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.
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