Death of a Salesman - Act 1
Willy praises and then curses the Chevrolet; he tells Linda that he's very well liked, and then says that people don't seem to take to him. What do these inconsistencies tell us about Willy?
Simply, Willie has a distorted sense of reality. His belief systems are often based on his manic mood swings and his distorted version of the American dream.
Why is Willy home? Why is Linda alarmed that he's home?
He says that he is too tired to finish his trip. He says he was falling asleep and swerving off the road. Linda is worried about Willie in general. She thinks he works too hard and should not be traveling any more. She attributes Willie's swerving to bad steering in the car. She is also worried that he has smashed up the car again when he first returns.
Why is Willy annoyed at Biff? How does he describe biff? What does this tell us about Willy?
Willy is annoyed that Biff is not putting his talent, looks and personality, to use to make money. He describes Biff as lazy then just a few sentences later says that one thing about Biff is that he is not lazy. We learn about Willy's slipping grasp of reality, as he will continuously mix the past with the present. It lets us know that Willy is living vicariously through his sons. He did not achieve his own goals and he hopes that his sons will use the values that he holds dear and has instilled in them to become successful, thus validating his own superficial views on life and success.
Why does Charley visit? How does he feel about Willy? How and why do they insult each other?
1) He comes over to play cards; however, he does this because he could hear that Willy is about to have a mental fit and decides that whenever Willy becomes like this, Charley comes over to help ease Willy. 2) He cares about Willy and wants to help him; he offers him a job. 3) Willy starts the insult session. He's humiliated and insulted that Charley would offer him a job. They insult each other over nonsense. "Willy asks Charley why Biff is going back to Texas, but Charley tells him to let Biff go. Willy talks about the ceiling he put up in the living room, but refuses to give any details. When Charley wonders how he could put up a ceiling, Willy shouts at him that a man who can't handle tools is not a man, and calls Charley disgusting. "
"Five hundred gross in Providence" becomes "roughly two hundred gross on the whole trip." How does Linda take Willy's stories? What does this reveal about her? Why does Willy make a fuss about Linda's mending stockings? How is this important to the play?
1) Her neglect in confronting her Willy when he brags, "I did five hundred gross in Providence and seven hundred gross in Boston"(35), especially when she's smart enough to realize that the gross for the trip is actually two hundred, shows that Linda is attempting to protect Willy from himself. She sees what's going on, but she refuses to call him on it. Is this her weakness as a partner? Maybe, but the fact that he lies is one thing; the fact that she goes alog with it in order to save his pride is another. Linda enables him rather than helps him. 2) Willy becomes angry with Linda when she's mending stocking because, he's reminded of when he gave stockings to the "Other Woman" and Biff asked why he was giving away mom's stockings. Willy wants to start new and not have stuff mended. He wants to give Linda new stockings, so he's not reminded of the past. This is important because we get a glimpse into the Willy who wants to KEEP what he has; he doesn't want to lose his wife, but yet he doesn't want to fess up to his mistakes.
What does Linda think is the trouble with Willy's life? Why is she angry at her sons? Why does she put the rubber hose back after she had taken it? What does this tell about her?
1) Linda thinks that all of Willy's problems/troubles will be solved if he thinks he's accomplished something by making his sons successful. His feeling like a failure, in her mind, is the trouble with Willy's life. 2) She's angry because they don't care about their father and make him feel unwanted. 3) Linda puts the hose back because she wants Willy to take the hose off himself. To confront him with the hose would be to insult him and his sense of pride. This act shows how compassionate she is; she watches and knows what will best help her husband.
How does Linda treat Willy? How do the boys feel about him? Is Biff trying yo spite Willy? Why does Biff come home in the spring?
1) Linda treats Willy like he's another child. --> she tries to boost his ego and provide confidence in him 2) When the boys were younger, Willy placed many of his dreams into his son Biff. He looked at Biff's athletic abilities and probably lived his dreams through Biff's accomplishments. He was on the road often as a salesman but went his sporting events when he could. Willy's relationship with Happy was very different. Happy was often overlooked. He loved his father and would do anything to seek out his approval and attention such as bringing it to his attention that he had lost some weight. He continues to seek his father's approval even as an adult. Willy's relationship with Biff is crushed once Biff catches his father in the hotel room with a female that is not his mother. He sees that Willy has given her the stockings intended for his mother. This sets Biff back emotionally and places a wedge between his relationship with his father. 3) Unintentionally yes, after witnessing Willy cheating, Biff unconsciously rebelled against his father's hopes and dreams for Biff. Biff did this by not trying to be liked by everybody, doesn't finish school, and doesn't try to have an ambitious dream. 4) Biff comes home in between the time he spends working as a farmhand.
Why is Willy interested when Biff mentions Bill Oliver? Why do they argue? How does Happy try to capture attention?
1) Willy thinks that Bill Oliver can fund Biff's proposed sporting goods store, and give his some a chance at a career and some direction in his life. 2) Biff and Happy are talking with Linda about Willy. Biff and Happy learn that Willy is on straight commission and has been borrowing money from Charley in order to pay bills. Linda criticizes her sons for abandoning their father in order to pursue their own selfish desires, and she gives Biff a choice: Respect your father or do not come home. Biff decides to stay in New York, but he reminds Linda that Willy threw him out of the house. He also tells Linda that Willy is a "fake." It is at this point that Linda informs her sons that Willy is suicidal; Willy overhears his wife and sons talking, and he and Biff argue. 3) Happy describes Biff's plan to open his own business
What does Willy's reaction to Biff's theft of the football tell us about Willy? He says the boys look like Adonises. What other clues show that Willy believes in appearances?
Adonis was a Greek demigod who was considered the most handsome of all the gods. He was a model of perfection and unattainability. In saying that his sons look like Adonises, he is saying that they are perfect models of, in his case and in the context of the themes of this play, the American Dream because they have reached such perfection through their abilities. Most parents would scold their sons for theft of any kind, but Willy's reaction is quite the opposite, instead taking pride in his sons abilities and perfection.
Who is Ben? Why does Ben appear? What does Willy think about the future? About the past? What does Ben teach Biff? Why does Willy feel "kind of temporary" about himself and want Ben to stay?
Ben is Willy's adventurous and lucky older brother. Of course, he's dead, so he only appears in the play as a character in Willy's troubled imagination. Willy totally idolizes Ben because he was an adventurer who escaped the world of business and got rich quick by finding diamonds in the African jungle. One of Willy's lifelong regrets is that he didn't go with his brother to Alaska. Unlike Willy, Ben was able to take a risk and stray from the world of fierce ambition and competition. Willy interprets Ben's good fortune as undeniable proof that his dreams of making it big are realistic. Willy also associates Ben with knowledge and self-awareness, qualities that he himself is severely lacking. Willy always wants advice, and Ben gives it. Of course, it's frequently not very good advice, and, actually and is usually the product of Willy's own imagination. In his imagined conversations with his brother, Willy pries him for information about their father, about how he succeeded financially, and for advice about parenting Biff and Happy. It's hard to talk about Ben and his responses to these pleas, since he is either a memory of the past or a figment of the imagination. And, with Willy's complete lack of credibility, it's hard to tell even these apart. But one thing we can take as true with reasonable confidence is the scene where Ben fights Biff. Ben wins, but only by cheating, informing the boy that that's the only way to win. There's some sketchiness surrounding his success in Africa (we're thinking he wasn't just handed the diamonds and sent along his way). He even says, in Willy's imaginings, "The jungle is dark but full of diamonds." That's big stuff right there. Considering Ben's self-serving nature and amoral proclivities, the word "dark" connotes more than just shadows under the trees. We're not going so far as to say words like "evil" or "Darth Vader," but Ben's success is certainly blemished by his apparent use of cheating to get what he wants.
Why won't Happy go out West with Biff, and why won't Biff stay? Why doesn't either son get married and settle down?
The answers to both questions lie in the complicated relationships between sons and father. Happy, as the younger son, has grown up in Biff's shadow. He feels a deep-seated need to prove himself to his father. Hence, he won't go west until he can achieve his father's approval. Biff can't stay because he has no respect for Willy. Ever since he discovered his father's affair years ago, Biff harbors a hatred and disgust for his father which often erupts in anger. It also leaves him unable to be satisfied in any job or location for very long: thus, his restless wandering. The second question is a bit more difficult to answer, but falls under the same reasons as the first. While we can't really answer why someone doesn't get married (I mean, it's not like one can walk up to a stranger and marry instantly), we can trace the problems in Biff and Happy's relationships. Happy is a notorious adulterer and womanizer. Biff never mentions a girlfriend, and seems uncomfortable with the idea. Both of these problems trace back to Willy's relationship with Linda. The sons have seen their mother bullied, emotionally abused, and ignored their entire lives. Biff also knows his father has cheated on his mother. So there's definitely unresolved issues in dealing with their parents' relationship. This is the most likely reason that Happy and Biff cannot "settle down".
How has the neighborhood changed? Why does it matter to the story that his surroundings are no longer the way they used to be?
The neighborhood use to be more open, with space and trees and a good view. The houses were new and well kept. This represents the ideal of the American dream. Since then, the neighborhood has decayed, Willie's house in particular. Willie's dream has died, just like the neighborhood. Willie is also all about the style over substance. The decaying neighborhood illustrates just how faulty that thinking is.
How does Willy act toward the boys when they are young? How do they act toward him? How does Willy feel about Charley and Bernard?
When the boys were younger Willy placed many of his dreams into his son Biff. He looked at Biff's athletic abilities and probably lived his dreams through Biff's accomplishments. He was on the road often as a salesman but went his sporting events when he could. Willy's relationship with Happy was very different. Happy was often overlooked. He loved his father and would do anything to seek out his approval and attention such as bringing it to his attention that he had lost some weight. He continues to seek his father's approval even as an adult. Willy's relationship with Biff is crushed once Biff catches his father in the hotel room with a female that is not his mother. He sees that Willy has given her the stockings intended for his mother. This sets Biff back emotionally and places a wedge between his relationship with his father. Willy respected Charley later in his life, as he often asked for money from him; however, before, Willy did not believe that Charley or his son Bernard had what it took to be successful. Willy also went to Bernard to ask him to help "tutor" Biff, which means that on some level Willy respected Bernard as well.
