Everybody Loves Willy

Blog Post #4- 7/28/11

     I noticed Happy told Willy he has lost weight multiple times. Happy will say something like, "Im loosing weight, you notice, Pop?" Biff then immediately jumps in and mentions something about himself to focus Willy's attention. A couple pages later, Happy mentions again that he has lost weight and Willy does not even acknowledge him. This shows that Happy is desperate for a little bit of attention and praise for accomplishing something. He knows that his father is mainly concerned with Biff and he just wants to be noticed too. I noted that this was very sad how Willy has chosen a favorite child and focuses his attention solely on Biff. This small detail of Happy fishing for praise might be a reason why he became so outgoing as an adult. He realized that he had to be bold and go after what he wanted in order to be noticed.
     Biff is appearing to be a leader to other boys his age. When his mother Linda said, "The way they obey him!" one can definitely tell that his team respects him and follows his commands. In this dialogue, I remembered that the big plans he had for Biff ended up not being fulfilled. This is sad because it makes me think of reality when many kids and their parents go through a similar situation.
     A few pages later I wrote that Linda always keeps Willy in check. She reminds him about his finances and all the places his money has been going to. Whenever he feels down and is stressing about money, she will say something like, "Well, next week you'll do better." She is consistently supportive and encouraging regardless of his attitude towards her. After this he say, "I'm well liked in Hartford. You know, the trouble is, Linda, people don't seem to take to me." Here he is saying that he uses his popularity for business and without that, he does not do as well. Linda proceeds to compliment him and tell him how proud she is of him. She is impressed by him when she talks about their sons and says, "Few men are idolized by their children the way you are." Linda obviously loves Willy and reassures him that he is indeed important.
     Throughout the play, one may notice that Willy has a lot of pride. When Linda mends her stockings, he gets angry because he wants to be able to simply buy her new ones. She does not mind, but his pride flares up whenever he catches her mending them.