Question #3 (Death of a Salesman)

The three major characters in the play are Willy (the salesman and father) and Happy and Biff (Willy's two sons). The play is mainly about the struggle between Willy and his son Biff's relationship. This assumption makes Willy the protagonist and Biff the antagonist. The story outlines their rocky relationship from the very beginning when it was healthy, to its downfall (when Biff finds out about Willy's affair), and the way it has changed over the years because of this incident. The play also brings about an internal conflict within Willy and his business. Linda, Biff, and Happy are simply characters who are affected by this dramatic change in Willy due to his internal conflict. I believe Happy and Biff are foil characters. Biff was the macho older brother with a huge future ahead of him, while Happy was living in his brother's shadow following in his footsteps. As the two grow up, Biff struggles with knowing about his father's affair, while Happy has no idea as to why Biff and Willy don't get along.

Question #1 (Death of a Salesman)

In my opinion, the play uses very realistic conventions to convey its overall theme and message. The way Willy treats Biff and Happy in the past, when they were in high school, is how any dad who is proud of his sons would act. It is a common scene seen among many teen boys (especially athletes) and their "star" sons. Willy tells them that he is "well-liked" in New England where he does his sales, which makes it sound like business is thriving. The boys, being young and oblivious, love the fact that there father is successful and really look up to him in that aspect. I think the most realistic scene in the play is Biff's conversion when he finds out the truth about his father. When he finds that his father has been having an affair, he loses all respect and trust for him. Similar to many of us, when we find out a negative thing about our role models we completely change the way we look at them. This one thing caused a total 180 degree turn of Biff and Willy's relationship.

Question #1

In my opinion, the play employs both realistic AND nonrealistic conventions. The characters, the setting, and the situation has both elements within some depth of them. During class discussion, many people said that Amanda's controlling attitude and actions was nonrealistic, but I would have to disagree. Aren't most mothers controlling? In my experience, my mother acts very similar to Amanda. Always nagging and complaing about what needs to be done, and how it should be done right, and blah blah blah. For me, it seems like a commmon occurrence. I think the most nonrealistic part of the play is the fact that Laura still treasures her glass doll set. A teenage girl, almost a woman, would not be spending her time playing with glass people. She should be out being a social butterfly like a young girl should be.