Death of a Salesman

The madness of Willy Loman the Salesman

As the story of “Death of a Salesman” by Authur Miller unfolded it became clear that that the main charter Willy Loman is losing his mind. It all seems to begin when Willy starts having flashbacks of an earlier life. The flashbacks quickly turn into a nightmare, and just the sound of the woman’s laughter can set Willy off. Eventually, Willy’s madness destroys his life and everyone around him. He sits plotting with an imaginary person named Ben, the ways in which he can make twenty thousand dollars. His family struggles to cope with having to deal with his flashbacks, rampages triggered by a woman’s laughter, and his interactions with an imaginary person. Willy’s wife, Linda, stayed with him despite the fact that he was an adulterer and he was losing his mind. What does that say about their love when faced with madness?

No matter what Willy did in his life, Linda never stopped loving him and having faith in him, even when what he was saying or doing didn’t make sense. “WILLY: [angrily taking the stockings from Linda]: I won’t have you mending stockings in this house! Now throw them out” (Miller 1470)! Willy always wanted Biff to follow in his footsteps and when Biff tried to stand his own ground and travel a different path Willy was outraged. “WILLY: [exploding at Linda]: There’s nothing the matter with him! You want him to be a worm like Bernard? He’s got spirit, personality…” (Miller 1470) Linda is always asking her sons not to taunt her husband, to listen and obey him at every request, no matter how ridiculous it may be to help from causing him to have another episode so to speak.

Linda’s world is falling apart at the seams. Her family is fighting all the time and her husband is trying to kill himself; how does she handle it all? Biff has decided to come back home and help out with the house, but is tired of the way he is treated by his father. “BIFF: Because I know he’s a fake and he doesn’t like anybody...