Death of a Salesman

               “Death of a Salesman” is more than the title character, Willie Lomax. Willie Lomax had everything a man could ask for and he didn’t realize it until it was gone. He had a loving wife, two sons who idolized him. Willie was always reaching for more than he could achieve. There was no “rock bottom for Willie,” as his neighbor Charley comments. Willie’s definition of success was unrealistic and he bolsters his ego with past glories that might have existed or not. Willie is basically a shallow individual who cannot change and grow from his success and as well as his failures. He is the same man twenty years from his prime, imagining he is smarter, better looking and more successful than Charley. He has to live this fantasy or his life has no meaning.  It is a tough aspect of life that everyone grows old and life is not always fair.  A more self-actualized Willie would have accepted his faults and mistakes as well as his sons.        

               I guess I go back to the quote of Linda’s “attention must be paid.” Linda paid attention to Willie her whole married life. Acquiescing to Willie in a subservient manner and dealing with his abusive manner toward her. I saw an older version many years ago with Lee J Cobb as Willie and to me was more caustic and hateful toward Linda. It was as if Willie somehow blamed Linda for his failures. Linda was the character that represented reality. She accepted Willie for the man he was and not the legend.  She acknowledges his shortcomings but does not challenge him to change. She recognizes Willie’s fragile grip on reality.  At his gravesite she does not understand why Willie could not just be satisfied with fifty dollars a week.

               I really did not like Biff. I guess he was the protagonist in the play but I saw him as a stunted individual who wanted his cake and wanted to eat it too. He couldn’t forgive his father’s indiscretions and from their dialogue it was clear that this was like the elephant in the room that no one mentions. Biff runs away to work on the farm but he really running away from his hurt and disillusionment of his father.  Mature people comprehend that parents are people too and they make mistakes.

               Happy is like a chip off the old block. Neither parent expects much from Happy and he proofs them right. Talk about foreshadowing I predict Happy will be unsuccessful in marriage and in business.  He tries to say things his parents want to hear but do they really listen? If my son told me he was getting married. I don’t think I would have told him to go to bed.

               Charley and Bernard are the two mature self-realized individuals in the play. They both comprehend the tragedy of the disintegrating family and try to help them but in the end it wasn’t enough.