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How does Willy’s home function as a metaphor for his ambitions?
When Willy and Linda purchased their home, the neighborhood was quieter than they now find it. The house was surrounded by space and sunlight. Willy was a young man with ambitious hopes for the future, and his house represented a space in which he could expand his dreams. In the present, the house is hemmed in on all sides by apartment units. Willy is a much older man, and his chances of achieving his dreams are much slimmer. His home now represents the reduction of his hopes. There is less room to expand, and the sunlight does not even reach into his yard. In the past, the house was the site of hopeful departure and triumphant return. Willy would set out each week to make a load of money. When he returned, his worshipful sons greeted him, and he whispered into their eager ears his hopes to open his own business. Now, the house is the site of Willy’s frustrated ambitions. When the play opens, Willy returns to his home a defeated man, unable to complete his latest business trip, and with his argument with Biff left unresolved.
What role does the fear of abandonment play in Willy’s life?
Willy’s obsession with making his family
conform to the ideals of the American Dream seems rooted in the
childhood emotional trauma of his abandonment by his father. Since
his father left him with nothing, Willy feels an acute need to put
his sons—especially Biff—on the right path in life. He convinces
himself that he is capable of doing so, which leads to his inflated
sense of self-importance (as when he tells his young sons about
how well known he is in New England). Willy’s ultimate belief in
the deluded prospect of Biff’s imminent success causes him to trade
in his own life to leave Biff $
Willy’s fear of abandonment is probably also responsible for his obsession with being well liked. Somewhat childlike, Willy craves approval and reacts to any perceived hint of dislike by either throwing a tantrum or retreating into self-pity. When Ben visits Willy’s home, Willy proudly shows his sons to Ben, practically begging for a word of approval. When Ben notes that he has to leave to catch his train, Willy begs him to stay a little longer. Even as an adult, Willy’s relationship to Ben is fraught with this fear of abandonment. Howard abandons Willy by firing him, and after Happy and Biff abandon him in the restaurant, Willy returns home like a dejected child. After these blows, the power of Willy’s fantasies to deny unpleasant facts about his reality abandons him as well.
Willy and Biff have different explanations for Biff’s failure to succeed in the business world. How are their explanations different?
Willy believes that Biff’s discovery of Willy’s adulterous affair contributed to Biff’s disillusionment with the American Dream that Willy cherishes so dearly. He remembers that Biff called him a “phony little fake.” Essentially, Willy interprets Biff’s words to mean that Biff thinks of him as a charlatan: Willy believes that his affair prevented him from selling Biff on the American Dream. On the other hand, Biff believes that he failed to succeed in business precisely because Willy sold him so successfully on the American Dream of easy success. By the time he took his first job, Biff was so convinced that success would inevitably fall into his lap that he was unwilling to work hard in order to advance to more important positions. Biff did not want to start at the bottom and deal with taking orders. He had faith in Willy’s prediction that he was naturally destined to move ahead, so he made no efforts to do so through hard work, and, as a result, he failed miserably.
