Willy

    Cards (43)

    • 'His exhaustion is apparent.' 'Thankfully lets his burden down.'
      • Sacrifices physical and mental health to the pursuit of the dream.
      • Subverts the typical tragic hero of high status.
    • 'She admires him...his massive dreams.'
      Hamartia
      Linda is devoted to him
    • 'I'm tired to the death.'
      • Foreshadowing
      • Hyperbolic sentence
      • Sacrifices health
    • 'I have such strange thoughts.'
      • Vulnerable, comfortable enough to confide in Linda.
    • 'I'm vital in New England.'
      Desires to be respected and needed
      Hubris
    • Willy calls America the 'greatest country in the world.'
      Devoted to the American dream
      Patriotic
    • 'He loses himself in reminiscences.'
      Struggles to distinguish past and present
      Mentally unstable and stuck in the past.
    • 'You're my foundation and my support, Linda.'
      Moment of recognition, she fuels him.
    • 'Bernard is not well-liked.'
      Associates being liked with material prosperity.
    • 'You are going to be five times ahead of him.'
      • Dramatic irony as he becomes successful
      • Criticism of the American dream
    • Willy repeats 'you picked me?'
      • The woman heightens his ego
      • Grants him temporary affection, his error of judgement.
    • Willy has proverbs 'a man who cannot handle tools is not a man.'
      • Archaic ideology seeps into the way he raised his children.
    • Willy asks Ben 'what's the answer' but the tragedy is that there is no answer.
    • 'Business is bad, it's murderous.'
      • Tragic myopia prevents him from acknowledging this for himself.
    • 'A man is not a piece of fruit.'
      • Miller criticises capitalism
      • Howard's company drained Willy of value and disposed of him now he's no longer useful.
    • 'Willy on his knees.'
      • Dramatic positioning of Willy kneeling puts him below Biff, insinuates that Biff will become more successful.
    • Willy labels his suicide as the 'perfect proposition.'
      • Ben appears at a time of vulnerability
      • Sees his suicide as a business transaction
      • Willy at the point of no return and beyond restoration
    • Willy says (assured, with rising power) 'it's like a diamond.'
      • Elevated, final act of success
      • Ensures his family will be financially free
      • Increasing assurance
    • Biff presents the hose and Willy feels 'caged, wanting to escape.'
      • Moment of vulnerability and remains ignorant.
    • Willy's demeanour changes from 'full of hatred' to 'deeply moved' and 'astonished.'
      • True source of happiness is Biff liking him
    • Requiem - Miller isn't condemning Willy, but granting him a token of remembrance to pay tribute Willy's legacy.
    • "I realised that selling was the greatest career a man could want"
    • "He died the death of a salesman"
    • "When he died, hundreds of salesmen were at his funeral"
    • 'Quiet, earnest but self-assured.'
    • "What's the secret?'
      Willy seeks answers from people who have succeeded but to his boys, presents himself in that way.
    • "What happened in Boston, Willy?"
      'Willy looks at him as an intruder'
      Dramatic tension
    • 'Genuinely shocked, pained and happy'
      Willy discovers Bernard's case at the Supreme Court
    • "I've got a job."
    • "I just can't work for you, Charley."
      Willy refuses a way out, his hubris prevents him from taking the job
    • "You end up worth more dead than alive"
      Willy's anagnorisis
    • "The woods are burning"
    • "He's a fine man, very hard man to see"
      Willy continues to interrupt Biff, which demonstrates his excitement. A sense of pathos, here.
    • Repetition of "are you spiting me?"
    • Biff calls Willy a "fine, troubled prince...a hard-working, unappreciated prince."
    • "Bernard wouldn't give you the answers?"
    • 'Biff remains motionless, tears falling.'
    • "How dare you cry?"
    • "You gave her mama's stockings!"
    • "You fake! You phony little fake! You fake!"
      Biff's diminished motivation as he is betrayed by Willy. Drains him of all the faith he had and Willy's façade slips.