Willy met Dave Singleman, and he became the reason why Willy became a Salesman himself. Seeing how Dave got respect, he was admired and loved; Willy believed that ‘selling was the greatest career a man could want.’ Willy had always believed in the American Dream. He thought that if he became a salesman like Dave Singleman then he would achieve his own American Dream. The ironic thing is that at the age of eighty – four, Dave was still remembered and still earned a living, however, Willy, being in his sixties is finding it hard to cope. Willy dreams of having a funeral like Dave Singleman’s, ‘hundreds of salesman and buyers were at his funeral.’ The
Irony is that no one turned up to Willys, as we found out in the requiem. This means that Willy has failed in achieving his ‘dream’.
Throughout the play we find out more about the relationship that Willy has with his two sons, Biff and Happy. As Biff was the first born, he has always been the most important son to Willy. This comes across the audience as so because whenever Happy tries to tell him something ‘I lost weight, pop, you notice? Willy disregards it and moves on to the next topic. As the ‘boys’ grew up, Willy gave them mixed messages. On page 17 when Willy found out that Biff stole the ‘regulation ball’ he firstly said ‘I want you to return that’ but then he contradicts himself and says ‘Coach’ll probably congratulate you on your initiative.’ As we find out Biff had been in jail (page 101) for stealing a suit, this could be in conjunction with how Willy never told Biff and Happy right from wrong. He believed that to succeed you had to be ‘well liked’ although we find out that this doesn’t lead Biff anywhere. Willy’s has always encouraged Biff with sport, the ebbets field game is what Willy believed to be the start of Biff’s success however it was the end as shortly after the crisis in the Boston hotel room occurred, and it was a huge turning point for Biff and Willy’s relationship. Ever since the day that Biff caught his father with ‘the woman’, Biff’s idolizing of his father ends. Before Biff saw the woman in the hotel room he is asking his father to talk to his maths tutor ‘Birnbaum’ in order to pass maths. This shows the audience how much faith he has in Willy at this point. All that is ruined when he see’s ‘the woman’ for the first time. She says ‘Where’s my stockings? You promised me stocking’s Willy!’ The stockings symbolize a sexual proposition and they would have been expensive, the scene is now at its dramatic climax as Willy now would feel guilt as Linda has to mend her stockings and he I spending money on ‘ the woman’. Biff is shocked and is ‘motionless’, he shouts at his father ‘You fake! You phoney little fake! You fake!’ This is harsh language that Biff uses, on the other hand all the trust and loyalty that Biff had for Will has now been destroyed and it is a huge turning point for Biff, therefore the audience can see why Biff reacted the way he did. This is the first time that we finally find out about what went wrong in their relationship. Miller creates a scene which is full of tension, especially because he left it so late on in the play for us to discover.
Howard Wagner and his family represent ‘success’ in this play. The ‘Wagner’ family seem to be the opposite of the ‘Loman’ family. Howard Wagner is the same age as Biff, and he reminds Willy of Biffs failure, and
Willy’s failure as a father. When Willy goes to see Howard in order for help, Howard is demeaning towards Willy he calls him ‘kid’. This is insulting towards Willy as Willy is older than Howard and you are meant to show respect to those who are older, in spite of this, the power has been reversed into Howard’s hands. Willy tries to sway Howard by telling him stories of his father. ‘Your father came to me the day you were born and asked me what I thought of the name of Howard.’ However Howard’s answer is still no. We are introduced to Howard’s children in this scene. Howard shows pride in his son naming the capitals of countries ‘The capital of Alabama is Montgomery; the capital of Arizona is Phoenix...’
This is using new technology, which Willy is clueless about; the ‘new technology’ could be a metaphor for Willy as Willy always seems to be taken over by new technology (i.e. fridge) just like the tape recorder kept interrupting him. Howard and his family are comfortable, on page 55 Howard says ‘…The maid kicked the plug out!’ This is a life which Willy dreams of as Linda has to ‘scrub the floors’ and ‘mend the stockings’.
Charley and Bernard are also a success, Bernard did well at school, unlike Biff and this becomes clear later on in the play. Willy calls Bernard ‘anaemic’ when all that Bernard tried to do was help Biff and warn him. Willy also insulted Charlie, he has seemed to be an ‘ignoramus’ even though he had been a good father to Bernard, also later on in the play Willy tells Charley ‘ ‘you’re the only friend I got.’ This means that he has realised that Charley wants to help him, however Willy had too much pride in order to accept the job offered by charley ‘I am offering you a job’. In contrast with Biff, Bernard has a clear view of life and what he wants to do. As Willy believes that in order to be a success, you have to be ‘well liked’, said on page 20 that ‘Bernard is not well liked, is he?’ He must have been unsure of the answer in order to have asked the question. Nonetheless Willy is wrong with his assumptions, as Bernard has done well in life and is a success. Willy meets Bernard in Charley’s office, he talked to Bernard about Biff and his failure, Willy is confronted with his fears, Bernard says that he changed when he came back from Boston; this is dramatic as we all know why, but Bernard doesn’t.
To conclude, the relationships between father and son are extremely important as they explore the cultural differences. Male dominance is seen throughout this play and it becomes clear that the job of the father is to show the son how to be a man, and in some cases, how to be a success.
Emily Ingoldby, 10A