Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Research - Essay Example He also feels this especially towards Biff who he thinks was doing particularly well until he went on to campus and failed his mathematics and thus never finished it. The psychological context is also brought out by the fact that Willy’s family and friends feel that he is losing his sanity (Miller 15). Happy and Biff discuss the mental degradation of their father but do not bring this out to him since they feel that he would not accept what they are telling him, his wife Linda is also aware of his mental problems but won’t tell him either because she is trying to unite the family which already appears on the verge of splitting up. Willy’s problems do however show themselves when he gets into an argument with his boss Howard over the rejection of his application for a town job. Willy loses his temper over a trivial matter showing his volatility and the dangers of depression. Willy’s spiral into depression is also shown by his constant hallucinations. He con stantly hallucinates of his past years of success such as 1928 when he was driving a red Chevrolet (Miller 13) of having conversations with his older brother as well point to his dementia. The constant hallucinations are thought to be a defense mechanism for the harsh realities that he is facing and were to prevent the onset of full scale depression, this however is not avoided as at the end of the play he still succumbs to it and commits suicide. Several factors are responsible for this depression the most important being his denial of the reality that he is not as successful as he imagines himself to be, and that Biff was never the successful football player that he imagines himself to be The success that Biff had was instead a touchdown that he scored while in high school. Willy’s imagination of success is shown when he goes to confront Howard’s father about his sacking citing the time in 1928 when he earned an extremely large bonus, he defends himself towards his b oss by citing the time twenty years ago when he found financial success and this is what he uses as his defense to have himself reinstatedâ€Å". The play is set in 1949 showing that Willy’s peak are twenty years past and yet he still clings on to them to prevent his acknowledgement that he is not as successful as he dreams(Miller 82). The theme of unrealistic parental expectations is constantly shown in Willy who believes that his son Biff is a failure, he wants his son to take up a job as a salesman and constantly berates him for not, he keeps reminding him about his high school successes and clings on them as proof that Biff has potential. He also keeps pressuring Bill to marry as he says that he was popular with everybody both boys and girls but as Linda points out Biff is rough with women and so it is difficult for him to settle down (Miller 31). The relationship between Linda and Happy also show how her expectations of him are more than what he can be even when trying, she complains that Happy should be doing more with his life and yet Happy is constantly providing money for her and Willy to use to supplement his income. Happy also has motivation to succeed and wants to become the manager of his store however