|
|
Post by laurensc116 on Mar 30, 2013 11:45:10 GMT -5
Willy exhibits endless strange behavior in this play. This includes many flashbacks, talking to himself, and attempted suicide. Although this behavior could be accredited to the many haunting regrets he has in his life, such as his affair, kicking out Biff, and lying about his success, what other reasons could there be that explain his unusual and unhealthy behavior?
|
|
|
|
Post by sophiago116 on Mar 31, 2013 8:56:03 GMT -5
Willy was also angry about Biff's future. He was angry that Biff failed math and was unable to make a decent living or wage. However, Biff doesn't seem as motivated by money as Willy, which is where they differ. Another reason why Willy went insane.
|
|
|
|
Post by stephaniemi116 on Mar 31, 2013 9:27:46 GMT -5
He could be going crazy because he feels terrible that his son is following in his same "phony" footsteps. He understands that he has not been able to create good, so he constantly reflects on his wrongs which puts him into a constant spiral of negativity, contributing to his going out of his mind. He is unable to differentiate between past wrong and current wrong, which is why he gets stuck in his flashbacks sometimes and cannot understand which part of his life is which.
|
|
|
|
Post by nickme112 on Mar 31, 2013 10:41:16 GMT -5
However, I noticed that he responds to these events very differently each time. Do you guys think that these reactions, such as attempted suicide, occur in such a manner because he has a psychological disorder such as bipolar disorder? He also appears to experiences delusions such as when he is talking to Ben and Charley (30-32).
|
|
|
|
Post by jingyanxi116 on Mar 31, 2013 14:13:22 GMT -5
Another reason for his behavior could be that Willy knows that he isn't doing as well as he wants to think he is, shown by how he greatly overestimates the amount he sold in Providence and Boston (page 22), but still knows around how much he actually sold. He seems to live his life trying to hide from the truth that being like-able isn't enough (e.g. making fun of Bernard in the flashbacks), and as reality increasingly differs from his vision of how the world should work, copes by trying stay inside his mind, where he still has a great relationship with Biff and Happy and the problems he faces in the present haven't yet surfaced.
|
|
|
|
Post by juliana112 on Mar 31, 2013 20:09:01 GMT -5
Honestly, I think the main reason for Willy's unwell mental state is the fact that he worked hard and got nothing in return. From what I gathered, Willy was on the road a lot as a traveling salesman, and seemed to be very popular and recognized. But as he got older and power changed hands, his recognition faded away along with his youth. The fact that he was let go from a firm that he had put many years of his life into is just one example of his lack of success later in life. Also, the fact that his brother (Ben) was incredibly successful while neither he nor one of his sons were particularly successful could also be one of the reasons that he feels that life is unfair. This line of thinking is what caused him to attempt to commit suicide on multiple occasions.
|
|
|
|
Post by laurenno116 on Mar 31, 2013 20:26:51 GMT -5
I agree that Willy's mental state can be attributed to what has become an unsuccessful life. He lost the power he used to have in his job. As he got older he lost his power as salesman because he is not keeping up with his business. His life slowly falls apart as he is fired and he sees his son following the same path. I think that this could easily contribute to his mental state in that he feels lost and with the flashbacks and talking to himself, I guess he could be searching for the life he used to have in his youth and the life he had envisioned himself having forever. Furthermore, I think going along with the idea, his attempted suicide could be him getting tired and exhausted by this life that he seems to put so much work into, while he never seems to get anything valuable out of it.
|
|
|
|
Post by gabriellest116 on Mar 31, 2013 20:31:48 GMT -5
I agree that a major factor in causing Willy's unusual mental state is the inbalance between how hard he worked and how much it showed. However, as I was reading the play, I did also get the impression that there was something more than that, such as a psychological disorder. His confusion and inability to distinguish between the past and present, especially towards the end of the play, led me to believe that there was something more that was causing this behavior besides his lack of success. I'm not sure what else would cause this besides some sort of psychological disorder.
|
|
|
|
Post by agathama116 on Mar 31, 2013 21:58:45 GMT -5
I think that part of Willy's insanity stems from his unhappiness with Biff, who in Willy's eyes did not reach his full potential. After Biff failed math and continued to not make a decent salary, Willy became increasingly frustrated with his son and his failures. However, the difference between father and son is that Biff realizes where he went wrong and eventually can overcome his failures, whereas Willy lies to himself and thus can never truly gauge his own success.
|
|
