How Far Is Linda Complicit in Willy's Downfall in Death of a Salesman?

In Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller, Willy Loman’s life seems to be slowly deteriorating. It is clear that Willy’s predicament is of his own doing, and that his own foolish pride and ignorance lead to his downfall. Willy’s self-destruction involved the uniting of several aspects of his life and his lack of grasping reality in each, consisting of, his relationship with his wife, his relationship and manner in which he brought up his children, Biff and Happy, and lastly his inability to productively earn a living and in doing so, failure to achieve his “American Dream”.

Throughout his life, Willy Loman thinks of himself as well-liked in the play "Death of a Salesman" by Arthur Miller. It is the most important attribute to him. Willy lived his life thinking he had thousands of friends all over the New England territory and that he would be recognized anywhere he would go. He boasts this to his sons and they think he is the greatest man on Earth. He raises his two sons, Biff and Happy, to be well-liked and Willy does not care about their grades. He believes they will be better prepared for the business world if they are well-liked, and does not think education matters as much as personality, appearance, and physical skill. Although he has set high standards for sons, his morals are being well-liked, he

Linda from Death of a Salesman was always taking care of her husband Willy even though he occasionally screamed at her. Linda knew her husband was not capable of going to work and she knew that he was suicidal. For instance, the night she was talking to her sons, Biff and Happy about their father Willy; Linda said to them “he’s been trying to kill himself” (394). It proves that Linda knew what her husband was trying to do every time he crashed the car. Furthermore, knowing Willy was not capable of working she agreed with it, letting him believe that he was capable to accomplish his dream of being a successful salesman. Yet, she did not perceive clearly that her husband did

As the play progresses, one begins to feel sorry for Willy and his problem, but at the same time angry and frustrated with him for his foolish pride. With this trait, it prevented him from accepting a job from Charlie, something that could have saved his life. Also, it is with this false pride that has been sparking the family flame for years, the fact that the Loman name was well known and well-liked. The family lie that was amongst themselves is revealed during the climax of the play. One example is the way in which Willy led Biff to believe that he is a salesman for Oliver, which at the end left Biff disappointed. The reason for this estimation of the truth may be because of Willy’s idea that he has not raised Biff and Happy the right way.

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.

He would give his mistress brand new stockings, as a gift, while Linda would mend her old ones at home. When Willy would see this, an overwhelming state of realizing all he had done wrong would come over him, he was furious with himself and the amount of guilt brought upon him, which then turned to anger that was to be taken out on Linda. “I won’t have you mending stockings in this house! Now throw them out!” (Miller 26) The guilt from his infidelity caused him to further abuse Linda. Not only was Willy’s cheating affecting his relationship with his wife, but it was also hurting his children. When Willy’s son Biff, came to him for help, regarding a math credit, he saw Miss Francis in Willy’s room and realized that his father was having an affair. The perfect image of the Loman family was then shattered in Biff’s eyes. Biff insulted Willy, yelling, “You fake! You phony little fake! You fake!” (Miller 95) The perfect marriage that Biff believed his parents had, held enormous dishonesty. With his family falling apart, Willy’s disappointment grew. Willy was a family man who had so much pride in his children. He believed that his sons were outstanding scholars and athletes and would one day make excellent salesman. Like any parent he wanted them to achieve success so badly that even much after their high school careers he still found it necessary to defend and support their high school success (Miller 105) In reality Willy was building his kids up to be something

  Charley says something in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman that sums up Willy’s whole life. He asks him, "When the hell are you going to grow up” (Miller 97)?  Willy spends his entire life in an illusion, seeing himself as a great man who is popular and successful.  Willy exhibits many childlike qualities and his two sons Biff and Happy pattern their behavior after their father.  Many of these qualities, such as idealism, stubbornness, and a false sense of self-importance in the world have a negative impact on Willy’s family,

Willy Loman, the central character in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, is a man whose fall from the top of the capitalistic totem pole results in a resounding crash, both literally and metaphorically. As a man immersed in the memories of the past and controlled by his fears of the future, Willy Loman views himself as a victim of bad luck, bearing little blame for his interminable pitfalls. However, it was not an ill-fated destiny that drove Willy to devastate his own life as well as the lives of those he loved; it was his distorted set of values.

Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman follows protagonist Willy Loman in his search to better his and his family’s lives. Throughout Willy Loman’s career, his mind starts to wear down, causing predicaments between his wife, two sons and close friends. Willy’s descent into insanity is slowly but surely is taking its toll on him, his job and his family. They cannot understand why the man they have trusted for support all these years is suddenly losing his mind. Along with his slope into insanity, Willy’s actions become more aggressive and odd as the play goes on. Despite Willy and Biff’s “family feud”, his two sons Happy and Biff truly worry about their father’s transformation, Happy saying: “He just wants you to make good, that’s all. I

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.

To some extent she acknowledges Willy's aspirations but, naively, she also accepts them. Consequently, Linda is not part of the solution but rather part of the problem with this dysfunctional family and their inability to face reality. In restraining Willy from his quest for wealth in the Alaska, the 'New Continent', ironically the only realm where the "dream" can be fulfilled, Linda destroys any hope the family has of achieving 'greatness'. Even so, Linda symbolically embodies the play's ultimate value: love. In her innocent love of Willy, Linda accepts her husband's falsehood, his dream, but, in her admiration of his dream, she is lethal. Linda encourages Willy and, in doing so, allows her sons, Biff and Happy, to follow their father's fallacious direction in life.(Griffin, 1996)

Along with her motives, Linda attempts to keep any voice of reason away from Willy, showing that her selfish desire of her well-being is more important than his. In a discussion with her boys in Act I, Linda says, "I'm- I'm ashamed to. How can I mention it to him? 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 like that?"(1184) Linda claims that acknowledging the truth about Willy's possible attempt to kill himself is an insult. But, in order to develop a solution to any preoblem, one must start with the truth. Linda merely wants to accommodate Willy's mental problems rather than get rid of them, causing him to stay in his troubled state of mind. In another conversation in Act II, Linda tries to push Biff away from speaking with his father:

The next instance where Linda serves as the family's destroyer is in Act 1. Linda justifies Biff's desultory life by saying, "He's finding himself, Willy" (1404). Willy replies, "Not finding yourself at the age of thirty-four is a disgrace!" (1404). Linda says, "Shh!" (1404). Willy says, "The trouble is he's lazy, goddammit!" (1404). Linda says, "Willy, please!" (1404). Willy says, "Biff is a lazy bum!" (1404). Linda knows that Willy is right about Biff being lazy. But Linda is trying to protect her son from the truth. Linda is making excuses about him being lazy, just as she made excuses about Willy trying to kill himself. Linda should have let Willy tell Biff the truth about him being lazy. Maybe if Biff had heard the truth earlier in life, he wouldn't be thirty-four years old finding himself.

But in the beautiful, ironic complexity of her creation, she is also Willy's and their sons' destroyer. In her love Linda has accepted Willy's Greatness and his dream, but while in her admiration for Willy her love is powerful and moving, in her admiration for his dreams, it is lethal. She encourages Willy's dream, yet she will not let him leave her for the New Continent, the only realm where the dream can be fulfilled. She want to reconcile father and son, but she attempts this in the context of Willy's false values. She cannot allow her sons to achieve that selfhood that involves denial of these values" (Gordon p. 316). Linda is also caught up in Willy's lies and therefore does nothing but help fuel the fire in the inferno of their dreams and ambitions. She lets this whole masquerade continue right in front of her instead of doing something to stop their out of control lies.

Arthur Miller begins his play with an excellent description of the setting of the play. This makes it easy for the reader to imagine themselves actually watching the play and causes the reader to be able to better relate to the play. Because Death of a Salesman can be considered an emotional play, it qualifies as being a timeless work of literature, especially because it has the ability to touch the human heart. Willy Loman is a salesman, who lives in New York City with his wife Linda. From the beginning of the play, Miller makes it obvious that Willy struggles with many obstacles, such as anger and even confusion since there are many times throughout the play where Willy becomes severely confused. Many characters throughout the play,