The Characters of Willy in Death of a Salesman and Amanda in Glass Menagerie
In "Death of a Salesman", Willy Loman believes the ticket to success is likeability. He tells his sons, "The man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead." In "The Glass Menagerie", Amanda Wingfield has the same belief. Girls are meant to be attractive and they are meant to be attractive in order to entertain gentlemen callers. As she tells Laura, "All pretty girls are a trap, a pretty trap, and men expect them to be" (1048). It is this very belief that both Amanda and Willy try to ingrain in their children and it is this emphasis on likeability that makes the characters of Amanda
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Biff can go without studying; Biff can even steal; Biff is well liked. Biff is thus set up for failure. Bernard ends up a successful lawyer; Biff ends up an ordinary man, "a dime a dozen" (132). As Biff points out, he "never got anywhere because [Willy] blew [him] so full of hot air. That's whose fault it is" (131). Willy is the only one to blame; Willy is where readers shift their feelings of bitterness.
In addition to ruining Biff, Willy manages to manifest himself in his other son. Happy wasn't a huge football star; his charm was always overshadowed by that of his older brother. So, Happy tries desperately to get his father's attention. When Biff is the star athlete, Happy tries to draw attention to the fact that he's losing weight. When Biff is jobless, Happy points out that he is an assistant buyer. When Biff is unable to help the family, Happy claims that he will help out mom and dad. However, Willy either ignores Happy or scoffs at him. Even when visiting Willy's grave, Happy's attempts to appear successful, to appear likeable, go unnoticed. Happy is thus destined to continue in his quest for likeability, the very quest that drove his father crazy. The reason for this once again rests on Willy's shoulders; the anger the reader feels over this incident is once again transferred to Willy.
Amanda takes a different approach to ruining her children. She forces
At one point in the play, Willy says, “Biff is a lazy bum”(16). Moments later in the same conversation with Linda, Willy adds, “There’s one thing about Biff, he’s not lazy”(16). Even when confronted by his boys, Willy is unable to deal with the truth, that his sons won’t amount to very much at all. He ignores reality very well, and instead of pointing out that Biff hasn’t established himself yet, Willy tells Biff, “You’re well liked, Biff….And I’m telling you, Biff, and babe you want…”(26). The boys are clearly aware of their status and the status of their father, and Happy is found putting Willy’s personality in a nutshell, “Well, let’s face it: he’s [Willy] no hot-shot selling man. Except that sometimes, you have to admit he’s a sweet personality”(66). Obviously, Willie’s failure to bring up his children effectively, and his delusional thinking including denial of reality helps fortify his depleting condition and confusion.
On the other hand, Willy is also emotionally involved with Biff because his son’s success of failure is his own. By becoming rich and influential, the handsome, personable Biff was slated to provide his own modest advancement. By making his fortune in the business world, Biff would prove that Willy had been right in turning down
Both settings are up-to-date, reflecting the time period in which they were written. In each play, the setting for the characters’ homes symbolizes the imprisoned, powerless nature of its residents. Overwhelming features surrounds both homes: in The Glass Menagerie, frightening tenements and dark alleys; in Death of a Salesman, tall apartment buildings that block out the light. In each case, the message seems to be that as difficult and restrictive as life may be inside the home, the outside is terrifying and overwhelming. For both Amanda Wingfield and Willy Loman, the configurations that outshine their homes are like the fears that outshine their own lives. Amanda is worried that her son Tom will leave home, or even worse. She is also afraid that if Tom leaves, she cannot rely on her daughter Laura to support the household. When Amanda founds that Laura has dropped out of Business College, she feels petrified for her future. Willy is afraid of being unable to support his family after losing his job.
Furthermore, Biff, along with Happy tries to conjure up a crazy idea of putting on a sporting goods exhibition. The problem with Willy is that he never grows up and deals with his obstacle; and he has taught this life strategy to his sons.
Willy’s biggest issue with his son is that he let him down by not being any more successful than him. He feels like Biff is failing on purpose just to make him look bad. Although, he has no decent job and is single; Biff has become disoriented about life. Earlier in the play Biff tells Happy, “I tell ya Hap, I don't know what the future is. I don't know - what I'm supposed to want” (Miller266). Biff once looked up to his father as a role model, but lost all faith in him once finding out that he was having an affair. Ever since he has rejected Willy’s commitment of being a husband and also a father. To add to his ruins are Willy’s ideas of how Biff should get ahead in life. Willy taught Biff that popularity was the right way to get to the top, rather than hard-work and dedication. Trying to live by his dad’s standards caused Biff to fail high school and become unable to put forth the effort to become
Willy’s unreasonable expectations of Biff creates a hostile relationship between Biff and Willy. Ever since Biff was in highschool, Willy always expected Biff to be very successful without instilling the tools
This is what Willy has been trying to emulate his entire life. Willy's need to feel well-liked is so strong that he often makes up lies about his popularity and success. At times, Willy even believes these lies himself. At one point in the play, Willy tells his family of how well-liked he is in all of his towns and how vital he is to New England. Later, however, he tells Linda that no one remembers him and that the people laugh at him behind his back. As this demonstrates, Willy's need to feel well-liked also causes him to become intensely paranoid. When his son, Biff, for example, is trying to explain why he cannot become successful, Willy believes that Biff is just trying to spite him. Unfortunately, Willy never realizes that his values are flawed. As Biff points out at the end of the play, "he had the wrong dreams."
While Biff steals and tries to show Willy he is successful, Happy says. Instead of trying to show everyone he is successful, Happy changes reality in a way to make it seem that he is doing very well in his job and is moving up on the totem pole. He is basically a Willy Junior. Before dinner with Biff and Willy, Happy meets a girl named Miss Forsythe. Instead of stating that he is only the assistant to the merchandise manager, Happy lies and says that he is the actual merchandise manager.
If Willy is not totally unsympathetic (and he is not), much of the goodness in him is demonstrated in his devotion to his wife, according to his lights. Though he is often masterful and curt, he is still deeply concerned about her: "I was fired, and I'm looking for a little good news to tell your mother, because the woman has waited and the woman has suffered." Biff is attached to his mother, and Happy's hopelessness is most graphic in his failure to be honest with, or concerned about, his family. The family's devotion to one another, even though misguided, represents a recognizable American ideal.
His tragic flaw, however, is more than evident. Like Jason in the classic tragedy Medea by Euripedes, his sense of pride clouds reality. His business is in the work of a simple carpenter, but his pride won?t leave him to settle for such low-class work. ?Biff: What the hell do you want from me? What do you want from me? Willy: Greatness-? (Miller, 220.) His judgment is so skewed by his dreams that he even begins to try and live his fantasies through his sons, leading to his eventual end. ?I?m losing weight, Dad, can?t you tell?? (51), Happy says as Willy boastfully rambles on about Biff?s great achievements in football. The resentment that builds up because of the lack of interest in Happy?s life on Willy?s account, also lead up to the tumultuous animosity between the two song and their father.
Willy’s perseverance to direct Biff into success has resulted to Biff’s desperate acts to earn praise from his father. However, Biff’s dishonest acts of stealing are often justified by Willy through disregard and excuse, even expressing that the “Coach will probably congratulate [Biff] for [his] initiative”. Instead of correcting his mistakes, Willy continuously expresses his belief of Biff’s predetermined success as a result of being attractive and well-liked. These acts effectively exemplifies Biff’s adherence to self-deception as he imagines himself as an important figure in other people’s lives. It can be seen that his belief of being destined for success prevents him from allowing himself recognize the destruction it brings. As a result, Biff has allowed how Willy views him become how he perceives himself. This self-deception has not only affected the actions in his childhood but as well as his decisions when finding his role in the workplace. As stated above, Willy’s consistent beliefs of his son’s predestined success results to Biff’s immense confidence in himself. However, this confidence have provided him a false perception of himself as he struggle to keep a stable job and even faces imprisonment. It can be seen that Biff’s lack of self-perception and compliance to ideals of Willy has only allowed him to restrain and prevent him from recognizing the difference between illusion and reality resulting in the lack of his
Willy Loman has the ups and downs of someone suffering from bipolar disorder: one minute he is happy and proud- the next he is angry and swearing at his sons. Their relationships are obviously not easy ones. Willy always has the deeper devotion, adoration, and near-hero worship for his son Biff; the boy, likewise, has a great love for his father. Each brags on the other incessantly, thereby ignoring the other son- Happy- who constantly tries to brag on himself in order to make up the lack of anyone to do it for him. This turns sour however, after Biff discovers the father he idolizes was not all he had thought him to be. Afterward, familial dynamics are never the same, as Willy continues to hope that Biff will succeed, ignorant- perhaps
Willy’s relationship with Biff and Happy also becomes strained throughout their lives. Since Biff was the older son and football star he made his father proud, and Happy was left without the praise that he needed and deserved, as he was always second best. Biff also was the one who caught his father having an affair with a woman in Boston, causing friction between himself and Willy. More importantly, Biff is extremely disturbed by his father's later behavior, including participating in imaginary conversations and reacting to his memories as though they were happening in the present. Willy's job also falls apart from the beginning of the play towards the end. Willy had been making enough money to support his family, but his unwillingness to learn new sales techniques or utilize modern technology resulted in lackluster sales and the loss of his job. Willy’s house had a mortgage until his death, implying that the family was not even secure in their own home. Finally, the family car, a symbol of pride within the Loman household, was destroyed when Willy committed suicide. This was the last example of Willy's destruction of all that was once important to him. Willy Loman, in this regard, follows Aristotle's suggestion that the tragic hero has "...a change of fortune... from prosperity to misfortune...." (Aristotle,1303)
To start, Willy is first characterized as a successful, esteemed salesman. Willy would frequently tell Biff and Happy of the admiration others had for him; for example, Willy informed his boys of how he met the Mayor of Providence for coffee. When the boys were young Willy would often mention his success any chance he got. Therefore, as children, Biff and Happy adopted their father as a notable role model. Because of Willy’s remarks, the boys viewed their father as a very successful, well-respected businessman. For instance, Willy told them, “I never have to wait to see a buyer….I go right through” (Miller 21). Willy’s incessant speeches of his success only reinforced the flawless persona he had created. Willy had a tendency to exaggerate his mediocre sales and success. The boys’ sole perspective of their father were the fictitious stories he told. In the eyes of
The first trait that Happy has inherited from Willy is lying. When in a restaurant Happy see’s a girl and lies to her in order to gain her interest “Biff is a quarterback with the New York Giants.” He deceived her by saying his brother is a famous football player even though Biff only played football in high school. After a fight breaks out between the Loman family Willy and Linda go upstairs. Once Biff has calmed down the two boys go up to apologize, after Biff says sorry and goes to his room Happy says “I'm going to get married mom I wanted to tell you” this is a lie Happy tells his mom in hope of getting some attention from her but he's not actually getting married, at least not at the moment. Biff goes to see his old boss, Bill Oliver. The two boys planned to take Willy out for dinner after. Unfortunately the meeting doesn't go well and when Biff tells Happy the bad news he says “you leave the house tomorrow and come back at night and say Oliver is thinking it over. And he thinks