Call attention to some of the play’s
set design and note how it reveals or enhances some of Willy’s issues in the
opening scene.Do you feel bad for the
guy?
Sample Comment: I’m thinking about researching the look of the home of middle America in the 1940s. It sounds anything but open, and Willy’s mind seems troubled by confinement as well. When Willy comes home, he seems tired and confused, mentally detached from his immediate surroundings, his own house. The stage is designed with transparent walls so that we can see the reactions of Linda and his two boys, so every time he shouts about his son’s laziness, we wonder if Biff can hear him. Does he want him to hear him, or is he so lost in himself that the world around him is somehow as “bricked” off as the house from the city? The flute that we hear seems almost pathetic, as if we’re supposed to feel sorry for him. He’s had another accident. His attention wandered on the way to a job, reminiscing, lost, so he got lost it sounds. And yet, later, he yells at his wife, contradicts himself constantly. Biff is lazy, “he’s anything but lazy”. Is he at some stage of Alzheimer’s? He proclaims that he’s in the “greatest country in the world” and then, in the next breath, he says, “There’s not a breath of fresh air in the neighborhood. The grass don’t grow any more, you can’t raise a carrot in the back yard.” Willy’s America is filled with walls, between himself and the present, between himself and his family, between himself and his community, between himself and what he wants to be the “greatest country in the world”.
SAMPLE REPLY: Mr. Strait: I, too, was frustrated with him. I had a really hard time “feeling sorry for him”, especially when he later yells at Linda, when all the woman wants to do is care for him. She’s too forgiving. He’s an old fart who died a long time ago. I don’t think he’s suffering from anything. He’s about as dried up as the ground he can’t grow his carrots on. He’s disappointed with his kids and himself. The only walls that surround Willy Loman are cynicism and self-pity. He’s a salesman, so maybe all that lost “fresh air” has been blown away by a lifetime of his own hot air. The guy just needs a hug and a long, hot bubble bath with a pina colada.
I believe that the openness of the play can also refer to the openness in Willy's head. I don't mean that Willy is stupid, I mean the emptiness literally because of all he forgets. I think the writter mentions Willy's forgetfulness because he has Alzheimer's and I think this is best representated in the way the house is displayed. In the first scene when Willy is talking to Linda, Willy has many moments where he is shouting, contradicting, calm and mad within a couple of lines. I believe these outbursts are evidence of Willy's disease. When Willy yelled about his son's laziness, it was easy to tell that his sons could hear him. I believe that Miller made the set open to show the effect of Willy's Alzheimer's on his son, family and the rest of the home. I do not feel bad for Willy because I can tell that even though he has Alzheimer's, that many of his actions come from habit. When Willy is yelling at Linda you can tell that it was a habit of his because she herself is in the habit of making it seem that everything is okay. When he would say his son is lazy, she would say `oh no he's just trying to find himself'; Linda had come a custom to trying to calm Willy down as a way to deal with his anger . I also do not feel bad for him because I do believe that he did something wrong in his past, for example cheating on Linda. I based this theory on the evidence of all his flashbacks, especially the one about the mystery woman. I think karma has finally came around to him.
I think that the fact that the overall openness of the play’s set design shows Willy’s struggle with trying to be open to others but not being able to do it because he is closed off internally. He struggles with interacting with his wife and sons but he does seem to try; his intentions just seem to get lost in translation because of how he represents himself. Willy wants the best for his family- as evident by the fact that he has spent most of his life going after the American dream and working so that his family could have good lives. It just seems like the older he got, the more angry and depressed he became until he is just kind of going through the motions of life because it’s what he’s supposed to do. The open design is kind of a representation for the way that he wishes his life could be- he wants his sons to be able to hear him, to be able to see his family, and to not have these mental blocks that his (I’m assuming) Alzheimers/dementia puts up. I sort of do feel sorry for him because he does seem to be trying to hold it all together, but then he gets these episodes that screw it all up and make it harder for him to be the person he’s trying to really be.
I’m a little biased and I think Willy is a jerk. But I can see what you are saying. He is kind of hopeless in truly connecting to others. It’s like he has walls to prevent him from getting hurt. Were I a psychologist, I would say the walls originate from the pain and hurt due to his father leaving. Even though a father’s supposed to love him, just his family and his friends, his father left him, seeming like he didn’t love Willy, thus leading to Willy’s desperation to know about his father and his inability to appropriately love his family and friends. He’s partially afraid that once he truly connects and loves them, they will hurt him like his father, as well as the fact that he probably never learned how to properly love, after that traumatic experience. This inability to love due to his father, would also explain his inability to properly father his sons. He ignores Happy and taught Biff how to mooch by in life, with all that, “but you’re so physically attractive, fearless and full of spirit and personality,” and then, after Biff’s naturally failed miserably at life, Willy yells and complains.
Tanja: That last comment--that every time he seems to be "holding it together" he experiencing some "episode" that screws it up--rings true for me. It's almost as if he's on the couch and the therapist keeps saying "go on" and, by going on, he remembers something else about these memories that he'd rather not see or know about.
I did say that it is hard to feel sorry for Willy because of the cruel way he is treating all of his family members. However, I do agree that Willy is trying to be there for his family. When he has these dream sequences of his past life, it seems like he is trying to reconcile with the past, and trying to figure out where he went wrong in an attempt to turn it around. He wants the best for Biff, which is why he is on his case to have a stable job and make more money. We can’t forget Willy’s past, in a time where he appreciated Linda more and was kinder to Billy and Happy. I agree about the walls representing Willy’s state of mind: he is trapped and it seems that he’s going nowhere with mending his broken family. It’s like he is on the inside looking out. He is trapped in the walls of his mind and can’t escape to the open world with no boundaries and he is his worst enemy from trying to be the person he wants to be.
Tanja I ageee that with age willys emotions got out of whack and now that he is experiencing these problems with memory and its getting in the way of him being the best man he can be for his family and holding it together.
Tanja- I think your opinion is interesting, but I had a different interpretation of the wall’s symbolism. Instead of the lack of walls meaning that Willy is struggling to be open, I took it as his life is like an open book. His family and even he, himself realize that his mind is not functioning properly or the same as it used to. I think the reason there are only some visible walls is because there are only some barriers to his thought expression. It is evident the set is mostly open and this is because Willy is always trying to say what he is thinking, which is seen through his loud and frequent outbursts.
I agree that willy wants to interact with his family, but internally he almost can't. He seems to have forgotten how, and seems nervous to just normally talk to any of his family members. And I 100% agree that the older he gets the more frustrated he gets. He wants so much for his family, and has put the pressure on himself. He stresses himself out more each and every day because of his longing for his family's well being.
Tanja, I agree that the openess of the play is to represent Willy’s struggle with trying to be open to others but not being able to because he has closed off his heart. I think he stuggles with conveying what he wants to say in a way so that others understand him and when they do not reply to his cold heartedness he gets frustrated. I believe that he struggles with saying what he wants to say because of something that happened with the woman that he flashes back to; I think she broke his heart and that's why he closed it.
I feel like the lack of boundaries of the set displays the fact that Willy doesn't know how to compartmentalize his life anymore. He can't restrain himself, the memory of the "other woman" demonstrating also another time when he couldn't help himself. At that time, he fell prey to temptation (the cheating rat bastard). Now, he's falling to confusion, mental disarray, his emotions and urges, his depression. Just like the boundaries of the house are not definitely defined for the audience, the boundaries of Willy’s memories and reality are also indefinite. Such as playing with Charley in the present and talking to Ben in the past, Willy’s perceptions of reality and memory are warped and blurred together, no sense of organization and classification. He can’t control his guilt, can’t put it behind him, cruelly and stupidly taking it out on Linda, yelling at her and blaming her for things she had no control over and is trying to smooth over. He can’t control his mind and emotions, impinging unrightfully on his sons’ lives and living vicariously through them. He can’t even separate his fatherly disappointment with Biff and his own personal disappointment with himself, just as he can’t separate his two sons. He even though Happy is successful, Willy projects his disappointment about Biff on Happy as well, not even giving him the positive attention he so very much desires.
I can definitely see what you mean- he has become so worn down that “the boundaries of [his] memories and reality are also indefinite”. It’s interesting to think of the story in the way that you chose to, as the set being designed to represent his brain’s inability to have boundaries, which affect him negatively, compared to the way that I imagined an open set as more freedom and control. I weirdly can agree with you ideas even though they almost contradict my own, but it can be seen both ways I guess. And I also agree that he is unfairly taking it out on his wife and sons, who don’t deserve the kind of treatment he is giving them.
Tanja: Yeah, same here. I was like, "...Wow, her thoughts are completely opposite from mine. ...but I completely agree." but not in the sense of "okay, I was wrong." But more of both totally work even though they totally contradict each other.
Ariel: Great call on how he projects his disappointment with Biff on how he treats Happy. You articulated it very well. I've never thought to express it this way. Do you think Happy is successful? :)
Ariel, I loved your analogy when comparing the open set design to Willy’s brain with his train of thought and inability to compartmentalize his life; he is undoubtedly enduring a mental disarray. What the audience sees and perceives of Willy is out of his control, much like how he cannot control what his family and other acquaintances think of him either. I liked this analogy because it made me view the story differently. When first reading, I would not have made that comparison. And Tanja, I loved how you contradicted the oxymoronic notion that you would believe an open set design would advocate a positive connotation, but in this situation, openness portrays a more negative connotation. My only question is, can we really say that Willy’s brain is incapable of constructing boundaries to control his frequent outbursts? That’s where I am having trouble finding sympathy for him, because if he truly is unable to maintain himself because of possible dementia, I would feel different than if he was going about these frequent outbursts with the full intent and knowledge of how he’s treating his family.
Walls play a very important part in the setting. While the walls distinguish reality from the dream sequences, I also saw the walls as a representation of the past and the present. I related the lack of walls to the past, during a time where it seemed like Willy had more of a grip on himself and his life circumstances. He sometimes had angry outbursts, such as pushing Bernard away, but they were less frequent. I saw the lack of walls as a time when Willy was more open with his family, when he didn’t take his disappointment out on his kids, and when his marriage with Linda seemed to be in somewhat better shape than it is in the present. I think a large turning point was when Willy had the affair with that woman. His guilt was clear when he yelled at Linda for mending the stockings. To me, that seemed like a turning point when walls started going up. In the present, Willy is closed off and isolated from his family, like being trapped within walls. He doesn’t appreciate Linda’s love for him, takes his disappointment out on Biff, and unfairly puts Happy in the middle of the family feud. He contradicts himself, and can’t ever seem to admit to his own shortcomings. Willy could be dealing with Alzheimer’s or dementia. However, it’s hard to feel sorry for him when his words and actions are tearing the entire family apart.
Leslie: I agree with you whole heartedly about the lack of walls being a representation of what Willy's past was. It represents a time in his life where he had more fun and was more loving and caring than he is at this point in his life. Ever since his kid's moved out and he had that affair with that woman, he hasn't been the same man; overreacting to everything and not being appreciative of Linda's love for him.
And the fact that he forgets half the things he says now makes it seem like he doesn't care what anyone else has to say, which in turn, is "tearing" the family apart.
Leslie: I agree that Willy is closed off from his family. While they seem to be able to hear him across rooms, Willy is unable to hear them. The walls between them are put up by in his own mind. He’s stuck in the past because he thinks by being the best he can solve all of the problems he thinks brought him to the point he is in the present. I agree that Willy is quite dependent on Linda and that Linda does everything she can to provide a sense of reason to Willy. I think that while it is unfortunate that he seems to be dealing with dementia, I believe that he can more effectively deal with its effects if he opens up to the present more.
Leslie: I agree that the walls convey a sense of inescape from the madness within Willy's own mid, however I also find it interesting that the walls do not necessarily separate all the members of the family. Whilst Willy is ranting to Linda when he initially comes home, Biff and Happy are able to hear everything he is saying. I believe this aspect of the walls may go to show that Willy's own walls are self imposed and unecessary. Willy feels isolated and alienated from his family and those around him, yet the parallels drawn with the walls in his house go to show that he is in fact in constant contact with the people in his surroundings and simply does not realize it. Charlie repeatedly tries to help Willy and keep him stable, yet Willy is unable to recognize his efforts and still feels alone. I believe that the implied walls of the set of the play illustrate this concept of mental separation not physical separation. I do not feel sorry for Willy because while he may or may not struggle with a mental illness, he is the one unable to see the love and support of those around him such as his sons, Linda, or Charlie. Many of the problems in his life are self imposed and could be recified if Willy sought change, but he never does.
The openness, fragileness, smallness of the house represents how much to Willy the modern American life of competition that the apartment buildings represent seem to crush and overwhelm him, making his house insignificant in turn. In Willy’s dream sequences, his area is an wider area, showing how more freedom he felt when he was younger but what he felt like had to do to achieve the American dream entreated on it as he aged. Now that Willy lacked success in achieving an American dream and is at an age he feels like is too late, he seems to be living through Biff in how he treats Biff. He keeps a trophy of Biff’s above the bed which shows how he idolizes the characteristics Biff has that Willy wishes he had -- he seems to idolize Biff’s previous lack of restraint with school, sports, and girls. Willy seems to be less confident in contrast, as he is self-deprecating about his looks and inability to make money He is angry at Biff for not making money when Willy is the one who has trouble making money. He says Biff is becoming moody when it is he himself becoming moody. He’s afraid that Biff will follow the path of him and amount to nothing -- he wants Biff to use the characteristics Willy thinks he lacks himself to achieve the dream Willy wasn’t able to achieve. In his ramblings he talks like Biff is younger because he’s stuck at the point where Biff had these characteristics more and Willy feels could have been shaped to become something. Him being stuck in the past is visible in how the boundaries between the past and the present are non-existent. To Willy the past and present are one and Biff is still the adolescent who worships him and can be molded into whatever he wants, so he can in a sense “save” him from his own life. I feel bad for Willy to a degree but he needs to take more responsibility to accept the life that he has and living in the past won’t change anything. He needs to appreciate the life has, deal with it, and stop imposing his fantasy on Biff where Biff becomes the man Willy wishes he was. Biff can chose to what he wants with his life.
"He wants Biff to use the characteristics Willy thinks he lacks himself to achieve the dream Willy wasn't able to achieve." Three years ago, when my son was in a six-year old rec soccer league, I witnessed two fathers come within inches of each others' face when one of their kids took down the other's kid in a slide tackle. One said it was legal, and the other disagreed, and they nearly came to punches over it. I was embarrassed for the both of them.
I would like to draw attention to the neighborhood in which the house is in. The surrounding houses and cars box the house in, giving it a feeling of stagnation which is exactly what willy is feeling. There is also a reference to two elm trees which are cut down and are now stumps. Elm trees are know for their out going and wild limbs and strength. A possible rendition of willy as a youthful adult. But now, like the tree, he is a boring old stump stuck in the same place.
So I do feel bad for willy he is in a time of his life where everything seems to be closing in on him and he can't do much about so he is panicking and it's causing these memory lapses and relapses
I like that you made a point about stagnation or the confinement of the neighborhood that they lived in. At first I didn't really pick up on it because I wasn't visualizing it, but when I went over this scene again and we watched the clip from the film it was brought to my attention. Willy says "there's nk breath of fresh air". This is a sensation that people feel when they have anxiety. It seems that all the crowding around Willy has almost made him claustrophobic simply because he feels so trapped.As for the tree I think that it'sm also a symbol of the livelihood of Willy. It was a place where he and Biff put up a swing and made plans to have a hammock. Now the trees are gone and so is his relationship with his son.
I really like this string. The connection between that tree and domestic bliss as well as to Biff himself is impressive, especially when at the start of this play Willy says there is no room to grow anything in his yard anymore.
The scene I paid a lot of attention to was the first one with Biff and Happy. They're both grown men staying in their childhood bedrooms. I think that it's ironic that they're back in the place that they spent most of their past in talking about what became of their future. Biff says to Happy that it's a place where they had "Lotta dreams and plans", but it seems none of them came true. Then Biff starts talking about his farm that he's been working on. It's in Texas, and he says back here it's spring time. Rebirth is a very obvious symbol for spring. Miller picked this season for Biff's job to show how it is something that will transform Biff. He's been jumping from job to job trying to find himself, and working on the farm will change him and turn him into the man he wants to be. Voilà rebirth. The setting is very important in this scene. Sure they're just in a bedroom, but it's their old bedroom, the one they grew up in. Miller purposely picked this of all places to show that both brothers have gotten nowhere in their lives. They're grown men back where they started.
In the outset of the play, the openness of the house and the buildings that are surrounding the house really make Willy feel overwhelmed and perplexed. The lack of walls in the house represents what his life used to be like. He used to be a free and easy going person who had fun with his family: going on trips and hanging out with them in other situations. But once he hit his little "mid-life crisis" and had an affair with another woman, he changed. The lack of barriers in his life to stop him from doing anything made Willy lash out at Linda for no reason when she told him that she got a different type of CHEESE. The lack of walls also represent Willy's mind. His mind goes wherever it wantsand it's like his thoughtsthen disappear into thin air and then all of the sudden comes back to him. Do I feel bad for the guy? Not really, because he could stay home and get better, but instead, he goes out and pretty much puts himself in danger every time he gets on the road because something is wrong in his head.
I hadn't thought as much about the walls, but I like the points you brought up. I had thought of the lack walls providing openness and chaos, but having no barriers also showed different time periods or stages of Willy's life. With the boys up in their childhood room it represents the family at the time of the kids being young. Linda being a strong supporter of Willy in everything he does, shows his future by insuring she'll always be there. The current time is shown when Willy is freaking out over the cheese Linda got because it shows his stress from work and his "mid-life crisis."
One of the first descriptions given of Willy includes, "He unlocks the door, comes into the kitchen, and thankfully lets his burden down, feeling the soreness of his palms." This sentence is representative of Willy's feelings towards his surroundings. He actually refers to the suitcases he uses for work as his "burden", and when he comes to his house, he tries to release this strain by setting them down. However he sees that he can't escape from the stress in his own home which is represented by his sore palms even after he lets go of the cases. This helps readers see that Willy's home is not a place where he can completely escape his problems. We also see that he is stressed out by changes in his neighborhood like the removal of trees or addition of apartments. This element of setting shows Willy's inability to calmly cope with changes in his life such as his relationships and job. Also by having Willy travel for his job, he experiences a regular change in setting. This sets up the idea of Willy having instability not only in his life but potentially in his mental state as well. The author really uses Willy’s setting, particularly his home, to introduce some of the main characters conflicts.
I realize the topic is the set design, but I wanted to bring attention to the two cases Willy carries in right at the beginning. I recognize that this starts off as a prop, but I was wondering if once these objects are set down if they then become a part of the set? It is never mentioned that they are picked up again. I think these cases are significant because they seem to symbolize the burdens Willy carries such as a dead end job, possible mental disorder, at least one unsuccessful child, and an unsettling past. I think the action of carrying this heavy luggage through the living room and kitchen and not just leaving it at the door defines Willy’s character as not being able to let things go, forcing him to carry these burdens around with him. I am surprised that at the age of sixty, he is still capable of handling things that heavy; I believe this is foreshadowing his breaking point, which may be the struggle with his mental disorder. According to the tone of this opening scene I think we as readers are supposed to sympathize with this overworked old man, but personally I think he could have handled his life in a different and better manner. He could have made a life for himself with a different job and referring to later in the act, he did not have to betray his family by cheating. I also think he contradicts himself too often and should state an opinion and stand by it. If it were not for so many bad choices, his burdens would not be so ridden with guilt and regret.
I think the lack of walls represents Willy's lack of control over his mind. He cannot, physically, control what he thinks. His mind is so sporadic, and seems to have no boundaries. This is also shown when he very loudly says his son is going nowhere, when obviously, he wouldn't want him to hear that. No matter how hard he tries, he says and thinks things he doesn't want to, and his frustration shows his old age and dissatisfaction with his life.
Alex: I agree that Willy has no control over his mind. I think that this can really be seen through the random occurrences of his daydreams, and the fact that they happen basically subconsciously. His stream of consciousness flows from one daydream to the next without any resistance. This is similar to the free flow of motion through the house due to the lack of walls.
I think that his desire for openness reflects his desperation for him wanting to go back into the past and redo everything. The walls in his house and life reflect the predicaments that his past decisions have put him in, the guilt that he has to live with day by day, as well as the mental restrictions that he has to prevent himself from fixing anything. During his relapses, his state of mind is depicted as sense of "freedom,' meaning that he goes back to a time where he had a choice for things. It is just often that he chose the wrong choice to put him in the situation that he is in now. In his first flashback, he thought he was driving his old Chevy I believe, which had no windshield. He repeatedly brought himself back to a time where their were no barriers, because at the time he still believed he was on the road to endless possibilities. In a way I feel bad for Willy, just in the sense that he is a very hard worker, and does it for his family even into his 60's to give them a better life. However, just because most of his money goes there, doesn't mean his heart and sole are with them completely, and that is where I do not feel bad for him. He has had the option to be there for his family, but instead of being with the kids more, he chose to travel, and instead of being with his loving, supporting wife, he chose to be with "business ladies." They were his decisions, and he has to live with the consequences of them.
Madison: I agree with how you can both feel bad for Willy and also not at all depending on how you choose to view him. One way you can view him is as a hardworking man who at least is shown to care about his family in that he wants his sons to be successful. But in caring about the success of his sons, particularly Biff, is he entirely caring about Biff or is he in a way caring about himself because he's living through him? I like how you said that "just because most of his money goes [to his family] doesn't mean his heart and soul are with them completely." Any of the choices he has made in his life have been his own entirely. If he's burdened, it's because he's made the choices that have lead him to those burdens. And so when it comes down to it, I do not feel bad for him either.
The description of the set design in the very beginning has me interpreting Willy’s home as a symbol of him, and anything surrounding his home as a symbol of his burdens. It is stated in the play’s set design that Willy’s home is surrounded on all sides by a “solid vault of apartment houses.” This inclusion of the other buildings surrounding Willy’s house suggests a sense of confinement or stagnation. What does a vault do? It locks things in. Willy’s home is locked in the middle, telling us figuratively that Willy himself is trapped by something in his own life. He is stuck in a life in which he feels dissatisfied, is going nowhere, and possibly has some kind of mental disorder akin to Alzheimer’s. It is also mentioned that there is “an angry glow of orange” surrounding the house. Because Miller went out of his way to state that the glow is angry tells me that his burdens are not by any means light. They’re heavy like the cases he carries in at the start. In interpreting Willy’s home as a symbol of him, when it is said that it is a “small, fragile-seeming home” it reveals the idea that Willy is those things as well. He has been, and is continuing to, live his life weakly (which is why he attempts to live through his son instead.) Do I feel bad for Willy? No. His burdens of regret are things he has created for himself.
I feel that the house is highly representative of Willy. The outside is surrounded by apartment buildings, and closed in. I picture it as a little house that may be the last of it's kind in an expanding city. As modern buildings close in, the little house stays standing almost obliviously to the growth. This is like reality closing in on Willy while he is oblivious to it. He seems to not totally realize that his life didn't turn out the way he planned it, and is stuck in the past. This is similar to the house being stuck in the past while apartments spring up around it, and may be the cause of his growing daydreams. He is starting to realize how his life actually is and is trying to escape it through reminiscing.
Ethan, i agree that the apartments that are rising up mirror the new barriers in Willy's life. The apartments are inescapable but the problems that Willy has seem to stay because Willy refuses to see them/solve them. The apartments act as a source of confinement which mirror the problems in Willy's life. They seem to confine him, but because of Willy's stubborn ways, they will confine Willy's mental state for a while.
I agree with both Ethans. Especially in the fact of the city expanding around his home. I believe that, just as the city is encroaching on the house, Willy's problems are encroaching on him. He is running out of places to hide from them as time goes on. The idea of confinement does seem to play a big role in the set of this play.
At first, I thought that Linda was completely in denial of her husbands problems. Whenever he would relate to something being wrong she would quickly dismiss it and conjure up an excuse. What I have come to realize is that it's not denial, it's ignorance. She has believed every lie that Willy has given her, from their finances, to his job, and to his mistress. This is why Linda feels the need to defend her husband, in her mind nothing has gone wrong and so she chooses to stand by her husband. That is her most domineering trait, loyalty. However in some ways Willy is more ignorant than she is. Linda is still very caring and she showed concern when Biff was stealing and growing aggressive, while Willy was pretending it wasn't unfolding I'm front of him. Linda is caring, peaceful, and dependable, but she's very much oblivious.
Linda, as a character, is realistic and definitely one of the most complex personalities in the play. She is the glue that holds the family together, the one who maintains the peace. While at first it seemed as though she was ignorant of the problems that Willy was facing, she is more than aware. Her actions define her as a person- deeply loyal, and protective to a fault. Although she harbored suspicions of Willy's affair, she maintains her fierce defense of him, protecting him from any kind of criticism. She encourages him and builds him up, proving her all-encompassing love for him. Her character is in a difficult situation, where she must decide the best course of action for Willy- to feign ignorance in order to not further agitate his condition, or to face it head on? She represents how solutions are not always black and white; she is an emotionally driven woman, who did her best to sustain her family.
I believe that the set is used as a representation of Willy's mental state. The invisible walls of the set are divisions that are acknowledged by the actors are not observed by the audience, just as Willy's hallucinations are real and physical to him though not tangible to those observing him. This concept of intangible divisions also represent the ability for Willy to change, yet he holds himself back. The walls created by Willy, though obstructing and immovable to him, are actually impermanent. The house they live in is portrayed as dilapidated and withering, and it is given that WIlly does not have the time or money to make the improvements to it. Willy believes that it is his new boss that is preventing him from making a better life for himself when it is actually his low sales that prevent him from moving up in the company. What Willy perceives as a barrier is really just an obstacle that he is unwilling to attempt to overcome. He is just stuck feeling sorry for himself and his circumstances, and is unable to try to change himself, so he pushes the need for change and accomplishment onto his sons. Overall, the clues left by the set allow vital insights into the mental state of Willy and offer explanations for his actions.
The house that Willy lives in reminds me a lot of Willy himself. The house has clear evidence of deterioration. But at one point, the house was not like this. It had fresh paint on it. It was surrounded with houses alike. But as time went on, things changed, apartments went up, and like Willy, the house aged. The paint chipped, the walls became barren and invisible. This is like Willy's mental state. His mental state, like the house, is deteriorating. And with the apartments rising, a sense of confinement became evident. Like the house, Willy had a sense of confinement too. But it seemed like he created this or exacerbated it. He felt that his work was a barrier to him but was it really impossible to escape? Willy's mental state is on a decline and is mirrored with the house that he and Linda live in.
The house is described as looking fragile and that "an air of the dream clings to the place". Similar to his house, Willy has become fragile, although it is much more mentally than physically for him. Willy also continues to cling to the dream that he has for his life, his job, and his family - especially for Biff. Taking a look at the actual set up of the play’s stage, it also connects with Willy’s state. The stage is described as having a one dimensional roof, and invisible wall lines and because of this, the house is basically incomplete since it appears to be missing certain pieces. This is just like Willy’s mind, he is no longer completely there anymore. As for feeling bad for Willy, I do for the most part. I believe many of Willy’s attitude, actions, and words stem from the fact that his mind is slowly deteriorating, which is something he cannot do anything to control. When we get flashbacks of the past, Willy seems to be much more together and treats his family better. Although he may be this way due to what we’re assuming is dementia, I do think he could try a bit harder to be more appreciative and respectful of his family. Linda bends herself backwards to make sure he is taken care of in any way that he needs. As for Biff, Willy doesn’t even try to consider his happiness, which should be the most important to him, but all he wants is for him to work as a businessman.
Taylor, I like how you brought up that the house is incomplete like Willy's mind. As he descends further into his disease, his mind is becoming more and more fragmented. It's difficult to sympathize with Willy because of the cruel ways he treats others, but it's also unfair to disregard his disease and say he's a jerk. I also feel bad for him, because he does seem like at one point in his life he really truly cared for his family.
My favourite part about the initial set design is the background music. The music is explained at being a flute, and we find out later in the story that the flute is actually an instrument Willy's father played. I think this illustrates how the absence of Willy's father in his life has reflected itself through his own life throughout the years. However, another thing to note about the physically visible characteristics of the house is relative proximity. While it is a play and it seems obvious that we need to see each place in which scenes take place it's interesting to note that instead of assigning it one room and switching sets, or perhaps only writing in that one room, he divides the house. He chooses to show the entirety of the house on the stage. It makes everything appear cramped. I think this simple spacial gesture can reckon to explain how Willy is just another "middle class" Brooklyn man, struggling to provide for his family. His house isn't all that big even though he complains of it being empty now that he can afford it.
To me, the house is a representation of Willy. It is described as confined, with high rises around it blocking window views. Also, the paint and walls chipped and dilapidated. Though the house is physically broken, Willy is mentally broken. The city is moving in on the house, just as Willy's problems are moving in on him. This means he no longer can continue to run from them and eventually he must face them. Willy seems to complain frequently yet does nothing to change it and often he dwells on the past. He runs from his problems but as time goes on they catch up with him, just as it has with his home.
"The city is moving in on the house, just as his problems are moving in on him." He can't run from them any more. Wonderfully put. Put a list together of what his problems actually are. Test your observation about whether or not he's trying to change anything--as you say, he's just complaining. What I mean is, yes, it seems as if everything that he's avoided is now catching up with him. As we read the second act, look for it--does he do anything but complain?
The setting of the play really reinforces the idea of confinement. The house that Willy worked for is decrepit, falling apart, and has barriers surrounding its entirety. This can easily be likened to his mind- as he grows older, he is declining with the house. He remains stuck- in his ideals, in his job, in his life. He imposes his dreams on his sons, unable to surpass his own desires for the happiness of his children. Willy is not evolving with the times, he is unable to change or become better. The newer apartment buildings surrounding his little house really reinforces that idea for me. Inside the house, everything is very open. Everything can be seen at once; not many boundaries are placed. This can be a metaphor for the way Willy's mind now performs- he cannot control his memories or actions, cannot behave in a socially acceptable way. The dream sequences that occur out of no where are an example of this- when Willy "sees" Ben, he is in the middle of a conversation with Charley. He does not have the ability to differentiate between reality and memories.
Wow. "He imposes his dreams on his sons, unable to surpass his own desires for the happiness of his children. Willy is not evolving with the times, he is unable to change or become better. The newer apartment buildings surrounding his little house really reinforces that idea for me." This thought gave me pause. Something about the implications of not "evolving"--how not evolving is preventing his own happiness, and, more importantly, his children's happiness. Begs the question: if Willy is supposed to evolve with the times, what is he being asked to do, exactly? How has the nature of his job changed? How has the nature of relating to one's wife changed? Ultimately, how does he have to adapt or change in his fatherly role in order for Biff to find happiness?
Tammy: I love how you compared his run-down place to the surrounding buildings! I couldn’t agree more that it backs up your idea of confinement! The comparison of his home to the other places really can show the distinction between his close-minded self and the changes in society! I think the setting is a perfect example of what you said! His mindset contributes to his struggles with everyone around him!
"He struggles to be open with them and understand them because he tries to represent himself as someone who he is not. He doesn’t accept that he’s just an average middle class guy seeking the dream, but rather tries to portray himself as a very highly person who has accomplished much in life." Ouch. Is it natural for a man of his age to want to present his life as better than it really was? Wait. Nevermind that. Do we do that? Seriously. 40 and under crowd here: look at the way we build our resumes, pick and choose which selfies to put on FB, get defensive whenever someone calls attention to our flaws. How often do we present ourselves as some kind of idealized version? Now think about being 60 and you realize that....yikes...you've been lying to yourself all along.
You say that not being yourself makes it harder to understand others. DEEP! Think about that. Look at social networking. Do people find it harder to understand other people when represent themselves the way they do?
Mr. Strait, you make a very interesting point about the realization of insecurities. Everyone is sort of hypocritical in a way. We all have these flaws that we're able to overlook in ourselves but we can pinpoint in others. It opens up a very interesting conversation.
The set is very open, but at the same time, visibly divided. Willy has sectioned off parts of his life. He avoids sharing certain aspects of his life with his family, however, he cannot hide his disorders. Everyone is aware of the problems that Willy must have, same as the audience is aware of all the rooms in the house, even when only one is illuminated. I do feel bad for Willy. He has a mental disorder that is not being treated. His wife loves him but she’s an enabler and he isn’t getting the help he needs.
I cannot find my comment on here so I will write a new one. Lexie: I love how you compared the rooms to Willy's brain. I think it opens the audience up to know that something is wrong, but they don't exactly know what yet. That is the same for their family. They know he is sick, or even dying, but all they can say is stress. They cannot figure out the madness and chaos occurring beneath his scull. The open rooms reflects on how he cannot close a memory, and how little things can open up a new door into something that he may not have wanted to enter. It gives an insight to the audience into what he is experiencing.
Going off of what Ariel said, I agree that the openness of the set design of the play greatly reflects Willy and his mannerisms. I look at it as the audience can see things that others cannot. We are observing the Lomans from one point of view and catch things that the other individuals in the play may not catch. This idea is parallel to that of Willy when he has the flashback to the woman. Only he can see and reflect on it, but the audience is able to witness him and his actions while the flashback is occurring. We take a step into his mind to understand what is really going on in the situation. We as the audience have background information that characters like Linda do not have. Because he is the only one that holds these thoughts, it seems to be eating him alive. He feels guilt, and thus, treats the ones around him poorly. I too believe that the openness of the set design has more of a negative connotation that a positive one, much like what Tanja explained. The openness exposes the family to the audience, much like how Willy is exposed to these thoughts in his mind. I wonder if the set up of the play could be foreshadowing anything? What is the TRUE reason for why it is so openly exposed?
I think every aspect of the setting somehow connects and/or contributes to Willy’s state and his mind(even the little things). In the beginning, Willy walks in with large cases in the beginning. These cases represents the baggage he carries because of struggles which come from his own doings that follow up from his uncontrollable thinking. His thinking leads to uncontrollable actions that turn into regretful moments. From his regret and built up emotions, Willy’s tolerance for dissatisfaction in life becomes low. From this low tolerance comes his anger toward his sons because they aren’t doing anything in life. Although he can’t control all of his thoughts, he still has the freedom to somewhat control his emotions, which are hard. Because it’s hard for him to be happy, it’s hard also especially for his sons.
Kelia: I completely agree with you. I especially like how you perceived Willy walking in with the large cases in the beginning; I never saw it as representing all the baggage he has in his life but now that you've pointed it out I think it connects very well. Willy has so many regrets and mistakes that he's living with and the stress of his job is adding even more weight onto his shoulders. His mind is literally falling apart and he can't control that himself, just like you said.
It seems to me that willy is very stressed out with everything, not just work. I to agree that the baggage he comes in with at the beginning of the scene was more than just baggage. it represents all the bad things he has done in the past, and he can not get rid of his guilt.
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ReplyDeleteI’m thinking about researching the look of the home of middle America in the 1940s. It sounds anything but open, and Willy’s mind seems troubled by confinement as well. When Willy comes home, he seems tired and confused, mentally detached from his immediate surroundings, his own house. The stage is designed with transparent walls so that we can see the reactions of Linda and his two boys, so every time he shouts about his son’s laziness, we wonder if Biff can hear him. Does he want him to hear him, or is he so lost in himself that the world around him is somehow as “bricked” off as the house from the city? The flute that we hear seems almost pathetic, as if we’re supposed to feel sorry for him. He’s had another accident. His attention wandered on the way to a job, reminiscing, lost, so he got lost it sounds. And yet, later, he yells at his wife, contradicts himself constantly. Biff is lazy, “he’s anything but lazy”. Is he at some stage of Alzheimer’s? He proclaims that he’s in the “greatest country in the world” and then, in the next breath, he says, “There’s not a breath of fresh air in the neighborhood. The grass don’t grow any more, you can’t raise a carrot in the back yard.” Willy’s America is filled with walls, between himself and the present, between himself and his family, between himself and his community, between himself and what he wants to be the “greatest country in the world”.
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DeleteMr. Strait: I, too, was frustrated with him. I had a really hard time “feeling sorry for him”, especially when he later yells at Linda, when all the woman wants to do is care for him. She’s too forgiving. He’s an old fart who died a long time ago. I don’t think he’s suffering from anything. He’s about as dried up as the ground he can’t grow his carrots on. He’s disappointed with his kids and himself. The only walls that surround Willy Loman are cynicism and self-pity. He’s a salesman, so maybe all that lost “fresh air” has been blown away by a lifetime of his own hot air. The guy just needs a hug and a long, hot bubble bath with a pina colada.
I believe that the openness of the play can also refer to the openness in Willy's head. I don't mean that Willy is stupid, I mean the emptiness literally because of all he forgets. I think the writter mentions Willy's forgetfulness because he has Alzheimer's and I think this is best representated in the way the house is displayed. In the first scene when Willy is talking to Linda, Willy has many moments where he is shouting, contradicting, calm and mad within a couple of lines. I believe these outbursts are evidence of Willy's disease. When Willy yelled about his son's laziness, it was easy to tell that his sons could hear him. I believe that Miller made the set open to show the effect of Willy's Alzheimer's on his son, family and the rest of the home. I do not feel bad for Willy because I can tell that even though he has Alzheimer's, that many of his actions come from habit. When Willy is yelling at Linda you can tell that it was a habit of his because she herself is in the habit of making it seem that everything is okay. When he would say his son is lazy, she would say `oh no he's just trying to find himself'; Linda had come a custom to trying to calm Willy down as a way to deal with his anger . I also do not feel bad for him because I do believe that he did something wrong in his past, for example cheating on Linda. I based this theory on the evidence of all his flashbacks, especially the one about the mystery woman. I think karma has finally came around to him.
DeleteI think that the fact that the overall openness of the play’s set design shows Willy’s struggle with trying to be open to others but not being able to do it because he is closed off internally. He struggles with interacting with his wife and sons but he does seem to try; his intentions just seem to get lost in translation because of how he represents himself. Willy wants the best for his family- as evident by the fact that he has spent most of his life going after the American dream and working so that his family could have good lives. It just seems like the older he got, the more angry and depressed he became until he is just kind of going through the motions of life because it’s what he’s supposed to do. The open design is kind of a representation for the way that he wishes his life could be- he wants his sons to be able to hear him, to be able to see his family, and to not have these mental blocks that his (I’m assuming) Alzheimers/dementia puts up. I sort of do feel sorry for him because he does seem to be trying to hold it all together, but then he gets these episodes that screw it all up and make it harder for him to be the person he’s trying to really be.
ReplyDeleteI’m a little biased and I think Willy is a jerk. But I can see what you are saying. He is kind of hopeless in truly connecting to others. It’s like he has walls to prevent him from getting hurt. Were I a psychologist, I would say the walls originate from the pain and hurt due to his father leaving. Even though a father’s supposed to love him, just his family and his friends, his father left him, seeming like he didn’t love Willy, thus leading to Willy’s desperation to know about his father and his inability to appropriately love his family and friends. He’s partially afraid that once he truly connects and loves them, they will hurt him like his father, as well as the fact that he probably never learned how to properly love, after that traumatic experience. This inability to love due to his father, would also explain his inability to properly father his sons. He ignores Happy and taught Biff how to mooch by in life, with all that, “but you’re so physically attractive, fearless and full of spirit and personality,” and then, after Biff’s naturally failed miserably at life, Willy yells and complains.
DeleteTanja: That last comment--that every time he seems to be "holding it together" he experiencing some "episode" that screws it up--rings true for me. It's almost as if he's on the couch and the therapist keeps saying "go on" and, by going on, he remembers something else about these memories that he'd rather not see or know about.
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DeleteI did say that it is hard to feel sorry for Willy because of the cruel way he is treating all of his family members. However, I do agree that Willy is trying to be there for his family. When he has these dream sequences of his past life, it seems like he is trying to reconcile with the past, and trying to figure out where he went wrong in an attempt to turn it around. He wants the best for Biff, which is why he is on his case to have a stable job and make more money. We can’t forget Willy’s past, in a time where he appreciated Linda more and was kinder to Billy and Happy. I agree about the walls representing Willy’s state of mind: he is trapped and it seems that he’s going nowhere with mending his broken family. It’s like he is on the inside looking out. He is trapped in the walls of his mind and can’t escape to the open world with no boundaries and he is his worst enemy from trying to be the person he wants to be.
Tanja I ageee that with age willys emotions got out of whack and now that he is experiencing these problems with memory and its getting in the way of him being the best man he can be for his family and holding it together.
DeleteTanja- I think your opinion is interesting, but I had a different interpretation of the wall’s symbolism. Instead of the lack of walls meaning that Willy is struggling to be open, I took it as his life is like an open book. His family and even he, himself realize that his mind is not functioning properly or the same as it used to. I think the reason there are only some visible walls is because there are only some barriers to his thought expression. It is evident the set is mostly open and this is because Willy is always trying to say what he is thinking, which is seen through his loud and frequent outbursts.
DeleteI agree that willy wants to interact with his family, but internally he almost can't. He seems to have forgotten how, and seems nervous to just normally talk to any of his family members. And I 100% agree that the older he gets the more frustrated he gets. He wants so much for his family, and has put the pressure on himself. He stresses himself out more each and every day because of his longing for his family's well being.
DeleteTanja, I agree that the openess of the play is to represent Willy’s struggle with trying to be open to others but not being able to because he has closed off his heart. I think he stuggles with conveying what he wants to say in a way so that others understand him and when they do not reply to his cold heartedness he gets frustrated. I believe that he struggles with saying what he wants to say because of something that happened with the woman that he flashes back to; I think she broke his heart and that's why he closed it.
DeleteI feel like the lack of boundaries of the set displays the fact that Willy doesn't know how to compartmentalize his life anymore. He can't restrain himself, the memory of the "other woman" demonstrating also another time when he couldn't help himself. At that time, he fell prey to temptation (the cheating rat bastard). Now, he's falling to confusion, mental disarray, his emotions and urges, his depression. Just like the boundaries of the house are not definitely defined for the audience, the boundaries of Willy’s memories and reality are also indefinite. Such as playing with Charley in the present and talking to Ben in the past, Willy’s perceptions of reality and memory are warped and blurred together, no sense of organization and classification. He can’t control his guilt, can’t put it behind him, cruelly and stupidly taking it out on Linda, yelling at her and blaming her for things she had no control over and is trying to smooth over. He can’t control his mind and emotions, impinging unrightfully on his sons’ lives and living vicariously through them. He can’t even separate his fatherly disappointment with Biff and his own personal disappointment with himself, just as he can’t separate his two sons. He even though Happy is successful, Willy projects his disappointment about Biff on Happy as well, not even giving him the positive attention he so very much desires.
ReplyDeleteI can definitely see what you mean- he has become so worn down that “the boundaries of [his] memories and reality are also indefinite”. It’s interesting to think of the story in the way that you chose to, as the set being designed to represent his brain’s inability to have boundaries, which affect him negatively, compared to the way that I imagined an open set as more freedom and control. I weirdly can agree with you ideas even though they almost contradict my own, but it can be seen both ways I guess. And I also agree that he is unfairly taking it out on his wife and sons, who don’t deserve the kind of treatment he is giving them.
DeleteTanja: Yeah, same here. I was like, "...Wow, her thoughts are completely opposite from mine. ...but I completely agree." but not in the sense of "okay, I was wrong." But more of both totally work even though they totally contradict each other.
DeleteAriel: Great call on how he projects his disappointment with Biff on how he treats Happy. You articulated it very well. I've never thought to express it this way. Do you think Happy is successful? :)
DeleteAriel, I loved your analogy when comparing the open set design to Willy’s brain with his train of thought and inability to compartmentalize his life; he is undoubtedly enduring a mental disarray. What the audience sees and perceives of Willy is out of his control, much like how he cannot control what his family and other acquaintances think of him either. I liked this analogy because it made me view the story differently. When first reading, I would not have made that comparison. And Tanja, I loved how you contradicted the oxymoronic notion that you would believe an open set design would advocate a positive connotation, but in this situation, openness portrays a more negative connotation. My only question is, can we really say that Willy’s brain is incapable of constructing boundaries to control his frequent outbursts? That’s where I am having trouble finding sympathy for him, because if he truly is unable to maintain himself because of possible dementia, I would feel different than if he was going about these frequent outbursts with the full intent and knowledge of how he’s treating his family.
DeleteWalls play a very important part in the setting. While the walls distinguish reality from the dream sequences, I also saw the walls as a representation of the past and the present. I related the lack of walls to the past, during a time where it seemed like Willy had more of a grip on himself and his life circumstances. He sometimes had angry outbursts, such as pushing Bernard away, but they were less frequent. I saw the lack of walls as a time when Willy was more open with his family, when he didn’t take his disappointment out on his kids, and when his marriage with Linda seemed to be in somewhat better shape than it is in the present. I think a large turning point was when Willy had the affair with that woman. His guilt was clear when he yelled at Linda for mending the stockings. To me, that seemed like a turning point when walls started going up. In the present, Willy is closed off and isolated from his family, like being trapped within walls. He doesn’t appreciate Linda’s love for him, takes his disappointment out on Biff, and unfairly puts Happy in the middle of the family feud. He contradicts himself, and can’t ever seem to admit to his own shortcomings. Willy could be dealing with Alzheimer’s or dementia. However, it’s hard to feel sorry for him when his words and actions are tearing the entire family apart.
ReplyDeleteYou have a wonderful pun in that last sentence. If he's doing the tearing, then who's left to do the mending?
DeleteLinda! Wow, that last sentence was just the first words that came to my hand! I didn't even think of it that way.
DeleteLeslie. You need to reply to one of the comments. Go ahead and reply to Ariel or Tanja at this point.
DeleteLeslie: I agree with you whole heartedly about the lack of walls being a representation of what Willy's past was. It represents a time in his life where he had more fun and was more loving and caring than he is at this point in his life. Ever since his kid's moved out and he had that affair with that woman, he hasn't been the same man; overreacting to everything and not being appreciative of Linda's love for him.
DeleteAnd the fact that he forgets half the things he says now makes it seem like he doesn't care what anyone else has to say, which in turn, is "tearing" the family apart.
DeleteLeslie: I agree that Willy is closed off from his family. While they seem to be able to hear him across rooms, Willy is unable to hear them. The walls between them are put up by in his own mind. He’s stuck in the past because he thinks by being the best he can solve all of the problems he thinks brought him to the point he is in the present. I agree that Willy is quite dependent on Linda and that Linda does everything she can to provide a sense of reason to Willy. I think that while it is unfortunate that he seems to be dealing with dementia, I believe that he can more effectively deal with its effects if he opens up to the present more.
DeleteLeslie: I agree that the walls convey a sense of inescape from the madness within Willy's own mid, however I also find it interesting that the walls do not necessarily separate all the members of the family. Whilst Willy is ranting to Linda when he initially comes home, Biff and Happy are able to hear everything he is saying. I believe this aspect of the walls may go to show that Willy's own walls are self imposed and unecessary. Willy feels isolated and alienated from his family and those around him, yet the parallels drawn with the walls in his house go to show that he is in fact in constant contact with the people in his surroundings and simply does not realize it. Charlie repeatedly tries to help Willy and keep him stable, yet Willy is unable to recognize his efforts and still feels alone. I believe that the implied walls of the set of the play illustrate this concept of mental separation not physical separation. I do not feel sorry for Willy because while he may or may not struggle with a mental illness, he is the one unable to see the love and support of those around him such as his sons, Linda, or Charlie. Many of the problems in his life are self imposed and could be recified if Willy sought change, but he never does.
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DeleteOKAY.. It's 5:18 pm. Where are the rest of the comments and replies?
ReplyDeleteThey're coming Mr Strait. Don't worry.
DeleteI just replied to Tanja's comment Mr. Strait.
DeleteGot it. Thanks.
DeleteThe openness, fragileness, smallness of the house represents how much to Willy the modern American life of competition that the apartment buildings represent seem to crush and overwhelm him, making his house insignificant in turn. In Willy’s dream sequences, his area is an wider area, showing how more freedom he felt when he was younger but what he felt like had to do to achieve the American dream entreated on it as he aged. Now that Willy lacked success in achieving an American dream and is at an age he feels like is too late, he seems to be living through Biff in how he treats Biff. He keeps a trophy of Biff’s above the bed which shows how he idolizes the characteristics Biff has that Willy wishes he had -- he seems to idolize Biff’s previous lack of restraint with school, sports, and girls. Willy seems to be less confident in contrast, as he is self-deprecating about his looks and inability to make money He is angry at Biff for not making money when Willy is the one who has trouble making money. He says Biff is becoming moody when it is he himself becoming moody. He’s afraid that Biff will follow the path of him and amount to nothing -- he wants Biff to use the characteristics Willy thinks he lacks himself to achieve the dream Willy wasn’t able to achieve. In his ramblings he talks like Biff is younger because he’s stuck at the point where Biff had these characteristics more and Willy feels could have been shaped to become something. Him being stuck in the past is visible in how the boundaries between the past and the present are non-existent. To Willy the past and present are one and Biff is still the adolescent who worships him and can be molded into whatever he wants, so he can in a sense “save” him from his own life. I feel bad for Willy to a degree but he needs to take more responsibility to accept the life that he has and living in the past won’t change anything. He needs to appreciate the life has, deal with it, and stop imposing his fantasy on Biff where Biff becomes the man Willy wishes he was. Biff can chose to what he wants with his life.
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Delete"He wants Biff to use the characteristics Willy thinks he lacks himself to achieve the dream Willy wasn't able to achieve." Three years ago, when my son was in a six-year old rec soccer league, I witnessed two fathers come within inches of each others' face when one of their kids took down the other's kid in a slide tackle. One said it was legal, and the other disagreed, and they nearly came to punches over it. I was embarrassed for the both of them.
DeleteI would like to draw attention to the neighborhood in which the house is in. The surrounding houses and cars box the house in, giving it a feeling of stagnation which is exactly what willy is feeling. There is also a reference to two elm trees which are cut down and are now stumps. Elm trees are know for their out going and wild limbs and strength. A possible rendition of willy as a youthful adult. But now, like the tree, he is a boring old stump stuck in the same place.
ReplyDeleteSo I do feel bad for willy he is in a time of his life where everything seems to be closing in on him and he can't do much about so he is panicking and it's causing these memory lapses and relapses
DeleteI like that you made a point about stagnation or the confinement of the neighborhood that they lived in. At first I didn't really pick up on it because I wasn't visualizing it, but when I went over this scene again and we watched the clip from the film it was brought to my attention. Willy says "there's nk breath of fresh air". This is a sensation that people feel when they have anxiety. It seems that all the crowding around Willy has almost made him claustrophobic simply because he feels so trapped.As for the tree I think that it'sm also a symbol of the livelihood of Willy. It was a place where he and Biff put up a swing and made plans to have a hammock. Now the trees are gone and so is his relationship with his son.
DeleteI really like this string. The connection between that tree and domestic bliss as well as to Biff himself is impressive, especially when at the start of this play Willy says there is no room to grow anything in his yard anymore.
DeleteThe scene I paid a lot of attention to was the first one with Biff and Happy. They're both grown men staying in their childhood bedrooms. I think that it's ironic that they're back in the place that they spent most of their past in talking about what became of their future. Biff says to Happy that it's a place where they had "Lotta dreams and plans", but it seems none of them came true. Then Biff starts talking about his farm that he's been working on. It's in Texas, and he says back here it's spring time. Rebirth is a very obvious symbol for spring. Miller picked this season for Biff's job to show how it is something that will transform Biff. He's been jumping from job to job trying to find himself, and working on the farm will change him and turn him into the man he wants to be. Voilà rebirth. The setting is very important in this scene. Sure they're just in a bedroom, but it's their old bedroom, the one they grew up in. Miller purposely picked this of all places to show that both brothers have gotten nowhere in their lives. They're grown men back where they started.
ReplyDeleteIn the outset of the play, the openness of the house and the buildings that are surrounding the house really make Willy feel overwhelmed and perplexed. The lack of walls in the house represents what his life used to be like. He used to be a free and easy going person who had fun with his family: going on trips and hanging out with them in other situations. But once he hit his little "mid-life crisis" and had an affair with another woman, he changed. The lack of barriers in his life to stop him from doing anything made Willy lash out at Linda for no reason when she told him that she got a different type of CHEESE. The lack of walls also represent Willy's mind. His mind goes wherever it wantsand it's like his thoughtsthen disappear into thin air and then all of the sudden comes back to him. Do I feel bad for the guy? Not really, because he could stay home and get better, but instead, he goes out and pretty much puts himself in danger every time he gets on the road because something is wrong in his head.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't thought as much about the walls, but I like the points you brought up. I had thought of the lack walls providing openness and chaos, but having no barriers also showed different time periods or stages of Willy's life. With the boys up in their childhood room it represents the family at the time of the kids being young. Linda being a strong supporter of Willy in everything he does, shows his future by insuring she'll always be there. The current time is shown when Willy is freaking out over the cheese Linda got because it shows his stress from work and his "mid-life crisis."
DeleteOne of the first descriptions given of Willy includes, "He unlocks the door, comes into the kitchen, and thankfully lets his burden down, feeling the soreness of his palms." This sentence is representative of Willy's feelings towards his surroundings. He actually refers to the suitcases he uses for work as his "burden", and when he comes to his house, he tries to release this strain by setting them down. However he sees that he can't escape from the stress in his own home which is represented by his sore palms even after he lets go of the cases. This helps readers see that Willy's home is not a place where he can completely escape his problems. We also see that he is stressed out by changes in his neighborhood like the removal of trees or addition of apartments. This element of setting shows Willy's inability to calmly cope with changes in his life such as his relationships and job. Also by having Willy travel for his job, he experiences a regular change in setting. This sets up the idea of Willy having instability not only in his life but potentially in his mental state as well. The author really uses Willy’s setting, particularly his home, to introduce some of the main characters conflicts.
ReplyDeleteI realize the topic is the set design, but I wanted to bring attention to the two cases Willy carries in right at the beginning. I recognize that this starts off as a prop, but I was wondering if once these objects are set down if they then become a part of the set? It is never mentioned that they are picked up again. I think these cases are significant because they seem to symbolize the burdens Willy carries such as a dead end job, possible mental disorder, at least one unsuccessful child, and an unsettling past. I think the action of carrying this heavy luggage through the living room and kitchen and not just leaving it at the door defines Willy’s character as not being able to let things go, forcing him to carry these burdens around with him. I am surprised that at the age of sixty, he is still capable of handling things that heavy; I believe this is foreshadowing his breaking point, which may be the struggle with his mental disorder. According to the tone of this opening scene I think we as readers are supposed to sympathize with this overworked old man, but personally I think he could have handled his life in a different and better manner. He could have made a life for himself with a different job and referring to later in the act, he did not have to betray his family by cheating. I also think he contradicts himself too often and should state an opinion and stand by it. If it were not for so many bad choices, his burdens would not be so ridden with guilt and regret.
ReplyDeleteI think the lack of walls represents Willy's lack of control over his mind. He cannot, physically, control what he thinks. His mind is so sporadic, and seems to have no boundaries. This is also shown when he very loudly says his son is going nowhere, when obviously, he wouldn't want him to hear that. No matter how hard he tries, he says and thinks things he doesn't want to, and his frustration shows his old age and dissatisfaction with his life.
ReplyDeleteAlex: I agree that Willy has no control over his mind. I think that this can really be seen through the random occurrences of his daydreams, and the fact that they happen basically subconsciously. His stream of consciousness flows from one daydream to the next without any resistance. This is similar to the free flow of motion through the house due to the lack of walls.
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ReplyDeleteI think that his desire for openness reflects his desperation for him wanting to go back into the past and redo everything. The walls in his house and life reflect the predicaments that his past decisions have put him in, the guilt that he has to live with day by day, as well as the mental restrictions that he has to prevent himself from fixing anything. During his relapses, his state of mind is depicted as sense of "freedom,' meaning that he goes back to a time where he had a choice for things. It is just often that he chose the wrong choice to put him in the situation that he is in now. In his first flashback, he thought he was driving his old Chevy I believe, which had no windshield. He repeatedly brought himself back to a time where their were no barriers, because at the time he still believed he was on the road to endless possibilities. In a way I feel bad for Willy, just in the sense that he is a very hard worker, and does it for his family even into his 60's to give them a better life. However, just because most of his money goes there, doesn't mean his heart and sole are with them completely, and that is where I do not feel bad for him. He has had the option to be there for his family, but instead of being with the kids more, he chose to travel, and instead of being with his loving, supporting wife, he chose to be with "business ladies." They were his decisions, and he has to live with the consequences of them.
ReplyDeleteMadison: I agree with how you can both feel bad for Willy and also not at all depending on how you choose to view him. One way you can view him is as a hardworking man who at least is shown to care about his family in that he wants his sons to be successful. But in caring about the success of his sons, particularly Biff, is he entirely caring about Biff or is he in a way caring about himself because he's living through him? I like how you said that "just because most of his money goes [to his family] doesn't mean his heart and soul are with them completely." Any of the choices he has made in his life have been his own entirely. If he's burdened, it's because he's made the choices that have lead him to those burdens. And so when it comes down to it, I do not feel bad for him either.
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ReplyDeleteThe description of the set design in the very beginning has me interpreting Willy’s home as a symbol of him, and anything surrounding his home as a symbol of his burdens. It is stated in the play’s set design that Willy’s home is surrounded on all sides by a “solid vault of apartment houses.” This inclusion of the other buildings surrounding Willy’s house suggests a sense of confinement or stagnation. What does a vault do? It locks things in. Willy’s home is locked in the middle, telling us figuratively that Willy himself is trapped by something in his own life. He is stuck in a life in which he feels dissatisfied, is going nowhere, and possibly has some kind of mental disorder akin to Alzheimer’s. It is also mentioned that there is “an angry glow of orange” surrounding the house. Because Miller went out of his way to state that the glow is angry tells me that his burdens are not by any means light. They’re heavy like the cases he carries in at the start. In interpreting Willy’s home as a symbol of him, when it is said that it is a “small, fragile-seeming home” it reveals the idea that Willy is those things as well. He has been, and is continuing to, live his life weakly (which is why he attempts to live through his son instead.) Do I feel bad for Willy? No. His burdens of regret are things he has created for himself.
ReplyDeleteI feel that the house is highly representative of Willy. The outside is surrounded by apartment buildings, and closed in. I picture it as a little house that may be the last of it's kind in an expanding city. As modern buildings close in, the little house stays standing almost obliviously to the growth. This is like reality closing in on Willy while he is oblivious to it. He seems to not totally realize that his life didn't turn out the way he planned it, and is stuck in the past. This is similar to the house being stuck in the past while apartments spring up around it, and may be the cause of his growing daydreams. He is starting to realize how his life actually is and is trying to escape it through reminiscing.
ReplyDeleteEthan, i agree that the apartments that are rising up mirror the new barriers in Willy's life. The apartments are inescapable but the problems that Willy has seem to stay because Willy refuses to see them/solve them. The apartments act as a source of confinement which mirror the problems in Willy's life. They seem to confine him, but because of Willy's stubborn ways, they will confine Willy's mental state for a while.
DeleteI agree with both Ethans. Especially in the fact of the city expanding around his home. I believe that, just as the city is encroaching on the house, Willy's problems are encroaching on him. He is running out of places to hide from them as time goes on. The idea of confinement does seem to play a big role in the set of this play.
DeleteAt first, I thought that Linda was completely in denial of her husbands problems. Whenever he would relate to something being wrong she would quickly dismiss it and conjure up an excuse. What I have come to realize is that it's not denial, it's ignorance. She has believed every lie that Willy has given her, from their finances, to his job, and to his mistress. This is why Linda feels the need to defend her husband, in her mind nothing has gone wrong and so she chooses to stand by her husband. That is her most domineering trait, loyalty. However in some ways Willy is more ignorant than she is. Linda is still very caring and she showed concern when Biff was stealing and growing aggressive, while Willy was pretending it wasn't unfolding I'm front of him. Linda is caring, peaceful, and dependable, but she's very much oblivious.
ReplyDeleteLinda, as a character, is realistic and definitely one of the most complex personalities in the play. She is the glue that holds the family together, the one who maintains the peace. While at first it seemed as though she was ignorant of the problems that Willy was facing, she is more than aware. Her actions define her as a person- deeply loyal, and protective to a fault. Although she harbored suspicions of Willy's affair, she maintains her fierce defense of him, protecting him from any kind of criticism. She encourages him and builds him up, proving her all-encompassing love for him. Her character is in a difficult situation, where she must decide the best course of action for Willy- to feign ignorance in order to not further agitate his condition, or to face it head on? She represents how solutions are not always black and white; she is an emotionally driven woman, who did her best to sustain her family.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the set is used as a representation of Willy's mental state. The invisible walls of the set are divisions that are acknowledged by the actors are not observed by the audience, just as Willy's hallucinations are real and physical to him though not tangible to those observing him. This concept of intangible divisions also represent the ability for Willy to change, yet he holds himself back. The walls created by Willy, though obstructing and immovable to him, are actually impermanent. The house they live in is portrayed as dilapidated and withering, and it is given that WIlly does not have the time or money to make the improvements to it. Willy believes that it is his new boss that is preventing him from making a better life for himself when it is actually his low sales that prevent him from moving up in the company. What Willy perceives as a barrier is really just an obstacle that he is unwilling to attempt to overcome. He is just stuck feeling sorry for himself and his circumstances, and is unable to try to change himself, so he pushes the need for change and accomplishment onto his sons. Overall, the clues left by the set allow vital insights into the mental state of Willy and offer explanations for his actions.
ReplyDeleteThe house that Willy lives in reminds me a lot of Willy himself. The house has clear evidence of deterioration. But at one point, the house was not like this. It had fresh paint on it. It was surrounded with houses alike. But as time went on, things changed, apartments went up, and like Willy, the house aged. The paint chipped, the walls became barren and invisible. This is like Willy's mental state. His mental state, like the house, is deteriorating. And with the apartments rising, a sense of confinement became evident. Like the house, Willy had a sense of confinement too. But it seemed like he created this or exacerbated it. He felt that his work was a barrier to him but was it really impossible to escape? Willy's mental state is on a decline and is mirrored with the house that he and Linda live in.
ReplyDeleteThe house is described as looking fragile and that "an air of the dream clings to the place". Similar to his house, Willy has become fragile, although it is much more mentally than physically for him. Willy also continues to cling to the dream that he has for his life, his job, and his family - especially for Biff. Taking a look at the actual set up of the play’s stage, it also connects with Willy’s state. The stage is described as having a one dimensional roof, and invisible wall lines and because of this, the house is basically incomplete since it appears to be missing certain pieces. This is just like Willy’s mind, he is no longer completely there anymore. As for feeling bad for Willy, I do for the most part. I believe many of Willy’s attitude, actions, and words stem from the fact that his mind is slowly deteriorating, which is something he cannot do anything to control. When we get flashbacks of the past, Willy seems to be much more together and treats his family better. Although he may be this way due to what we’re assuming is dementia, I do think he could try a bit harder to be more appreciative and respectful of his family. Linda bends herself backwards to make sure he is taken care of in any way that he needs. As for Biff, Willy doesn’t even try to consider his happiness, which should be the most important to him, but all he wants is for him to work as a businessman.
ReplyDeleteTaylor, I like how you brought up that the house is incomplete like Willy's mind. As he descends further into his disease, his mind is becoming more and more fragmented. It's difficult to sympathize with Willy because of the cruel ways he treats others, but it's also unfair to disregard his disease and say he's a jerk. I also feel bad for him, because he does seem like at one point in his life he really truly cared for his family.
DeleteMy favourite part about the initial set design is the background music. The music is explained at being a flute, and we find out later in the story that the flute is actually an instrument Willy's father played. I think this illustrates how the absence of Willy's father in his life has reflected itself through his own life throughout the years. However, another thing to note about the physically visible characteristics of the house is relative proximity. While it is a play and it seems obvious that we need to see each place in which scenes take place it's interesting to note that instead of assigning it one room and switching sets, or perhaps only writing in that one room, he divides the house. He chooses to show the entirety of the house on the stage. It makes everything appear cramped. I think this simple spacial gesture can reckon to explain how Willy is just another "middle class" Brooklyn man, struggling to provide for his family. His house isn't all that big even though he complains of it being empty now that he can afford it.
ReplyDeleteTo me, the house is a representation of Willy. It is described as confined, with high rises around it blocking window views. Also, the paint and walls chipped and dilapidated. Though the house is physically broken, Willy is mentally broken. The city is moving in on the house, just as Willy's problems are moving in on him. This means he no longer can continue to run from them and eventually he must face them. Willy seems to complain frequently yet does nothing to change it and often he dwells on the past. He runs from his problems but as time goes on they catch up with him, just as it has with his home.
ReplyDelete"The city is moving in on the house, just as his problems are moving in on him." He can't run from them any more. Wonderfully put. Put a list together of what his problems actually are. Test your observation about whether or not he's trying to change anything--as you say, he's just complaining. What I mean is, yes, it seems as if everything that he's avoided is now catching up with him. As we read the second act, look for it--does he do anything but complain?
DeleteThe setting of the play really reinforces the idea of confinement. The house that Willy worked for is decrepit, falling apart, and has barriers surrounding its entirety. This can easily be likened to his mind- as he grows older, he is declining with the house. He remains stuck- in his ideals, in his job, in his life. He imposes his dreams on his sons, unable to surpass his own desires for the happiness of his children. Willy is not evolving with the times, he is unable to change or become better. The newer apartment buildings surrounding his little house really reinforces that idea for me. Inside the house, everything is very open. Everything can be seen at once; not many boundaries are placed. This can be a metaphor for the way Willy's mind now performs- he cannot control his memories or actions, cannot behave in a socially acceptable way. The dream sequences that occur out of no where are an example of this- when Willy "sees" Ben, he is in the middle of a conversation with Charley. He does not have the ability to differentiate between reality and memories.
ReplyDeleteWow. "He imposes his dreams on his sons, unable to surpass his own desires for the happiness of his children. Willy is not evolving with the times, he is unable to change or become better. The newer apartment buildings surrounding his little house really reinforces that idea for me." This thought gave me pause. Something about the implications of not "evolving"--how not evolving is preventing his own happiness, and, more importantly, his children's happiness. Begs the question: if Willy is supposed to evolve with the times, what is he being asked to do, exactly? How has the nature of his job changed? How has the nature of relating to one's wife changed? Ultimately, how does he have to adapt or change in his fatherly role in order for Biff to find happiness?
DeleteTammy: I love how you compared his run-down place to the surrounding buildings! I couldn’t agree more that it backs up your idea of confinement! The comparison of his home to the other places really can show the distinction between his close-minded self and the changes in society! I think the setting is a perfect example of what you said! His mindset contributes to his struggles with everyone around him!
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ReplyDelete"He struggles to be open with them and understand them because he tries to represent himself as someone who he is not. He doesn’t accept that he’s just an average middle class guy seeking the dream, but rather tries to portray himself as a very highly person who has accomplished much in life." Ouch. Is it natural for a man of his age to want to present his life as better than it really was? Wait. Nevermind that. Do we do that? Seriously. 40 and under crowd here: look at the way we build our resumes, pick and choose which selfies to put on FB, get defensive whenever someone calls attention to our flaws. How often do we present ourselves as some kind of idealized version? Now think about being 60 and you realize that....yikes...you've been lying to yourself all along.
DeleteYou say that not being yourself makes it harder to understand others. DEEP! Think about that. Look at social networking. Do people find it harder to understand other people when represent themselves the way they do?
Mr. Strait, you make a very interesting point about the realization of insecurities. Everyone is sort of hypocritical in a way. We all have these flaws that we're able to overlook in ourselves but we can pinpoint in others. It opens up a very interesting conversation.
DeleteThe set is very open, but at the same time, visibly divided. Willy has sectioned off parts of his life. He avoids sharing certain aspects of his life with his family, however, he cannot hide his disorders. Everyone is aware of the problems that Willy must have, same as the audience is aware of all the rooms in the house, even when only one is illuminated. I do feel bad for Willy. He has a mental disorder that is not being treated. His wife loves him but she’s an enabler and he isn’t getting the help he needs.
ReplyDeleteI cannot find my comment on here so I will write a new one. Lexie: I love how you compared the rooms to Willy's brain. I think it opens the audience up to know that something is wrong, but they don't exactly know what yet. That is the same for their family. They know he is sick, or even dying, but all they can say is stress. They cannot figure out the madness and chaos occurring beneath his scull. The open rooms reflects on how he cannot close a memory, and how little things can open up a new door into something that he may not have wanted to enter. It gives an insight to the audience into what he is experiencing.
DeleteGoing off of what Ariel said, I agree that the openness of the set design of the play greatly reflects Willy and his mannerisms. I look at it as the audience can see things that others cannot. We are observing the Lomans from one point of view and catch things that the other individuals in the play may not catch. This idea is parallel to that of Willy when he has the flashback to the woman. Only he can see and reflect on it, but the audience is able to witness him and his actions while the flashback is occurring. We take a step into his mind to understand what is really going on in the situation. We as the audience have background information that characters like Linda do not have. Because he is the only one that holds these thoughts, it seems to be eating him alive. He feels guilt, and thus, treats the ones around him poorly. I too believe that the openness of the set design has more of a negative connotation that a positive one, much like what Tanja explained. The openness exposes the family to the audience, much like how Willy is exposed to these thoughts in his mind. I wonder if the set up of the play could be foreshadowing anything? What is the TRUE reason for why it is so openly exposed?
ReplyDeleteI think every aspect of the setting somehow connects and/or contributes to Willy’s state and his mind(even the little things). In the beginning, Willy walks in with large cases in the beginning. These cases represents the baggage he carries because of struggles which come from his own doings that follow up from his uncontrollable thinking. His thinking leads to uncontrollable actions that turn into regretful moments. From his regret and built up emotions, Willy’s tolerance for dissatisfaction in life becomes low. From this low tolerance comes his anger toward his sons because they aren’t doing anything in life. Although he can’t control all of his thoughts, he still has the freedom to somewhat control his emotions, which are hard. Because it’s hard for him to be happy, it’s hard also especially for his sons.
ReplyDeleteKelia: I completely agree with you. I especially like how you perceived Willy walking in with the large cases in the beginning; I never saw it as representing all the baggage he has in his life but now that you've pointed it out I think it connects very well. Willy has so many regrets and mistakes that he's living with and the stress of his job is adding even more weight onto his shoulders. His mind is literally falling apart and he can't control that himself, just like you said.
DeleteIt seems to me that willy is very stressed out with everything, not just work. I to agree that the baggage he comes in with at the beginning of the scene was more than just baggage. it represents all the bad things he has done in the past, and he can not get rid of his guilt.
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