Willy Loman
Death of a Salesman is Willy’s play. Everything revolves around his actions during the last 24 hours of his life. All of the characters act in response to Willy, whether in the present or in Willy’s recollection of the past. Willy’s character, emotions, motivations, and destiny are developed through his interactions with others. The problem arises, however, because Willy reacts to characters in the present, while simultaneously responding to different characters and different situations in the past. The result is Willy’s trademark behavior: contradictory, somewhat angry, and often obsessive.
Willy Loman was host to many flaws and deficiencies ranging orm suicidal tendencies to phychotic disorders. However, these shortcomings did not account for his tragic end, not by themselves anyway. Soviety is to blame. It was society who stripped him of his dignity, piece by piece. It was society who stripped him of his lifestyle, and his own sons who stripped him of hope. The most obvious flaw in society is greed, the desire to get ahead of the next guy. This malady is present on a national level. Read more
