Happy

Question 1

”[_________ is like a visible colour on him]”

Answer 1

sexuality

Question 2

“You’re an _______”- To Biff Act 1

Answer 2

idealist

Question 3

What is ironic about Happy declaring

“You’re an idealist” Act 1

Answer 3

It is ironic because it is Happy and Willy who live in the dream world convincing themselves through self deception that they possess success, this then highlights the implication that Happy will follow the same tragic fall s his father

Question 4

“He lived there about ___ _______ and sold it….. He can;t _____ __ once it’s finished” Act 1

Answer 4

two months

enjoy it

Question 5

“I’m _____” To biff Act 1

Answer 5

lonely

Question 6

“I don’t know what ___ ____ I’m workin’ for” Act 1

Answer 6

the hell

Question 7

“Everybody around me is __ ____ that I’m constantly _______ __ _____” To biff Act 1

Answer 7

so false

lowering my ideals

Question 8

What are “ideals”?

“everybody around me is so false that I’m constantly lowering my ideals” To biff Act 1

Answer 8

satisfying one’s conception of what is perfect

Question 9

What quote contradicts Happy when he said to Biff

“You’re an idealist”? and why

Answer 9

“when he walks into the store the waves part in front of him” , this exaggerative and religious imagery is suggestive of Happy’s aspirations to have extensive wealth in the hierarchy of capitalist america which is an unrealistic aim to attain

Question 10

“Hap Loman can ____ ___ ____” Act 1

Answer 10

make the grade

Question 11

What Willy quote does

“Hap Loman can make the grade” Act 1 compare to in Act 2 ?

Answer 11

“I am not dime a dozen! I am Willy Loman”

Question 12

“I have an ____-_________ _____ __ __________” Act 1

Answer 12

over-developed sense of competition

Question 13

“___________ bum” - Linda to Happy Act 1

Answer 13

philandering

Question 14

What is meant by Linda calling Happy a

“philandering bum”? Act 1

Answer 14

a man who enters casual relationships with women

Question 15

“He’s been ______ __ ____ _______” Act 1

Answer 15

trying to kill himself

Question 16

“I know every _______ in his _____” Act 1

Answer 16

thought

mind

Question 17

“Biff, his ____ is in _____ ______!” Linda Act 1

Answer 17

life

your hands

Question 18

What is the significance of Linda claiming to
“Biff, his life is in your hands!” Act 1 ?]

fault

Answer 18

This demonstrates that Linda as a wife and a woman is unable to help Willy due to her subordinate role, therefore transfers the responsibility of Willy’s “life” onto Biff, a man. Clearly Miller illustrates here the inevitability of Willy’s fall as Linda does not understand that it the falsity of the American Dream that cripples his mind rather than the absence of his sons which were a by product of his reluctance to let go of the dream that left him in despair. It could also be said that Linda arguably blames Biff for Willy’s mental fatigue as “hands” could be implied to take the purpose of blame (e.g Lady Macbeth’s hands has alluded the common phrase ‘the blood’s on your hands’) and therefore conveys the point that she holds him accountable for not being successful

Question 19

“No, thats not __ ______. He’s just a ___” Act 2

Answer 19

my father

guy

Question 20

“I’m gunna _____ ____ _______!” - Requiem

Answer 20

beat this racket

Question 21

“It’s the only _____ ___ ___ _____.” Requiem

Answer 21

dream you can have

Question 22

How does Happy try to compensate for his lack of acknowledgement in work?

Answer 22

he suggests that he would love to show off his physical prowess in the store by outfighting the others and the competition for job success is transformed into a competition for the more physical pleasure of sexual success

Question 23

How does Happy explain how he views women?

Answer 23

he sees them as conquests and takes pleasure in seducing women colleagues for sport

Question 24

What 2 things in the opening of the play display a rather pathetic picture of an old man?

Answer 24

the arch supports in his shoe and a motherly wife

Question 25

Why does Happy hate himself for sleeping with women involved with his senior colleagues?

Answer 25

as fundamentally he is honest

Question 26

Happy’s worry about ruining women refers to the moral attitude dating from nineteenth century, when….?

Answer 26

when a women who had sex might never get married because of her reputation

Question 27

Willy sometimes gives perceptive advice however he does not understand it himself, such as when he tells his son Happy “The world is an oyster, but you don’t crack it open on a mattress”
What does this mean?

Answer 27

this means that you have to work hard to succeed, but it also implies that going to bed with people is not a means to economic and social success

Question 28

What does Happy represent?

Answer 28

he is the stunted incarnation of Willy’s worst traits and the embodiment of the lie of the happy American Dream. He is one-dimensional and static throughout the play, having gained no self-insight; his empty vow to avenge his father’s death by finally “beat[ing] this racket” provides evidence of his critical condition. For Happy who has lived in the inflated expectations of his brother, there is no escape for the indoctrination of the Dream. His disease is irreparable and lacks the capacity for self-analysis which has saved Biff by the end of the play. As he does not possess a hint of the latent thirst for knowledge that proves Biff’s salvation. Ultimately he is a duped figure destined, alike Willy, to be swallowed up by the force of blind ambition that fuels his insatiable sex drive.