What does the character of Happy Loman bring to my understanding and enjoyment of Death of a Salesman?
What does the character of Happy Loman bring to my understanding and enjoyment of the play?
Happy helps me understand the play by emphasizing the futility of Willy pursuing the American Dream. Happy does not have the passion for his work that Biff does or the drive to succeed (though misguided) that Willy has. Happy is a conglomeration of Willy’s mistakes and bad characteristics and is a perfect example of the American Dream’s falsehood. Due to Willy’s stories and his shallow advice when Happy was younger, the boy is lead to believe that if he works hard, he will succeed and achieve the ideal life. Ironically, Willy is the living proof of the Dream’s lies yet Happy is ignorant to this and the Dream becomes his unachievable goal, just like his father. Because of this, the audience is able to experience what Willy was like when he was younger, though Happy seems to have less passion than him. As such, Happy is a difficult character with whom to empathize. Happy becomes more one-dimensional as the play progresses, in comparison to his childish eagerness as a young boy, and his obsession with fulfilling the Dream becomes incurable. His empty vow to avenge Willy’s death by finally “beat[ing] this racket” provides evidence of his critical condition: for Happy, who has lived in the shadow of the inflated expectations of his brother, there is no escape from the Dream’s lies. Throughout the play, Happy remains oblivious to the impact that his bad life choices are having on him and does not reach the same epiphany that saves Biff in the end.
Happy also helps to show the strained relationship of the family. He appears to have no affection for his father, nor his mother and throughout the play he has no one-on-one conversations with either of them. This stems from Happy’s neglect as a child due to favouritism by his parents to Biff. Ironically, the only person Happy talks intimately with is Biff. Despite being disregarded by his parents, he still aims to please them
Happy helps me understand the play by emphasizing the futility of Willy pursuing the American Dream. Happy does not have the passion for his work that Biff does or the drive to succeed (though misguided) that Willy has. Happy is a conglomeration of Willy’s mistakes and bad characteristics and is a perfect example of the American Dream’s falsehood. Due to Willy’s stories and his shallow advice when Happy was younger, the boy is lead to believe that if he works hard, he will succeed and achieve the ideal life. Ironically, Willy is the living proof of the Dream’s lies yet Happy is ignorant to this and the Dream becomes his unachievable goal, just like his father. Because of this, the audience is able to experience what Willy was like when he was younger, though Happy seems to have less passion than him. As such, Happy is a difficult character with whom to empathize. Happy becomes more one-dimensional as the play progresses, in comparison to his childish eagerness as a young boy, and his obsession with fulfilling the Dream becomes incurable. His empty vow to avenge Willy’s death by finally “beat[ing] this racket” provides evidence of his critical condition: for Happy, who has lived in the shadow of the inflated expectations of his brother, there is no escape from the Dream’s lies. Throughout the play, Happy remains oblivious to the impact that his bad life choices are having on him and does not reach the same epiphany that saves Biff in the end.
Happy also helps to show the strained relationship of the family. He appears to have no affection for his father, nor his mother and throughout the play he has no one-on-one conversations with either of them. This stems from Happy’s neglect as a child due to favouritism by his parents to Biff. Ironically, the only person Happy talks intimately with is Biff. Despite being disregarded by his parents, he still aims to please them