Relationship Between Willy And Linda Loman

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The relationship between being “well liked” and “successfullness” is a common theme throughout the story. Willy enforces this value in his two boys, Biff and Happy. Willy says that there is nothing gained in life if you are not liked and that all success comes from admiration. Willy also teaches the boys that it’s okay to steal. When Biff steals balls from the locker room, Willy excuses the behavior by saying that the coach would probably be proud of Biff’s initiative for wanting to practice at home. These are not worthwhile concepts for a father to teach his children, because these values will not help develop a good character and good habits. Willy is enforcing that it’s okay to be lazy and not work hard, as long as you are liked and …show more content…
While having a seemingly miserable existence, Linda still truly loves her husband in spite of all his faults she always stands by him. While she spends her life cooking, cleaning, trying to cope, and strengthening Willy’s sense of self-importance, she never complains about her lifestyle. Instead, she complains about how, Happy and Biff, treat Willy. She also repeatedly lies to Willy, leading him to believe that he adequately provides for her and the family. She also tells him that he is popular and well liked by everyone. Linda is the traditional and concerned wife and mother, who struggles to make ends meet and keep her family, especially Willy, happy. She also serves to feed and enforce Willy’s illusions about himself. She knows that Willy is suicidal, irrational, and hard to deal with; however, she goes along with Willy's fantasies in order to protect him from the criticism of others, as well as his own self-criticism. Despite all this, Linda does nothing, afraid to aggravate Willy's fragile mental state. In many ways Willy is like a small child, and Linda is like a mother who protects him from Biff, Happy, and the rest of the world. As listed Linda has many roles in the family as well as responsibilities, which she often fails at, such as snapping Willy out of his illusions and keeping him from suicide. She should not be sympathetic to Willy’s problems because it just encourages his …show more content…
According to Willy, Ben was an explorer and adventurer who found diamonds in Africa and timberland in Alaska. Ben is everything Willy wanted to be, and everything he wants his sons to be. It is also through Ben that the reader learns about Willy's father-a successful inventor with a likeable charm. With these two as role models, its not a surprise that Willy is unable to cope with the realities of his shortcomings as well as those of his sons. Willy totally idolizes Ben because he was an adventurer who escaped the world of business and got rich quick by finding diamonds in the African jungle. Willy also associates Ben with knowledge and self-awareness, qualities that he himself is severely lacking. Willy always wants advice, and Ben gives it. Of course, it's frequently not very good advice and is usually the product of Willy's own imagination. Ben represents fantastic success gained through intangible luck rather than through steady dedication and hard work; Ben has gained what Willy always wanted but never could achieve. To Willy, Ben symbolizes success. More specifically, Ben symbolizes the most desirable way to obtain success. When Ben enters Willy’s world through Willy’s hallucinations, the reader learns that Willy and Ben are opposites. Willy, an extremely hard worker, never makes much money despite his never ending effort to while Ben accidentally stumbles into Africa and finds riches