Question Selected: Gerald Weales, an expert in Arthur Miller’s work, writes this: “ [Willy] takes to the stage (takes flesh) as a man who just cannot keep his mouth shut and who never understands when he is condemning and when he is defending himself.” Explain your understanding of these words; then agree or disagree with Weales.
In the play Death of a Salesman that premiered in the year 1949, produced by Arthur Miller; it has been found that the Willy is always all over the place condemning and defending himself aimlessly. Gerald Weales, who is an expert in Arthur Miller’s work, also hold this same view. He thinks that Willy is excessively argumentative as a character. This often than not culminated in ugly scenes between him and his son Biff. This situation is however replicated with his relationships with his boss, his other son Happy and his wife (Miller, 1996).
Willy is a man undergoing many complications in his life. He was involved in a car crash that has left him in a sorry state of mind. His wife has negotiated with his boss so that he works in his hometown so that he does not have to travel going to work. Willy’s boss agrees to this arrangement. When Linda, Willy’s wife, comes back home after a botched business trip, we see the first incidence where Willy’s defensive and condemning character is displayed to the viewers. He immediately goes to point out that he is disappointed in his son Biff. He says that Biff has not yet made anything of his life. While this might be true according to his standard, we already have started seeing the level of bias and hate he has against his son’s performance (Miller, 1996).
At another point in the play, Biff and Happy are talking about how things have changed in their family. They specifically talk about how their father’s mental health has degraded. They specifically talk about how he often talks to himself. This has greatly worried them, as his vacillations were only getting worse. As they are discussing this, their dad Willy walks in on them. Immediately Willy goes into a frenzy showing just how displeased he is that his sons amounted to nothing. This prompts them to tell him that Biff is attempting to get through with a business proposition. This was just an effort to calm him down. This is just one of the few incidences that we see Willy displaying his condemning attitude.
The condemning and bad mouthing by Willy does not end there. When Willy goes to town and asks for a job from his boss, he does not get what he wants. This prompts him to get into an argumentative mode. Willy’s boss cannot take more of this and decides to fire him. He tells Willy that he needs to recover and rest, that being laid off is actually, what is good for him and the company. This is because he was spoiling the company’s image behaving like that! It is after this incident that we clearly see that Willy’s condemning could be his defending himself. On his way home, he meets up with a son of one of his old friends. The boy is now a successful lawyer. He was a former classmate of Biff (Miller, 1996).
This lawyer tells Willy that Biff was originally intending to succeed in school, but something changed when he (Biff) went to visit him (Willy). This reminds Willy that at this point Biff found him with another woman. This was the start of Biff’s downfall. He could no longer concentrate in class and his performance deteriorated. It is after this event that Will continuously condemned Biff for his poor grades. In real essence, he is taking a defensive position for his own actions instead of confronting them and solving the problem.
At this point in the play, Willy is starting to see his own wrongdoing. He is starting to become aware of his own mistakes. In addition, he starts to understand how his own actions have contributed to the situation that they are in. However, he has formed a habit of condemnation rather than reason. When Biff tells Willy that he was not successful in his business proposal, another argument ensues. This causes Willy to remember the situation that was the beginning of all this, when Biff walked in on him with another woman (Miller, 1996). This caused them not to have the same level of a relationship from then onwards. It caused Biff to completely change and become a man who is rather adrift and in contempt of his own father. After this argument, his two sons run off leaving him behind.
The argument is taken to their home where Linda confronts his sons for leaving their father. Being touched by his mother’s word, Biff goes to talk to his dad with an attempt to pacify matters. Biff’s effort to reconcile with his father however changes into another argument. This time is more heated than ever before. Biff decides to tell his father to stop with the never-ending dreams he has for him. He tells Willy that they are both normal men with normal capabilities. He hugs his father while crying. All that Biff wants is for his father to accept his as he is. Instead of doing so, the defensive side of Willy reasons that his son is now willing to do something with his life. He is now ready to partake in a business or something. Willy then crashes his car so that when he dies, Biff would use the life insurance money to start the business. This however is not what turns out to be the truth as Biff keeps on living his life as he did.
Work Cited:
Miller, Arthur, and Gerald C. Weales. Death of a Salesman. New York: Penguin Books, 1996. Print.
