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December 06, 2005
Good son, Bad son
The most interesting thing that I find in the play is not about Willy Loman, however it is about his sons. What legacy did Willy leave to each of his sons?
HAPPY: Alright boy, I'm gonna show you and everybody else that Willy Loman did not die in vein. He had a good dream. It's the only dream you can have - to come out number-one man. He fought it out here, and this is where I'm gonna win it for him.
Wow, what a heart. Though his whole life, Happy has been second best for his father, he respects him so much to not let him die in vein and make the life that Willy never had. He's taking what his father left behind and showing everyone, and most importantly himself, that the American Dream is possible. I think that the character Miller shows through Happy is one that the audience can and wants to relate to. Happy has a positive attitude and has perseverance to learn from the past and apply it to the future.
The opposite however, occurs with Biff. Once Biff found his father cheating on his mother, instead of seeing that and saying to himself that he is not going to be like that and he will learn from his father's mistakes, he gives up. He quits on his dreams and doesn't attempt to strive for the best life that he can get.
From the same man, two different legacy's were passed on. Willy sent the message to his children about how not to be. Happy learned from it, and Biff ran away from it.
Posted by AndrewLoNigro at December 6, 2005 12:47 AM
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Comments
I do not believe that the legacies the boys left were correct. I felt that Biff went on to find himself because he knew thats what both his father and he needed to do. As for Happy, even though Willy is dead he is still looking to show up Biff and try so hard to make his father proud by trying to be the salesman his father was not.
Posted by: Rachel Prichard at December 6, 2005 02:00 PM