Not only are these two characters caregivers of their families, they are also both driven by desperation. Linda is always desperate to make her family happy no matter what they say or do to her. Willy gets mad at Linda over any little thing, for instance Linda goes out and buys some new cheese and Willy gets angry and starts yelling at her. “I don’t want change! I want Swiss cheese. Why am I always being contradicted?” (Lines 143-144), instead of him simply saying “I do not like that cheese”, he gets angry. Linda tries to say she thought it would be a good surprise and apologizes. A normal wife would say “all well then do not eat it”, but she tries her best to make him happy that she will let him yell at her over cheese. Linda thinks that Willy
