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spootyhead
Mar 6, 2007
Character Analysis of Willy Loman in "Death of a Salesm
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Character Analysis of Willy Loman in "Death of a Salesman"
In looking at the characteristics of the tragic hero, it can be see that Willy L
oman is not a tragic hero but a victim of a false idealistic pursuit of the Ameri
can Dream . Willy strives to become and instill in his sons the success of the sel
f made man that American society often advertises but ultimately falls short, an
d instead, escapes accepting his failure through lies and death. What many flaws
Willy possesses, most do not correlate with the classic tragic hero.
Willy Loman, was never really of noble stature, as was summed up by Linda, the p
erson who knew him best. Willy Loman never made a lot of money. His name was nev
er in the paper. He s not the finest character that ever lived. Willy s harmartia was
his obsession with the false American Dream that caused him to become delusiona
l and totally blind of his actual situation. If this is so, then he cannot he co
mmit a true and calculated error of judgment and then his downfall is due to an
overriding irrepressible mental condition which cancels his own fault in his dow
nfall. His delusional state of mind blurs reality and causes him to never accep
t or understand who he is or his downfall erasing any notion that he experienced
an epiphany of any sort. In fact, it can be said that he dragged one of his son
s with him. In front of Willy s grave Happy vows to continue Willy s dream. He had a
good dream. It s the only dream you can have- to come out the number-one man. He
fought it out here, and this is where I m gonna win it for him.
Willy Loman is an example of the middle class man caught as a victim of society
where the odds are against him, a has-been . As a victim he unwillingly suppressed
himself and his family in a web of lies and false pride. Although he never disco
vered his own ignorance and in the process took someone else, his death opened t
he window for Biff to see the real Willy. He had the wrong dreams. All, all, wro
ng. He then describes Willy to the point. He never knew who he was.
The metaphoric language used in the play is used mainly to advance its theme of
idealism versus reality. The metaphors illustrate the play s portrayal of economic
struggle and family instability. Furthermore, they can be classified what if meta
phors and what is metaphors.
A what if metaphor addresses the idealistic lives of the Lomans. Dreams are consta
ntly brought up by Biff who uses them to bring light to the fictitious and dreamy
lives the family is living. When talking to Willy Biff says, We ve been talking in
a dream for fifteen years. and later pleads with him to accept reality. Will you
take that phony dream and burn it before something happens? Seeds are associated
with Willy s desire to create something, especially out of youth (Biff and Happy)
and he often comments on planting them. Willy contemplates planting beet seeds i
n the garden. Maybe beets would grow out there. This creates an insightful respons
e from Linda. But you tried so many times. The seeds are representative of Willy s d
esire to grow his family into something; Linda s remark paints the fact that he ha
s failed. Right before his suicide, which brought the family much needed money,
Willy goes out to the backyard and begins to plant a garden.
A what is metaphor is exactly what it is, reality. The stockings represent Willy s u
nfaithfulness to his wife and the torment that it brings him to know that. Willy
snaps sharply at Linda when he sees her mending her stockings. I won t have you me
nding stockings in this house! Now throw them out! The sight of the stockings bri
ngs back memories of when Biff caught him cheating on his wife and found out tha
t Willy gave his mistress the expensive stockings he was supposed to give Linda
as a gift. The stockings then act as a symbol of Willy as a bad father and husba
nd. The name Loman or Low-Man is metaphoric in that it describes and isolates the
family at a low level social class.
The metaphoric language helps to distinguish the line between reality and ideali
sm, which is so often distorted. It lets the reader gain a better understanding
of the family s conflict with being something they re not in a place where they don t
belong.
For the most part Death of a Salesman does not conform to the structure of the c
lassic tragedy even though a few elements agree with the classic tragedy, namely
Willy s consistency and the Requiem as a Greek chorus. Among the main inconsisten
cies with the classic tragedy are the dialogue and character discrepancies.
The dialogue creates a link in the play to everyday occurrences that happen in o
ur own lives, separating it from the larger than life aspects of the classic trage
dy. The dialogue used in the play is everyday language; it is independent of the
poetic and high language used in classical tragedies. Instead of relying on hig
h language to advance the theme the play uses its banal dialogue to bring up cha
racter interactions that speak of the past, present and future to further the th
eme.
Willy and Biff are the play s two central characters and it can be seen that they
are the ones who Miller actively developed over the other lesser characters . Willy
and Biff s conflicting relationship effectively portrays the theme of appearance
versus reality as well as the economic and family struggles through their dialog
ue in past and present events. Willy puts their situation into context when he e
xclaims, I am Willy Loman, and you are Biff Loman! This statement reinforces the
fact that they are lost within their phony lives yet they don t seem to accept it.
The remaining characters act as support towards the conflict between Willy and
Biff in their own secondary roles by providing insight with their often brief and
rare dialogue. For example: Ben exemplifies Willy s desires in his afterlife throu
gh Willy s complete admiration of his success and confidence. Ben! That man was a g
enius, that man was success incarnate! Charley, a minor character who helped Wil
ly through his struggles addressed Willy s obsession with artificial success by te
lling Willy what kept him clear-minded. My salvation is that I never took any int
erest in anything.
Perhaps the most obvious departure from tradition is that Willy Loman is not of
noble stature and he doesn t fall from a great height as a tragic hero would. This
concept is very important, while viewing a classic tragedy the audience is to e
xperience a refreshing sense of human greatness and the potential it holds and,
with it, experience a catharsis. This would be due to the tragic hero s awe-inspir
ing downfall and the cosmic discovery he makes as a result of the acceptance of hi
s downfall. This scenario is not present in Death of a Salesman since the nature
of Willy s pitiful downfall does not evoke human greatness or potential.
Death of a Salesman clearly does not adhere to classic requirements yet it does
have some elements that point towards the classic tragedy. While these common el
ements can be portrayed in seemingly very different ways classic views are much
different than modern views. Willy Lowman could be a great human not in his nobl
e stature and spirit but in pure emotion and good intentions.
In Death of a Salesman fate and destiny are not depicted as they would be in a c
lassic tragedy with gods and oracles as a participating force in the tragic hero s
downfall. It is portrayed through foreshadowing in the character's dialogue in
a much more modern sense. After all, as a society we don t think the same as the
Greeks did and this particular play is about a man s failure in today s modern socie
ty.
Even though this play does not conform to traditional classic tragedy a pattern,
a preordained cycle revolving around the family can be seen, much like the fami
ly curse in Oedipus Rex. The name Loman is suggestive that the family will never
be high on the ladder just as the name Oedipus is suggestive that he will alway
s drag his past behind him. The family curse aspect can be seen in Ben and Happy
. Willy wants to become everything Ben is, rich and confident, but Ben is also d
ead. Willy s father went off to Alaska to find wealth but also ended up dead. In t
he Requiem , Happy vows to finish what his father started and therefore following i
n his footsteps, I m gonna show you and everybody else that Willy Loman did not die
in vain. He ends the proclamation with, I m gonna win it for him. Three people with
the same goal, economic success and freedom, with what can be assumed the same o
utcome, death. Alternatively, the story of David Singleman acts as an oracle in
the way that it foreshadows Willy s death, - and by the way he died the death of a
salesman.
Within the past, present and future actions of characters the effects of a preor
dained outcome are clearly visible. By looking at character relations and incorp
orating old techniques with more modern ones a dark pattern of design looms over
the Loman family.