Characteristics of Willy Loman
Death of a Salesman is a modern tragedy wherein the main character of the play is a common every man without any noble roots or royal ties. Willy Loman is an average salesman ageing in the mid sixties with a dream, an American dream. He has a family; a wife and two boys. His average dream of having a better job earning a decent living, and providing a better living standard for himself and his family. There are three main characteristics that characterize Willy as the protagonist in Death of a Salesman; his love of being social, the fact that he is a dreamer and a lover.
Willy Loman has always believed that the only way to succeed in life is to be well liked by people. He depends on people to make him feel that he is at the right place in his life. Ben, his brother, fills his head with the ideas of travelling and seeing people and life and living. He uses Bernard, his sons’ friend, to prove his theory better, to believe that if you are well liked then you must be successful. He looks at Bernard and sees that he is weak and used around his son’s team at school and realizes that as he is not well liked by his mates that he must then never succeed in life. He builds his life on his dependency on his social network, the fact that he is well liked at his business by the people that buy his products empowers him and makes him feel worthy of all. Later on his social dependency leads him into his inability to be alone for a couple of days so he acquires a mistress and gives her his wife’s stockings. When the boys needed money he assumes that Oliver would give it to them because Biff is a strong man who is well liked and that that’s enough to get Oliver to loan him money. Again the relationship between Willy and Charlie is of social importance to Willy as Charlie is the father of a “not so liked” boy, Bernard, and he feels that there is a mutual benefit from his asking for money from Charlie and his son being friends with Biff and Happy.
The most prominent
Willy Loman has always believed that the only way to succeed in life is to be well liked by people. He depends on people to make him feel that he is at the right place in his life. Ben, his brother, fills his head with the ideas of travelling and seeing people and life and living. He uses Bernard, his sons’ friend, to prove his theory better, to believe that if you are well liked then you must be successful. He looks at Bernard and sees that he is weak and used around his son’s team at school and realizes that as he is not well liked by his mates that he must then never succeed in life. He builds his life on his dependency on his social network, the fact that he is well liked at his business by the people that buy his products empowers him and makes him feel worthy of all. Later on his social dependency leads him into his inability to be alone for a couple of days so he acquires a mistress and gives her his wife’s stockings. When the boys needed money he assumes that Oliver would give it to them because Biff is a strong man who is well liked and that that’s enough to get Oliver to loan him money. Again the relationship between Willy and Charlie is of social importance to Willy as Charlie is the father of a “not so liked” boy, Bernard, and he feels that there is a mutual benefit from his asking for money from Charlie and his son being friends with Biff and Happy.
The most prominent