willy quotes Flashcards
‘They don’t need me in New York. I’m the New England man. I’m vital in New England.’
completely identifies with his job,willy inflates his position in New England to cover up the reality that the New York office does not need him.
Willy’s self-importance barely conceals his fear that he is not needed in New England, either.
Willy’s mental survival depends on his believing he is essential, which is why he deceives himself so often throughout the play.
‘You and Hap and I, and I’ll show you all the towns. America is full of beautiful towns and fine, upstanding people…’
Willy inflates his own importance in order to impress his son.
Willy’s words reveal that he is always selling himself, even to his own sons.
Despite his desperate searching through his past, Willy does not achieve the self-realization or self-knowledge typical of the tragic hero.Willy fails to realize his personal failure and betrayal of his soul and family through the meticulously constructed artifice of his life
Willy’s failure to recognize the anguished love offered to him by his family is crucial to the climax of his torturous day, and the play presents this incapacity as the real tragedy.
“I Have Such Thoughts, I Have Such Strange Thoughts.”
-A utilization of foreshadowing of Willy’s suicide.
“Towering, angular shapes behind it, surrounding it on all sides”
Could be linked for Willy’s mental and emotional state as the play progresses.
“An air of the dream clings to the place, a dream rising out of reality”
links to the expectations of the American Dreams and the pressure Willy put himself under to fulfil this misconception of an unachievable goal.
