Willy Death Of A Salesman

Throughout the years many have tried to analyze and interpret Arthur Miller's character Willy in the novel Death of a salesman, attempting to establish his real influences and manipulation of the plot and fellow character's outcome. After my studying of the novel I have come to the conclusion that Willy's character is both a victimizer and a victim. Willy's action influences his family's lives in various ways such as brainwashing his son Happy into pursuing his competitive and destructive desire to be "well-liked" and attain the "American dream", while he has a bipolar relationship with his other son Biff. Willy is a very dominate character in the play and although he desperately relies on his wife Linda, he is emotionally unavailable to
her and she is almost entirely disregarded by him. Willy's actions are the mere reflection of his frustration at his unquenchable thirst for the "American dream" and the bitter reality of his failures.

After reading Death of a Salesman, it is evident that Willy's venomous beliefs and ethics are echoed in Happy. Willy emotionally neglects Happy throughout his life and dismisses him as a person almost entirely. He invests no personal interest in his son and often seems bothered by him. This is apparent when Willy would always turn a deaf ear to Happy's announcements of "getting married" or having "lost weight" which were always overlooked,and all of Happy's attempts for praise or acknowledgment are refused. As Happy is starved of affirmation from his father he seeks it from others by mischievous means. Mirroring his father philosophy Happy is left constantly scrambling for ratification, and is convinced that being "well-liked" is the key to achieving happiness and success. This becomes a personality trait in Happy, as he always needs to feel validated and superior to his "competitor's" ( i.e. Biff & his coworkers). In Act one p.25 Happy brags about his affairs and womanizing to his brother while seeking his approval. Happy: ".... I don't know what got into me, maybe I just have an overdeveloped sense of competition or something, but I went and ruined her, and furthermore I can't get rid of her. And he's the third one I've done that to. Isn't that a crummy characteristic? And to top it all, I go to their weddings!" Additionally Happy demeans women by lying to them, yet another trait he has clearly picked up from his father. Happy has the same poisonous ideology his father has concerning the meaning of success and an unhealthy need to feel approved and become number one.

Secondly I also disagree with the postion Willy repeatedly burden's Linda with.
She is obliged into becoming a faciliator between him and his sons, and is expected to mother Willy. He often disrespects her and shows child like behavior, such as being stubborn, having a false sense of importance including reality. Linda is expected to feed his ego, sing him to sleep and tell his sons to "be nice to him". In Death of a Salesman, Act one p.66 Linda is seen trying to mend the broken relationship between her husband and son Biff, while babysitting Willy at the same time, Linda (speaking to Biff): Please, dear. Just say good night. It takes so little to make him happy. Come. She goes through the living-room doorway, calling upstairs from within the living-room: Your pajamas are hanging in the bathroom, Willy!" She is basically forced into become a single parent as Willy illusions begin to consume him. Throughout the play there's always a sense that Linda is walking on eggshells around her husband. She attempts to sugarcoat whatever she has to say, or simply doesn't say anything in order in shelter him from his own realties. Sadly this is necessary as Willy often has explosive reactions to situations where he feels belittled, threatened, or "insulted". This is not a healthy or common relationship held between spouses, when a partner is forced to assume a role like Linda's. Moreover he often demeans her, interrupts her or simply ignores her calls. Willy is very selfish in his
relationship with Linda, he is completely unappreciative and ungrateful of all she does for him.

Furthermore in the amidst of the play you see Willy's character go from hero to zero from Biff's perspective, as Willy's behavior and intentions in Boston damages there once unbreakable bond.
In ACT TWO, page 120-121 Biff's declares his new views on Willy screaming " You Fake! You phony little fake! You fake!" Willy destroyed all the trust and faith Biff had bestowed on him, and upon discovering his fathers infidelity's, the pedestal Biff placed his father on disappeared instantaneously. Biff feels as though he's been deceived and begins to resent his father. The Scene in Boston also changes Biff's future completely, as Bernard states on page 94 " ... And he came back after that month and took his sneakers -- remember those sneakers with "University of Virginia" printed on them? He was so proud of those, wore them every day. And he took them down in the cellar, and he burned them in the furnace. We had a fist fight. It lasted at least half an hour. Just the two of us, punching each other down the cellar, and crying right through it. I've often thought of how strange it was that I knew he'd given up his life. What happened in Boston, Willy?" This statement is a clear indication of how strongly Biff reacted to the scene that unfolded in Boston making the strain of their relationship apparent to the conscious reader, and how it changed both characters lives for the
worst.

Lastly while Willy has victimized his family members by his actions and/or inactions it is clear he too is also a victim of his own reality. He has become a slave to his own expectations and demands for greatness, and is haunted by his regrets and tormented by his own failures. As Willy's career disintegrates, and his desired accomplishments seem unattainable Willy falls prey to his illusions and thus a false sense of reality. Throughout the play it is evident that Willy has been hurting himself by "following the wrong dream" as Biff explains, in Requiem p.139 Biff: He had the wrong dream. All, all wrong. Willy's quest to capture the American Dream while searching for success,respect and a fair salary ended up robbing him of his happiness and sanity.