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I believe Happy is so angry with Biff because of his father. Happy is just like his father with misdirected feelings, arrogance, and unrealistic dreams. With Biff being first born, Happy has always been looked at as second best. Biff was the hotshot football player in highschool who hung around the cool guys, and had females all over him, which appeased their father the most. Happy continued living in Biff’s shadow and was shown less attention. As a result of being shown less attention, Happy grew a strong desire to make his father proud early on. Then later, once his father died, Happy had yet to please his father. Biff was able to see reality for what it was and have his own desires while Happy still suffered from his father’s expectations which also fueled his anger.
Yes, Willy can be considered a tragic character. Willy’s tragic flaw stemmed from his desire to live the American dream. Willy, like many, started out young and extremely hopeful but as time progressed he was unable to achieve his desired success. As he became more and more defeated Willy seems to disregard reality and refuses the truth being that he is not this successful, well known salesman and has based his life on a materialistic, half truth dream that he then pushes onto his family and children. Willy’s inability to see reality as it is and a craving for a superficial success is what leads to his downfall.
Death of a Salesman fits the traditional definition of a tragedy because it simply embodies the structure of a tragedy, with the main character, Willy Loman, being the tragic hero. Willy fits the mold of a tragic hero being a literary character who takes a wrong turn or makes the wrong judgement that leads to his demise. In comparison to other tragedies, Death of a Salesman works to follow the traditional structure but contains a few differences with the main most important difference being Willy’s worth and status. Willy was a common American worker who lacked nobility and was middle to low class with the hopes of attaining success. The factor of Willy being of common status is what helped Death of a Salesman expand the definition of a tragedy because it showed a tragedy among the majority in a 20th century society.
Death of a Salesman is very much so a commentary on the American Dream. Miller is telling the audience that the American Dream is based on an immoral, superficial, materialistic, capitalist dream with a harsh reality that only praises those at the top. Personally, yes i agree because today in society people are driven solely by material and status and will do almost anything for that power. The normal population is usually paycheck to paycheck, in debt of some sort, and working non-stop just to retire from a job that does not find value in you. In Death of a Salesman we see this throughout its entirety from Willy’s boss to Willy’s own misconceptions.
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