Death of a Salesman
Lopez
Prof.
English 103
December 3, 2012
Death of a Salesman: Willy Loman, the Overbearing Father
The Loman way, was it the hard way or the correct way? In Death of a Salesman, the main character, Willy Loman is a traveling salesman and is living his own version of the American Dream. He travels the northeast region of America, through numerous towns and hotels to support his family. His wife Linda and his two sons, Biff and Harold aka Happy, live in their home in Brooklyn, New York that is nearly paid off. Throughout the movie, Death of a Salesman ,[ Volker Schlöndorff,1986] and the play that I read (Literature, A Portable Anthology, 2nd Edition, pg. 1026 – 1104), my observation was that Willy was tired, unhappy, and felt like a failure. In Jacobson’s article, he says “What Loman wants, and what success means in Death of a Salesman, is intimately related to his own, and the playwright’s sense of the family. Family dreams extend backward in time to interpret the past, reach forward in time to project images of the future, and pressure reality in the present to conform to memory and imagination. These “ideals,” these dreams, can be examined in terms of four variables: transformation, prominence, synthesis, and unity.” (Jacobson, 248.) His main concern was his son Biff’s future. Two things I have noticed were that Willy Loman had high expectations for his son and was an overbearing father to Biff Loman. Willy Loman was at the end of an approximately 34 year long career. He had begun to see himself as a failure and he started having delusions. What is the meaning to the story: 1) Do we work hard to support our family and force our expectations on our children? 2) Do we work hard to support our family and then give our children freedom to choose their own futures without guidance? 3) Or do we help them achieve health, happiness, and success by encouraging pursuit of their dreams? Willy Loman was a traveling salesman and he was living
Prof.
English 103
December 3, 2012
Death of a Salesman: Willy Loman, the Overbearing Father
The Loman way, was it the hard way or the correct way? In Death of a Salesman, the main character, Willy Loman is a traveling salesman and is living his own version of the American Dream. He travels the northeast region of America, through numerous towns and hotels to support his family. His wife Linda and his two sons, Biff and Harold aka Happy, live in their home in Brooklyn, New York that is nearly paid off. Throughout the movie, Death of a Salesman ,[ Volker Schlöndorff,1986] and the play that I read (Literature, A Portable Anthology, 2nd Edition, pg. 1026 – 1104), my observation was that Willy was tired, unhappy, and felt like a failure. In Jacobson’s article, he says “What Loman wants, and what success means in Death of a Salesman, is intimately related to his own, and the playwright’s sense of the family. Family dreams extend backward in time to interpret the past, reach forward in time to project images of the future, and pressure reality in the present to conform to memory and imagination. These “ideals,” these dreams, can be examined in terms of four variables: transformation, prominence, synthesis, and unity.” (Jacobson, 248.) His main concern was his son Biff’s future. Two things I have noticed were that Willy Loman had high expectations for his son and was an overbearing father to Biff Loman. Willy Loman was at the end of an approximately 34 year long career. He had begun to see himself as a failure and he started having delusions. What is the meaning to the story: 1) Do we work hard to support our family and force our expectations on our children? 2) Do we work hard to support our family and then give our children freedom to choose their own futures without guidance? 3) Or do we help them achieve health, happiness, and success by encouraging pursuit of their dreams? Willy Loman was a traveling salesman and he was living
Cited: Jacobson, Irving. “Family Dreams in Death of a Salesman.” American Literature Vol.47. No. 2(May 1975) : 247-258