" Linda: He loves you Willy!
Happy: (deeply moved). Always did, Pop.
Willy: Oh Biff! (Staring wildly) He cried! Cried to me. (He is choking with his love, and now cries out his promise.) That boy- that boy is going to be magnificent! (Ben appears in the light just outside the kitchen.)
Ben: Yes, outstanding, with twenty thousand behind him!"
This is the point in the novel where Willy officially decides to kill himself. At this point he realizes that Biff actually loves him. He realizes that Biff doesn't hate him for the affair. Willy finally releases himself from the guilt he feels for the affair, and for sending Biff down the path that he has been traveling on since that night. Biff accepts that his failure is his problem, not Willy's. So Willy decides that with his new knowledge that he can better help his son by killing himself, he can give his son one last gift, knowing that Biff will take responsibility from now on. Does this make Willy a tragic hero? Or is he a seriously misguided crazy person talking to visions and living in the past?
First of all, I hate Willy. And I hate this Ben character that keeps showing up and rattling on about Alaska and the diamonds in the African jungle. They both have this shared sense of fame and fortune and both count a man's worth in money and how well the man is liked. One doesn't simply walk into a jungle at seventeen then walk out rich at twenty one, that's baloney. And even if he did, would that make him happy? The both of them keep pushing this concept of 'making your fortune' on Biff as if living a happy life isn't enough, you must be rich and like also. This is certainly a flaw, but I don't see how it is tragic, since a tragic flaw is usually a good quality that goes awry. This flaw is already awry.
But Willy sacrifices his own life to offer his son one last chance to make a life. Is that selfish? Or is it heroic? And is Biff even grateful? Wouldn't a son rather have his father alive, even if it meant less money?
I can't tell. My prejudice makes me think he's a tragic failure, but that's just me.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Guilty Conscience: Climax
" 'Now listen pal, she's just a buyer. She sees merchandise in her room and they have to keep it looking just so... Now stop crying and do as I say. I gave you an order. Biff, I gave you an order! Is that what you do when I give you an order? How dare you cry! (Putting his arm around Biff) Now look, Biff, when you grow up you'll understand about these things. You mustn't- you mustn't overemphasize a thing like this. I'll see Birnbaum first thing in the morning.' Biff: 'Nevermind' ". pg 1617
This is the clear climax of the story. All the characters have been lead by varying degrees and occasions of failure to this point. Willy lost his job, his faith in the worth of life, and his sanity. Biff realized he can't get a job with Oliver and has nowhere to go. Happy has yet to settle down. And Linda just waits around for all of them to find their happiness. They meet at the restaurant after traveling all these paths of failure and it all explodes in one more flashback to where it all started. The scene above is the source of the tension between Biff and Willy, at last it is revealed. Willy is guilty because Biff found out about his unfaithfulness to Linda. Since then, Biff has been nothing but a restless failure, which further intensifies the blame Willy feels that his infidelity caused this pattern to start.
The fact that Willy tries to cover up his infidelity with a story of salesman's life is significant. She may even be an actual buyer, the story Willy spins could even be true. But when you're on the road, selling, selling, selling, seeing only the monetary pleasure in each item, you can lose you're center and do things such as cheat on a wife that is more than you could ever ask for. The life of a salesman can have painful side affects.
This is the clear climax of the story. All the characters have been lead by varying degrees and occasions of failure to this point. Willy lost his job, his faith in the worth of life, and his sanity. Biff realized he can't get a job with Oliver and has nowhere to go. Happy has yet to settle down. And Linda just waits around for all of them to find their happiness. They meet at the restaurant after traveling all these paths of failure and it all explodes in one more flashback to where it all started. The scene above is the source of the tension between Biff and Willy, at last it is revealed. Willy is guilty because Biff found out about his unfaithfulness to Linda. Since then, Biff has been nothing but a restless failure, which further intensifies the blame Willy feels that his infidelity caused this pattern to start.
The fact that Willy tries to cover up his infidelity with a story of salesman's life is significant. She may even be an actual buyer, the story Willy spins could even be true. But when you're on the road, selling, selling, selling, seeing only the monetary pleasure in each item, you can lose you're center and do things such as cheat on a wife that is more than you could ever ask for. The life of a salesman can have painful side affects.
Salesmanship
"Charlie: 'Willy, when're you gonna realize that them things don't mean anything? You named him Howard, but you can't sell that. The only thing you got in this world is what you can sell. And the funny thing is that you're a salesman, and you don't know that.' " pg 1602
A common theme circulation throughout all acts of "Death of a Salesman" is the concept of worth and how it factors into life as a salesman. Willy spends a lot of his time complaining about how appliances such as fridges and cars that he thought he just bought were already falling apart. Willy thinks that things that cost money should be expected to last. However, Willy also believes in things that don't cost money. This fact is revealed about Willy in the scene above where Charlie is quoted. Unfortunately, in this scene is dispossessed of this idea, the idea that even things you can't buy with money still have worth. Until know, the audience can assume one of the reasons Willy hasn't killed managed to kill himself yet is that he knows that he still has worth alive, no matter how he might feel the opposite is true sometimes. Just a few lines after Charlie utters this speech, Willy reflects on how since he paid his insurance, he is worth more dead than alive. Charlie tries to undo the damage his quote unintentionally did, but he can't. Willy kills himself later that night.
Willy's realization in this scene is a depressingly tragic theme that questions the concept of worth and where it truly lies. Especially in the life of a salesman, worth can be confusing and get muddled up with all the quotas and dollar signs that involved in the life of a salesman. The life was so hard on Willy that his final sale ended up being his own life.
A common theme circulation throughout all acts of "Death of a Salesman" is the concept of worth and how it factors into life as a salesman. Willy spends a lot of his time complaining about how appliances such as fridges and cars that he thought he just bought were already falling apart. Willy thinks that things that cost money should be expected to last. However, Willy also believes in things that don't cost money. This fact is revealed about Willy in the scene above where Charlie is quoted. Unfortunately, in this scene is dispossessed of this idea, the idea that even things you can't buy with money still have worth. Until know, the audience can assume one of the reasons Willy hasn't killed managed to kill himself yet is that he knows that he still has worth alive, no matter how he might feel the opposite is true sometimes. Just a few lines after Charlie utters this speech, Willy reflects on how since he paid his insurance, he is worth more dead than alive. Charlie tries to undo the damage his quote unintentionally did, but he can't. Willy kills himself later that night.
Willy's realization in this scene is a depressingly tragic theme that questions the concept of worth and where it truly lies. Especially in the life of a salesman, worth can be confusing and get muddled up with all the quotas and dollar signs that involved in the life of a salesman. The life was so hard on Willy that his final sale ended up being his own life.
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