![]() ![]() Growing up, Biff received a lot of attention from his father. With another’s dreams imposed upon him, Biff cannot discover his own desires. The lack of his own dream has led Willy to self-destruction. The fact that there are very few people at his funeral proves how he has been living a false dream all his life and that his success was made up. He thinks that his suicide would prove to his sons that he’s worth something and is well-liked because of the many people that would attend his funeral. To Willy, the ultimate success of his dream would be to have a funeral like Dave Singleman’s. He has to convince himself of his success and that his dreams are right. However, his dreams start to take over his reality when Willy starts talking to himself to the point that “it’s getting embarrassing”. He has to prove to his sons that he’s good at what he does and tells his boys that he’s going to be “bigger than Uncle Charley!īecause Charley is not well-liked”. He would rather “borrow fifty dollars a week and pretend” it’s his salary than accept the fact that “there’s more of him in that front stoop than in all the sales he ever made”. Instead of accepting his talents and using them, he clings to the dream that one’s friends determine one’s success. In fact, Willy does not make a lot of sales and doesn’t have many friends, which makes him unhappy. Willy pretends that he’s good at his job and brags that he is known in all the cities he sells in. The combination of Dave Singleman’s popularity and Ben Loman’s success is what Willy thinks his father’s dream was for him. Willy liked the idea that Dave could “pick up the phone and be remembered and loved by so many different people”. He chooses the occupation of a salesman after meeting a man by the name of Dave Singleman. His lack of attention as a child causes Willy to create a world in which he pretends is well-liked. When his older brother, Ben, “walked into the jungle and out, at the age of twenty-one and he was rich”, Willy adopts him as a father figure because of his success. Since he wasn’t given any as a child, Willy develops dreams and expectations that his father might have had for him. Willy Loman’s father left him at a very young age. Willy is often led to failure through the creation of unrealistic dreams. By failing to discover one’s personal and realistic dreams, one cannot be truly happy with their life. Instead of finding his own key, he makes up a reality in which he pretends to be happy. Just as in the play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, Willy is trying to find happiness in someone else’s dream. So the dreams of someone else cannot bring one happiness. The wrong key will not open the lock no matter how hard one tries. However, a lock will only unlock with one key. To unlock one’s happiness, one must find the right key. ![]() Willy has found the order he desires, and he can keep it if he just remains in this moment in time.The key to happiness is often unveiled by our dreams. Imminent greatness, along with the fact that Biff respects him as a loving father and authority figure, works to create an ideal fantasy. As his son prepares for the Ebbet's Field game, Biff symbolizes the greatness Willy still believes is possible to achieve. Rather than dwell on the idea that he is a failure, Willy then goes back to his favorite memories of Biff. He is forced to acknowledge that he gave up his one opportunity for great success. First he goes to Ben for solace, but that does not work. This prompts the memory merry-go-round that Willy is on during Scenes 3 and 4. Now having lost his job, he is in a difficult situation because he will be forced to admit failure to Linda and the boys. He has been unhappy with his lack of success, but he could cope with that by exaggerating his sales and focusing on better times. He is moving directly from one memory to the next in a desperate attempt to deny the present and create order from his disordered life. Willy is free falling into his memories of the past. Charley comes over, pretending he is unaware that today is Biff's game. Biff plans to score a touchdown for Willy. Willy frantically searches for the pennants while Happy and Bernard argue over who will carry Biff's football helmet. Willy, Linda, and Happy are preparing to go to Ebbet's Field, to watch Biff play football.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |