A Critical Study of Death of A Salesman
...to meld into one surreal reality. Willy has tried to kill himself a number of times and "only the shallowness of the water" kept him from succeeding the year before. Abbotson notes that Willy is "struggling to pay off all the modern appliances," which are on the verge of breaking down, they bought to "keep up with the Joneses."(38) This is evident in the refrigerator that "consumes belts like a maniac." This adds to the vision of a man who is not having a break down but has been unilaterally broken over a long period of time. Jackson shows that Willy "suffers from…an ambiguous evil…the moral sickness of the twentieth century." (35) It is described by Miller as the "disease of unrelatedness." "The symptoms are a sense of alienation, a loss of meaning, and a growing despair."(35) Willy Loman's boys are also part of his internal strife. Abbotson denotes that Biff and Willy have a tense relationship at this point because of Biff's lack of drive and success while "especially considering the promise his father still believes him to have."(37) Coincidentally, Biff is begrudged against his father for almost the exact same reason. Willy's other son Happy, or Hap, really has no focus other than women and how to sleep with them. However, Hap is shown as second-fiddle to Biff and is trying to get recognition. "I'm losing weight, Pop!" is a recurring phrase in Willy's visions. Further accenting Willy's failure with his boys is the fact that Bernard, who has no outstanding physical qualities like Willy's boys, ends up succeeding. Abbotson cites that Bernard doesn't allow his pursuit of money to be the defining characteristic of his life and therefore maintains his "moral integrity."(46) A quality neither Willy nor his boys possess. One of the main problems with the boys at this point can be attributed to parenting. Willy's father left him with no model to base any parental mold by "disregarding family responsibilities" and leaving. Therefore his view of how to gain success is somewhat skewed. He believes that "if you are well-liked" you will be successful and he conveys this to his boys. Charley, on the other hand, instills in Bernard that "he ...