Реферат на тему Death Of Salesman Essay Research Paper Willy
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Death Of Salesman Essay, Research Paper
Willy Loman – A Character Sketch
In a sense there are two Willy Lomans in this play. There is the present broken, exhausted man in his sixties, soon to end his
life. And there is the more confident, vigorous Willy of some fifteen years before, who appears in the flashbacks. One actor
portrays both, readily shifting from one representation to the other. To some extent, of course, the personality remains constant.
The younger Willy, although given to boastful blustering, does admit misgivings to Linda and loneliness to Biff. And the
shattered older man, in turn, occasionally reverts to his former manner of jaunty optimism. Yet the changes are great and
significant. The earlier Willy could never have been the idol of his teen-aged sons had he behaved in the perverse, distracted
fashion of his older self.
Willy’s agitation during his last days stems from a twofold sense of failure. He has not been able to launch successfully in the
world his beloved son Biff, and he no longer can meet the demands of his own selling job. Although not altogether ignoring
Linda and Happy, he is primarily concerned about the once magnificent young football star who at thirty-four drifts from one
temporary ranch job to the next. Willy cannot “walk away” from Biff’sproblem, as Bernard suggests, nor can he accept Linda’s
view that “life is a casting off.” Being over sixty, Willy is doubtless tiring physically. The sample cases are heavy. The
seven-hundred-mile drives are arduous. And many business contacts, developed over the years, are vanishing as the men of his
era die or retire. Yet the worry over Biff has obviously accelerated his collapse.
Actually, Willy’s attitude toward Biff is complex. On the one hand, there is a strong personal attachment. He wants Biff to love
him. He remembers yearningly the fondness shown for him by Biff as a boy, and he still craves this. At this point, however,
relations are strained. Although Willy shies away from remembering so painful an episode, he knows in his heart that the Boston
affair left the boy bitterly disillusioned. Feeling some sense of guilt, Willy fears that all of Biff’s later difficulties may have been
really attempts to get revenge. Biff has failed, in other words, mainly to “spite”Willy. Although outwardly resenting such alleged
vindictiveness. Willy still wants to get back the old comradeship, even if he has to buy it dearly. “Why can’t I give him
something,” he asks the spectral Ben, “and not have him hate me?” And his great final moment of joy and triumph occurs when
he can exclaim,”Isn’t that remarkable? Biff – he likes me!”
On the other hand, Willy also is emotionally involved with Biff because his son’s success or failure is also his. By becoming rich
and influential, the handsome, personable Biff was slated to provide Willy’s victorious reply to all not sufficiently impressed with
his own modest advancement. By making his fortune in the business world, Biff would prove that Willy had been right in turning
down Ben’s adventurous challenge to head for Alaska. He would also outshine the sensible, plodding Charley and Bernard,
thus establishing once and for all Willy’s theory that having personality and being “well liked” were the great requisites for
preeminence. Losing his own job, Willy is naturally unhappy. But if he can still purchase success for Biff with the insurance
money, he personally will yet have won. “I always knew one way or another we were gonna make it, Biff and I!”
If, however, Willy at any stage is apt to overindulge in grandiose daydreams, he is hardly the “phoney little fake” he once seems
to the shocked Biff. He works steadily at one job for thirty-six years and does pay off along-term mortgage, even if at the end
he accepts some help from Charley. He takes good care of the house, too, capably making even major repairs. Although not
altogether faithful, he is a reasonably satisfactory husband to Linda, who obviously respects him. He does not like to see her
darn stockings or work too hard. And when he loses his job, he is sorry to think how much she has suffered. In his own way,
too, he has the makings of an admirable father. He gives much attention to his boys, showing them how to do things, working
with them, and praising their accomplishments. He roots for them at their games, and defends them loyally. When Biff fails, he
pays for several correspondence courses, even though he has to pawn his prized diamond watch fob given him by Ben. And
finally, there is genuine dignity in the man when he spiritedly speaks up for his rights with Howard.
Willy is partially a victim of circumstance. He could not have avoided getting old and tired, any more than he could have
prevented the building of the apartments that hem in his house. There was even an element of mischance in Biff’s inopportune
visit to Boston. What’s more, Willy did not originate some of the erroneous concepts and values that helped defeat him. The
idea of the fast-made fortune, the “quick killing,” is, to some extent, characteristically American. And our history certainly
indicates that some did reach the top by combining personal attractiveness with a casual disregard for ethical practice.