Willy Loman  by Christine
     Old Man in Sorrow,1882
          Vincent Van Gogh
From the beginning till the end of the story, we can easily see that kind of person Willy was. There are many examples of that.
In the beginning of the story, we can see that he doesn't know himself quiet well. For example, he always complained that Biff didn't know himself, and he couldn't find his own way. But actually, we have already known who was the real one that didn't know him well. Willy always thought that what he planned for his children were the best one. However, after his children grown up, they knew what was good for them. Of course, Happy and Biff knew what they should do. What they needed was only "time." However, Willy wanted to see their achievements. So that he kept continuing press them. In this way, Biff and Happy don't want to be close to him.
During the conversation between he and Linda, we know that he was a person who would often sink into memories easily. For example, after Linda first time left him and he was alone, he started to talk to his "memories." He talked to Biff and Happy's childhood. He started to think their cute and vivid activities when they were in high school. Actually, he was proud of "young" Biff and Happy. They were so popular that almost everybody liked them. Although there was somebody came and warned them that Biff was going to be failed. But Willy didn't notice that. He proud of his sons, so that he thought that everyone must think so, too. But the truth was not what he expected. Willy's over-proud toward Biff let him thought that he could survive, however, finally, Biff failed and he couldn't enter a good college.
But in the middle of the story, we see another side of Willy. Though he was mean to his son, especially to Biff. But in private, he still worried about them. Willy worried why they couldn't have a good job when they had already 30s. He wanted to help them, but he didn't have that kind of ability. For he almost couldn't care of himself. Because of that, he felt sorry to his son. He wanted to pay back, but he always used the wrong method. In this way, we can't say that he was not a good father. He wanted to do his best to be a good father, but finally he lost.
Moreover, he was a stubborn person. We can see it by his attitude toward cheese. When Linda changed a new kind of cheese for him, he was very angry. He said the he preferred to eat the original one, why she changed a new kind. Besides that, we can see that Willy was a person who was good at his hand. He can fixed the stuff in his own house, and the way he used to commit suicide. Through all these, we can know that he was a skillful person. Compared with being a salesman, he was better to do things with his hands. In this way, maybe we can explain that he was not a good salesman, but he may be a good mechanism.
We can see that Willy was misfit in the city. He couldn't know exactly what he really wanted. He did all the things that he thought he "should "do it. However, he had no chances to know that what he did was not necessary. He can treated himself much more comfort, but he gave that up by himself. For example, when Ben appeared and told him that he could go to Alaska with him, he had the opportunity, but he gave that up. He always thought that to be a salesman was the best job for him, for he saw the successful salesman when he was a kid. Maybe we should say that he didn't have that kind of courage to try to do something new for himself, even for his family.
In order to solve the financial problem in his family, he chose to commit suicide. In this way, Linda could use the insurance to pay the dabs in their family. He knew that he couldn't continue borrow money from Charley, this couldn't be worked for a long time. Finally, he use the improper way to end his own life.
In short, Willy can't find his own way, and he had a kind of "uncertain" feeling toward himself. He was a miserable person.
Back to Character Analyses