Respond to one or more of the following questions over Act I of Death of a Salesman. Here are the requirements:
1. You must POST TWICE
2. Posts must be SUBSTANTIVE
3. At least one post must be IN RESPONSE TO THE POST OF A CLASSMATE.
4. The two posts are due by Monday, March 2 at 7:40 a.m.
5. At least ONE POST must be made BEFORE Sunday, March 1.
6. You must use specific examples from the play in each post.
Here are the possible questions:
**What do you think of the characters in the play? You may focus on one character or discuss more than one.
**Discuss/analyze Willy's relationships with his sons. What stands out to you the most about his interactions with them?
**Why do you think Miller includes all the flashbacks in the play? What is their significance on the reading/understanding of the play as a whole?
**What kind of person is Linda? Discuss her relationship with Willy. Would you consider her to be a "good wife?" Why or why not?
** What are some of the quotes in the play that stand out to you (These may or may not be quotes we've already discussed). Why do you find them significant?
**What other aspects of the play do you find discussion-worthy? Explain why.
26 comments:
I think the flashbacks signify Willy's longing for everything to be perfect, maybe like it once was. I think the flashbacks Willy encounters shows his version of the "American Dream". Instead of living life the way it truly is, it's easier for him to visualize his live as living the "American Dream" through his flashbacks. Also, i think Miller put flashbacks in this play to signify that the "American Dream" is often a DREAM and people spend most of their lives dreaming of capturing it, though it is often never caught. I think the significance of the flashbacks puts in perspective that living your life by the "American Dream" can give you a distorted view of life and what it's truly about.
Linda seems to be a typical "molded" wife of the American Dream. She cleans the house, takes care of the children, and does other household chores. Linda believes that the American Dreams is owning material goods without being in debt. She keeps track of all the payments when Willy brings home his paycheck. Many people think Linda is not a good wife, because she does not confront Willy with his problems. She just listens to his lies and tells him that he is doing great.I disagree with this. I feel that Linda is the only emotionally stable person in the household and cares deeply for her family. She is the most levelheaded person in the play and does not let Willy's emotional breakdowns destroy her own. For these reasons, I feel that Linda is a strong person and a great wife.
I found it interesting the way Willy kept contradicting himself. For example, he called Biff a lazy bum, then later said, "There's one thing about Biff: he's not lazy." Also, he says Chevrolet is the greatest car ever made, then later basically calls it a piece of junk. This might be due to whatever is causing his flashbacks and talking to himself, but I'm wondering if it's because he really knows the truth. We talked about how Biff is the one in the play who most lives in reality, but maybe Willy really does realize what is going on, he just chooses to ignore it.
i agree with Tamara about how the dreams that willy are having seem to signify the American Dream. It seems that Willy longs for the "American Dream". But he will never have it because there is no American Dream.
I think that Biff seems to be the only sane one in the family. He doesn't seem to care about what society thinks he should do but rather follows what he believes he was meant to. He knows that a guy like himself wasn't meant to work in an office but rather outdoors, with his own hands. Willy is like Biff in the sense that he wasn't meant to work in office. But unlike Biff, Willy seems to shy away from what he is meant for and does what society thinks he should, which is to be in pursuit of the illusive "American Dream".
Willy's relationship differs between his sons. He used to be very loving towards Biff, and even in the present he shows affection for his son when Biff isn't acting angry towards him. Obviously the flashbacks portray his affection towards Biff back in the days, and when Willy is giving Biff pointers on the interview/chat towards the end of Act I, it also shows his love. Willy kind of dismisses Happy. Happy says all kinds of things - "I'm losing weight" and "I'm getting married" - to gain his father's attention, yet it is always directied towards Biff.
I would also say that while Biff does seem to hate his father so much because of the affair, he obviously does love him somewhat because he takes away the rubber pipe that Willy was contemplating using to kill himself.
I think Willy's sons are interesting characters. Biff is so used to being worshiped by his father that it is weird for his father to be getting on him about some things. Willy always thought that Biff would get some where in life because of his attractiveness, but so far it hasn't gotten him far. Biff seems to be confused be his whole life. Happy has always wanted to impress his father, it seemed to me that so far he has a little more possibilities than Biff. These brothers are interesting characters because of the ways they are trying to live the American dream and make their father happy.
I like Tamara's comments about the "distorted" view of the American Dream as shown in the flashbacks. Was Willy's life really that perfect back then, or is that only the way he perceives it.
I also found Rachel's comments about Linda very interesting. She is one of the key characters, yet so far Rachel is the only one who has mentioned her. Usually people have strong reactions, either positively or negatively about Linda. Rachel says "Linda is the only emotionally stable person in the household."
What do others think about Linda?
Lauren mentioned that fact that deep down, Biff really seems to love his father based on his removal of the rubber tubing. What do others think? Does he do this for Willy or for Linda or just out of a sense of duty? The relationship between Biff and Willy is KEY to the play. What are some other observations about this?
Overall, the comments so far have been very thoughtful and substantive. Keep it up!
I agree with Rachel's comment about Linda. It really ties in with my representation of the American Dream, “Stepford Wives." They cook, clean, and are blind to everything else around them. The only difference is that Linda makes the choice to be blind to all of it because she doesn't want to "insult" her husband. I don't think she is a bad wife, but I don't think she should leave his condition left alone. She says that she finds a pipe that he's going to kill himself with, but she doesn't do anything about it. I think she would be a better wife if she found some way to help him.
Question for anyone: What is the biggest contribution to Willy's contemplation of suicide? Also, I found it interesting that Willy Loman's last name is pronounced, "low man".
Tyler, that's a good question, I wondered the same thing. Maybe it's his guilt for the affair and what it did to his relationship with Biff and Linda. Obviously he and Biff had a great relationship before the affair, and he must know that it is the reason Biff is not so fond of him now. And maybe he realizes how much Linda cares for him and would do anything for him, only to have him cheat on her.
I'm curious to see what anyone else thinks, because that's a good question.
I agree with Tamara. All of Willy's flashbacks seem to be to times in the past when everything was as it should be to him. In all of his flashbacks he seemed to have a close bond with his sons and everything seemed to be making it happy. It seems that his constant contemplation with taking his life is causing him to flashback to a time when this wasn't even a thought to him. I also feel that a majority of Willy's problems come from his extremely distorted view of the American Dream. He believes that success is a material thing and you must be well liked in order to achieve it. I believe that if Willy appreciated what he has (a family, a job, a house, etc.) and stopped wanting more in the sense of popularity and material objects, he would be a happier person and he most likely would not be contemplating life.
In response to Tyler's question, i believe Linda, Biff, Willy's job, and the "American Dream" contribute to his thoughts of suicide. I agree with Sarah when she said that, because Biff is angry with Willy after the affair and Willy realizes what a good wife Linda is after cheating on her, these were factors in Willy's contemplation of suicide. I also think his stressful job is a factor. He went into a job that he's not especially good at instead of doing construction work, so obviously this would make him feel badly about himself. I think the biggest contributor, which involves the above factors, is his distorted view of the American Dream. He wanted to give his family everything, yet his oldest son is a "lazy bum", he cheated on his wife, and he is no good at his job. In my opinion, this depressed him and eventually caused him to question himself and his life.
The behavior of Linda definitely seems to invite disagreement. The way she acts around Willy could be viewed both as consoling (because she seems to do everything in her power to comfort Willy) and unhelpful (because she never gives Willy any kind of blunt advice that, while it may upset him, might improve his lifestyle). She treats Willy as if he is uncapable of change, like she is just trying to make life for him as tolerable as possible.
I think the best way to determine whether or not she is behaving as a good wife is to ask a question: if Linda was to offer Willy the aforementioned kind of blunt-advice-that-may-upset-him, would Willy use it? Could/Would he change?
Personally, I'm undecided. Anyone have any input?
Tyler,
I, too, think you asked a really good question worthy of condsideration. What you're asking is basically the main theme of the play which is "what are the main contributors to Willy's downfall?"
I also like Lauren's, Sarah's, and Kaity's responses to your questions. Very thoughtful.
Actually, Kaity responded to both Tyler's question and Tamara's discussion of flashback. I like the flashback discussion as well. It's a very important part of the play and makes it seem, as you point out, that everything was so much happier then.
Do you think it really WAS happier or does he just remember it that way.
It seems that the affair, Biff's discovery of who his father "really" was, and the boys' failures in adulthood (in addition to Willy becoming less valuable to his workplace) has contributed to Willy's undoing.
You guys' posts are outstanding. You are getting very good at pulling supporting evidence out of the text. Yeah!!!!
Wes,
you posted while I was posting, so I didn't see your question at first.
Another good one. If Linda was honest with Willy, would it make any difference? Is he capable of taking anyone's advice, or is he so stubborn that her truth-telling wouldn't have mattered anyway?
I am interested in responses to your question.
In response to Tyler's question, I think that Willy's dishonesty in the play brought his downfall. He has lied about his affair, his job success, and his attempts at suicide. I feel that Willy is also lying to himself. He knows deep down that he hates his job, his son is a lazy bum that will never make anything of himself, and that he will never have his version of the American Dream. Willy is laying in a bed of lies that he cannot handle. I also think Willy's fascination with the past adds to his depression. He regrets not going into business with Uncle Ben, he regrets how he raised his sons and he regrets cheating on his wife.
I don't think it would make much of a difference if Linda was honest with Willy. Everytime she tries to say anything it seems that he is trying to hush her up. Like with Happy and Biff are discussing their business ideas he yells at her. I think that would be the same situation. But atleast his situation wouldn't go unnoticed like he thinks it is.
I think Linda is a bad wife in some ways. She knows that Willy has thoughts of killing himself but she doesnt do anything to stop him. She takes his rubber hose during the day but puts it back at night. She listens to Willy lie constantly about his successes in the business world and knows he is lieing but still goes along with it giving Willy a sense of false confidence.
I looked at Sparknotes's 'themes' page for more information regarding Tyler's question. It seems like all of the themes listed-The American Dream, Abandonment, Betrayal- would be reasons for Willy's suicide attempts. But I think the biggest reason is the psychological deterioration that accompanies his inability to "accept the disparity between the Dream and his own life."
For the majority play, Willy is unable to see (or at least unable to bridge) the fissure between his life and the ideal life of the American Dream. He can't accept that he has failed to achieve his goals; this pushes him to the precipice of mental derangement and drives him to attempt suicide.
Very good responses everyone. I think all of these factors contributed. I think that Willy's job explains why he talks to himself and seems to be, at times, delusional. The long car rides with no one to talk to can be lonely. As for the rubber pipe, the failure to live the "American Dream" and having a poor relationship with his son could provide a few reasons. The unfaithful acts toward his wife also put a load on his chest.
Of all the characters that we have read about in our stories Willy I feel the worst for. Life has not gone as he had hoped and he has been reduced to walking around talking to himself late at night. His views on how to be successful in the world were and still are completley wrong, and rather than deal with that he just lies about everything and contradicts himself over and over. So Willy is a very troubled individual whose life didn't pan out the way he thought it would, and to deal with that he has become a compulsive liar.
I agree with Shawn. Linda is probably the worst person that Willy needs right n now. Willy needs to be told the truth even if it is easier to just go along with him. She is enabling him to continue his lifestyle of lies, and suicidal thoughts.
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