You fake! You phony little fake! You fake!Question 6 on pg. 1631 asks about the characters' interactions. First, Willy has a different effect on each of his sons. He's always paid most attention to Biff, so Happy was a bit neglected. He lived in Biff's shadow, so now he tries to be the good son. He tries to fulfill his father's wishes so Willy will show him that attention. Biff, on the other hand, does not care about his father's wishes anymore. Unlike Happy, he knows of the affair; his image of this perfect father was shattered (as seen in the above quote). For Willy, his sons have been the focus of his life; I think he is trying to live out his dreams through them.
Linda has often been called the perfect wife, but I would disagree. While she is very patient with everyone and continues to love and care for Willy even when he becomes a bit insane, she doesn't take any action when she finds out Willy is trying to kill himself. She doesn't go to anyone for help; she doesn't even tell Willy that she knows. She just does nothing.
I think one of the most important characters in the play is Ben because his "success" is the catalyst for Willy's depression. I put success in quotes because we don't know if he was truly successful or not; however, Ben is successful in Willy's mind, and that's what matters more. When Willy thinks of Ben's success, he regrets not going with Ben. He is reminded of his own failures.
Charley and Bernard serve as foils to the Loman men in my opinion. They work hard and place value on intelligence. Charley pushed Bernard to work in school, and now he's a successful lawyer. Willy pushed his kids to be charming and taught that everything would be given to them. He didn't teach them to work for anything.
Until Next Time,
Alysse
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