Abandonement And Betrayal Flashcards
What is the abandonment and betrayal theme?
• from inspiration by the love for his family, willy ironically abandons his family the same way his father abandoned him. The tragedy of Willys death comes about because of his inability to distinguish between his values and an economic resource and his identity as a human being, which deteriorates his ego through the play as he comes to realise his failure and unsuccessful career. The woman, with whom Willy cheats on Linda with, feeds his ego by “liking” him. His pride of infidelity slowly turns to a feeling of shame when he sees that by giving him the stocking to the woman, he is sabotaging his role as a provider. He never sees that his love is worth more than any of the sales he has done.
How does the theme link through the play?
• the link between love and portrayal is present throughout the play: part of biffs revelation at the plays climax it is revealed that Willy has betrayed his son biff by encouraging him to settle for nothing less than greatness, thus making the compromises of the real world impossibly difficult. Happy, and even Linda, also betray Willy out of a kind of impulse to not shake him out of his illusions, which forces Willys fragile mind to deal alone with the growing discrepancy between his dreams and his life.
“I have such _______. Such _______ thoughts.”
• this passage shows willy loman arriving back from a slow day of selling and stating that he couldn’t make it to his destination. Linda, his wife, asks him what’s wrong and, avoiding the truth, willy voids the question and tells her he has “such strange thoughts”. Here, we begin to see the slow unravelling of Willy loman; a man with an unrealistic view of the American dream. He measures the worth of his own life in the amount of money he has, yet we will come to learn he will never attain his dreams. Death of a salesmen is Arthur millers commentary on what the American dream is and how it can break people. People were promised a life of financial freedom by persuing their dreams, believing that work meant wealth. Willy feels a sense of betrayal as he has been left with an element of purposelessness that he can’t define. He doesn’t understand that the AD has betrayed him and the unrewarding nature of his constant idealism of what it means to be wealthy leaves him directionless.
“Work a __________ to pay off a house. Finally _____ it and there’s nobody to live in it.”
• again, reinforcing the last point, willy reveals the dark aspects to the American dream and how, like many, he has worked his entire life to provide for his family. However, he has worked so much that he has missed out on most of his children’s lives. He continues to tell Linda “some people accomplish things”, suggesting the time he has lost with his sons was pointless. He hasn’t accomplished anything and feels an underlying sense of dissatisfaction and betrayal because of the effects of the realism of the American dream. It quite literally foreshadows Willys and many others lives who live the reality of the ‘American dream’ as he does indeed pay off the house, but he isn’t alive to live within it.
“Willy you are the most __________ man in the ______”
Handsomest
World
• linda tries to comfort willy here after he tells her people have been laughing at him and calling him a “walrus”. Willy is embarassed by his body so Linda replies with reinforcement that he is handsome. Here we see how loyal Linda is to Willy and that even besides their tough financial position and his likability at work, she still loves Willy for willy which completely contrasts to Willy, on the other hand, as he is not so loyal to Linda. In fact, he betrayed her with another women. Willys double standards enforce how other traits such as trust and love are often overlooked in the hunger of attempting to reach financial freedom. He betrays Linda, though as the play progresses we as audiences see an element of guilt eat him up and lead him to an impending death.
“I don’t say he’s a ______ man. Willy loman never made a lot of _______. His name was never in the _______. But he’s a human being and a terrible thing is happening to him.”
Great
Money
Paper
• in this passage we are greeted with Linda’s response into Willys son, biff, making the mistake of calling his father “crazy”. Here in Linda’s iconic speech, she explains that her husband is going through a horrible time. A horrible time of being betrayed by an idealised version of the American dream due to his brothers bens success. Linda enforces that no matter his flaws, he is a human being - just as everyone else is who tries and succeeds in achieving the ‘American dream - he deserves to be taken care of. Unlike the other characters in the play, Linda views Willy as a hero - she sees his humanity as an accomplishment, even though they may seem small or pathetic to others. Linda feels as though her sons have betrayed their father by accusing him of being crazy. However, as a modern day critic, I believe Linda has an element of blame in feeding Willys disillusionment and not trying to act upon his helpless dream just as biff does in the climax of the play.
“Your _______ came to me the day you were born and asked me what I thought of the name ________”.
“I _________ that willy, but there isn’t a ______ here for you”
Father
Howard
Appreciate
Spot
• in this passage willy goes to meet with Howard Wagner, the son of the owner of the company he works for. He asks Howard to keep him in New York for a lower salary however Howard refuses. Although 36 years old, Howard acts patronisingly towards Willy here. He is a much younger man than Willy, but doesn’t respect him - like so many others in Willys life. Although willy idealises these kind of connections and assumes that being likeable and loyal is the ultimate recipe for success. Howard here shuts this down. Willy is positioning these exact traits in the wrong aspects of his life in an attempt to gain his American dream. Just how he doesn’t stay loyal to Linda but believes loyalty will get you places in the corporate world. Willy helping Howard’s father pick his name is what Willy believes will get him into the position he wants, though this just isn’t that important to Howard. Thus the very thing that Willy counted on here, abandons and betrays him - once again.
“You end up ______ more _______ than alive”
Worth
Dead
• in this passage, Willy verbally communicates the idea he has been suggesting throughout the play; self worth is measured through wealth. Without financial wealth in his life he believes he is likely to be worth more dead (as his family would gain his life insurance policy). This can often be interpreted as Willys anagnorisis as Willy has now fully communicated that he understands what he must do to gain financial freedom. Willy lives an aimless and mediocre life and feels betrayed by the American dream due to this as after “all the highways, appointments and the years” his endurance has resulted to nothing. Showing the dark, realistic aspect of the American dream and how following your dreams results in freedom. However, willy measuring his self worth through the idea of financial wealth is often a betrayal on his family I believe. He has a loving family who has supported him to their very best but willy does not see comfort through the sentimental value of life as they do, he sees money.
“I even ________ myself that I’d be a __________ for him! He gave me one look and I realised what a __________ _____ my whole life has been!”
Believed
Salesman
Ridiculous lie
• biff returns from trying to meet with his old boss Ben Oliver. However when waiting for bill all day Ben didn’t even recognise biff. This causes biff to wonder why he even thought he could be a salesman in the first place. Biff is in the same dangerous, self destructive cycle that his father is in. Parallel to Willys moment with Howard, biff has been abandoned by someone he had an idealised version of. In his own fantasy, he imagined bill as his friend and business associate, loving his ideas. But similar to his father, biffs dreams have been warped by his expectations of reality. Bill does not care about him, and biff will never be what he truly wants.
“You - you gave her _______ ________”
Mamas stockings
• willy here sinks into another memory of when his elder son, biff, found his father with another woman in his hotel room. Biff caught the woman asking for a pair of stockings, his mother’s stockings. Biff is heartbroken of his infidelity. Once again, the stockings are used as a symbol of betrayal. They are the image that willy and biff carry with them, an emblem of that night. Biff refuses to take math and throughout the play we hear Willy blame biffs lack of his idealised success on the fact he failed math. However, it in reality it was this heart shattering moment of disillusionment. The man that biff had always looked up to is now a fraud. This forever warps biffs ideas of the American dream and he now sees that it is all an impossible promise, leaving him directionless in life. Almost reflecting how willy has been betrayed, though willy does not recognise the truth and hides behind a facade of human hubris that brings him to an impending death.
“I made the last _________ on the ______ today. Today, _____, and there’ll be __________ home”
Payment
House
Dear
Nobody
• in this passage Linda stands over Willys grave and rephrases Willys ironic statement earlier in the play of “working a lifetime to pay off a house and there’s nobody to live in it”. The irony of the American dream is clear here. Linda was only able to reach the financial freedom, which the American dream promises, due to the life insurance policy collected after Willys death. Willy knew that effortlessly working in an attempt to achieve his American dream would kill him, however he stuck on a facade of human hubris as he could not come to terms with his own failure in the corporate and family world. Because of this, Linda feels abandoned as she appreciated Willy, for Willy. But she cannot accept the reality of his death. The American dream has been realised, but he isn’t there to see it. It is just empty money, without life and meaning behind it.
