Charley Flashcards
“I offered you a job…
You can make fifty dollars a week. And I won’t send you on the road.”
Charley repeatedly offers Willy a job that would be more suitable for him than his current one, but is always turned down because of Willy’s hubris.
“The only thing you got in this world is…
what you can sell. And the funny thing is that you’re a salesman, and you don’t know that.”
Charley’s quote reflects the ideology of American consumerism and capitalism at the time
Act 2, Charley to Willy after Will says Howard fired him even though he named him Howard, and Charley tells him those things don’t matter anymore.
Charley is Miller’s authorial voice: he points out that Willy’s life is shaped around sales and materialism, so his value is based off his literal monetary value. He could also mean that Willy doesn’t understand he’s a salesman and not something bigger.
“He’s a man way out there…
in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine… A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory.”
Charley in the requiem
Eulogizes Willy as a victim of his difficult proffesion. His poetic assessment of sales defends Willy’s death, attributing to Willy’s work the sort of mythic quality that Willy himself always envisioned about it. In the end this quotation relies on the image of a dream. All Willy had was a dream. Once the dream shattered, his life shattered with it.
“Charley is not - liked. He’s liked…
but he’s not - well liked.”
Act 1, Willy to Biff and Happy (flashback)Willy’s false feeling of superiority over Charley is passed down to Biff and Happy. Willy is under the impression that being liked is everything, which is something his upbringing with Ben and what is valued in society has taught him.
“What the hell are you…
offering me a job for?”
Act 1, Willy to Charley
Willy’s excessive pride means that he believes himself to be in a secure position. By refusing to stoop down below Charley, who he believes himself superior to, he disadvantages himself.
“A man who can’t handle…
tools is not a man. You’re disgusting.” Act 1, Willy to Charley
He turns on Charley as a way of assuring himself he is still superior. All he proves is that he is insulting, and that Charley is tough for putting up with it.
Mocks Charley to Ben: “Great athlete! Between him and his son Bernard they can’t hammer a nail.” pg40
“Willy, when are you going to…
grow up?” Act 2, Charley to Willy (episode)
Charley becomes the voice of reason, showing that Willy’s constant support of Biff is unfounded, and reveals a deeper insecurity about him
Repeated pg 76 when willy refuses to accept Charely’s job offer: “When the hell are you going to grow up?”
Charley’s appreciation of Willy
Nobody dast blame this man. You don’t understand: Willy was a salesman. And for a salesman, there is no rock bottom to the life. He don’t put a bolt to a nut, he don’t tell you the law or give you medicine. He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back—that’s an earthquake. And then you get yourself a couple of spots on your hat, and you’re finished. Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory.(Requiem)
Repetition of ‘nobody dast blame this man’ - Miller doesn’t want us to blame Willy, he wants us to blame the system. Challenging attitudes towards suicide and mental illness.
Metaphor of earthquake reinforces that it wasn’t Willy’s fault.
[on the verge of tears] Charley, you’re the only…
friend I got. Isn’t that a remarkable thing?
Tragic protagonist of Willy
- The audience is truly provoked with catharsis at this point, and we see the pain that willy has caused himself by buying into this American Dream and on some level can relate to Willys situation
Willy confides in Charley
“I got nothin’ to give him, Charley, I’m clean, I’m clean.” pg34 (nothing to give Biff)
‘Charley, I’m strapped, I’m strapped. I don’t know what to do. I was just fired.’
Tragic protagonist of Willy.
- willy has a subtle and quick moment of anagnorisis,where he acknowledges his situation and the likelihood of him being wrong. but quickly reverts back to hiding behind his hubris facade.
Charley’s first appearance
(He is a large man, slow of speech, laconic, immovable. In all he says, despite was he says, there is pity, and now trepidation) pg32
Foreshaodwing something bad about to happen
“Don’t know what it is. My New England man comes back and he’s bleedin, they murdered him up there.”
pg40 Charley is starting to acknowledge the fact that Willy’s work is making him crazy. We see that Willy must have been a different person before he began to work in New England, and that his work was killing him mentally.
“How do you like this kid? Gonna argue a case in front of the Supreme Court.”
pg75 - Charley is very proud of his son, and he takes great pride in what Bernard has accomplished. However unlike Willy he doesn’t mean to rub it in or brag about his sons success.
Willy: “The Supreme Court! And he didn’t even mention it!” pg75
“He don’t have to- he’s gonna do it.’
This line shows Charley’s attitude toward his own and his son’s success. Instead of him having to show people how successful he is, he rather just do what he has to do and have people notice on their own. His one quote shows the contrast between him and Willy.
“what the hell is goin’ on in your head?”
pg76: Charley knows that it’s psychological
Willy: “I’ll rap you one” (He’s ready to fight)
Charley: (kindly, going to him)
Juxtaposition/contrast
“why must everybody like you? pg77
Charley’s question highlights that Willy’s focus on popularity and superficial success is misplaced.He points out that even a successful figure like J.P. Morgan, a powerful financier, wasn’t necessarily well-liked, but people respected him for his wealth and power.
“Willy, nobody’s worth nothin’ dead” pg77
Willy Loman’s tragic downfall stems from his inability to distinguish between his value as an economic resource and his identity as a human being. Charley tried to remind Willy of his value as a human being.
