biff, since he excelled at football. But, this left Happy yearning for his father’s attention. This neglect causes Happy to become extremely needy, and he tries to fulfill this need with lust. He always has a girl by his side, though they never stay for more than a few days. Also, his sense of self-importance goes through the roof, thinking his job is more than just an assistant. He struggles with a false image of himself, just like his father, and it causes him to become almost a mirror image of his father in the emotional sense. With his severe lack of stable social relationships, Happy Loman suffers from the same fate as his brother. They both need something that their father cannot provide due to his mental illness.

Later in a flashback, Willy and Biff are on their way to Ebbets Field for a football game when Charley appears and beings a conversation with Willy. Merely joking around, Charley makes a few comments which Willy takes great offense too and beings insulting Charley and telling him to put his hands up as if to fight. Willy's arrogance shows it's face once again when Willy is talking to Biff about his meeting with Oliver. Completly ignoring what Biff is saying, Willy goes on about how good of a kid Biff is and how impressive he is. Though not directly insulting, Willy ignores what his son has to say and goes off on his own tangents, losing the respect of the reader. Willy then ends up in another flashback in the bathroom of the restauraunt where he met Happy and Biff for dinner. The most disgusting part of Willy is revealed here. Biff walks in on Willy and his woman friend whom hes had a secret relationship with. Willy attempts to cover it up and when that doesnt work he orders Biff around and shows how bad of a person he can be.

While Willy was trying to cover up his lies he was consumed by the reality that he wasn’t good enough and it drove him crazy. Willy couldn’t accept the fact that he was not a good salesman. When Willy started out as a salesman he was successful but as he got older he lost many clients and began to fail. Willy and his wife pretty much brainwashed their kids into thinking they were the best. Just as Willy’s father failed his family, Willy is failing his but in a different

When Willy sees Bernard in Charley’s office the secret they are discussing is when Willy cheated on Linda. Willy did not think Bernard knew until Bernard asks about Biff going to Boston and coming back a different person. This secret is true because Willy begins to get “sore” (2.320) about Bernard knowing about the secret affair. Willy is in denial that this happened because does not want to admit that it was his fault his relationship with Biff is not in a good place.

From the early stages of the play, Linda makes her loyalty to Willy evident, with her defense and acceptance of her husband’s actions starting from when he first crashes his car. In Willy’s presence, she appears as a loyal wife, she consistently agrees with his grievances over his job and Biff. When Willy is not present, Linda reveals her true opinions, telling Biff and Happy, “You’ve got to make up your mind, darling, there’s no leeway any more. Either he’s your father and you pay him that respect, or else you’re not to come here. I know he’s not easy to get along with--nobody knows that better than me--but…”(Miller 39).

Charley eventually gives Willy the money, but states Willy’s jealousy as his reason for not accepting Charley’s job offer. Willy then makes another small hint at his impending suicide and tells a startled Charley that he is Willy’s only real friend. Happy chats with a waiter named Stanley as he waits for his brother and father at a restaurant; he then flirts with a girl, bragging about his (fake) champagne brand. He also brags about his brother Biff, a (false) player for the New York Giants.

            Willy is the aging salesman whose imagination is much larger than his sales ability. Willy's wife, Linda, stands by her husband even in his absence of realism. Biff and Happy follow in their father's fallacy of life. Willy's brother, Ben is the only member of the Loman family with the clear vision necessary to succeed. Charlie and his son Benard, on the other hand, enjoy better success in life compared

Willy’s sons Biff and Happy are visiting and as they are in their room they can hear their father talking to himself. Biff and Happy are both worried about their father. When Willy is having these spells of daydreaming he is often bad mouthing his sons. Willy is down in the kitchen

Instead of getting to Howard and calmly discussing the possibility of remaining in New York for business, a fight ensues between the two. Things get heated as Howard repeatedly explains that there is not room for Willy in New York. Willy is very offended as Howard’s father and Howard have both previously promised him an opportunity for a job in the city, something that is not being held up. Howard then leaves Willy in the room to calm down and Willy tinkers with Howards recording machine, a new favorite of Howard’s. Willy then messes it up and causes a great fit to which Howard quickly returns to asses. After a while more of bickering, Howard finally admits that he is ready for Willy to be removed from the business. He states that he has wished for Howard to be done for a long while but was not ready to admit it. This event pushed Howard to the point of finally firing Willy, something that will permanently damage Willy. After this, he goes and sees his boys at dinner, and the events only get worse and lead into the next major event. When Willy is fired, he pushed even deeper in the depression that is often hinted at throughout the story. He hopes that when he sees Biff and Happy that they will at least have good news, yet they don’t, only furthering disappointing the man. Willy is truly hurt at this point because he has absolutely no

Willy Loman is immediately revealed by Miller as an unpredictable character, constantly leading Linda to be worried for his sake. As he first appears on stage, arriving

As a mentally unstable man, Willy has a very complex relationship with the people around him, which come a great deal from his own guilt and insecurity. His relationship with three of the characters strongly stands out from the others. These characters are his oldest son Biff, his only friend and neighbor Charley, and Biff’s childhood friend and Charley’s son Bernard. His relationship with Biff is tainted by the fact that Biff could never live up to his father’s expectations, which they both feel guilty for. Charley and Biff have problems because Willy is jealous and extremely stubborn, and refuses to take his generous help. And lastly, Willy has a bitter relationship towards Bernard because he is jealous that Biff

Willy and his wife discuss his failed sales trip, and Linda asks him to convince his boss to let him work

When the play first begins, Willy returns home from work from a trip that he really never takes. Instead of telling his wife the truth, Willy informs her that he returns home because he constantly was running off the road, when in fact, he doesn’t want to admit he is getting older and having difficulty driving. Linda knows Willy wants to die throughout the play. Furthermore, Willy lives in the past and the present. Willy always blames his misfortunes on someone or something. Throughout the play, Linda, Willie’s wife, tries to get him to talk to his boss, Howard Wagner, to work closer to home. Needless to say, Willie does eventually talk to Wagner, but gets fired. Willy has an attitude problem throughout the play, especially with his mouth. When Biff and Happy, Linda and Willy’s sons, come home for a visit, they find out that their father’s mind is failing. The mental status of Willy becomes apparent to his neighbor, Charley, because he can hear him next to door. Charley goes over to Willy’s house, and they play cards. During the course of the game, Willy steadily talks to his brother, Ben, who found fortunes in the diamond business. Charley and Willy get into an argument. Biff and Happy overhear their father talking with nobody present. Willy goes as far back in his mind that he still thinks of his sons as children, and he places a lot of emphasis on Biff. Willy constantly thinks of Biff’s success as a football player, his tennis shoes, and the football he stole from a locker at school. There is a lot of tension with Willy and Biff, and Willy even tells Biff that he’s going to get his math teacher to change his grade so he can graduate. Willy constantly harps on Biff’s misfortunates in his career. Linda has such a deep love for Willy that she will do anything

Biff fails to get the loan from Mr. Oliver and meets Happy at the restaurant. He confesses his failure to Happy who tries to convince him that they must not tell Willy. Biff insists on having the straightforward conversation with Willy, however, Willy starts to get angry and slips into delusion again. Frightened, Happy and Biff hurriedly