1. Biff and Happy would be more successful adults if Willy had not treated them like they were destined for success and success only. If Willy had taught his children that they had to work for success then Biff might have passed math and both his children could have had successful careers. Also if Linda had been harder on Willy he might nit have committed suicide. Linda new that Willy was trying to kill himself and if she called him out for it and got him the help he needed. Linda's lack of action is the reason why Willy was able to be pushed over the edge and the family was dismantled.
2. Death of Willy Loman
2.1. Willy Loman was trying to kill himself all throughout the play
2.1.1. WIlly purposely drove his car off a bridge and into a river.
2.1.2. He attached a tube to his heater at home in an attempt to asphyxiate himself.
2.2. Willy viewed his life as unsuccessful because he was not rich financially or popular.
2.3. Willy wanted to die the "death of a salesmen' which meant that his funeral would be huge and attended by a lot of people, similar to the funeral of Dave Singleman.
2.4. At the end of the story Will ends up killing himself by crashing his car. He kills himself so that his family can get the life insurance money
3. Supporting Characters
3.1. Linda Loman
3.1.1. Linda is the wife of Willy Loman who supported Willy throughout the whole story.
3.1.2. Even though that Linda gets lied to by Willy throughout the story she is still loyal and supports his american dream,
3.2. Charley
3.2.1. Neighbor and friend of Willy Loman.
3.2.2. He has a successful child and is successful at business which aggravates Willy.
3.2.2.1. Benard
3.2.2.1.1. Son of Charley.
3.2.2.1.2. Was called a nerd and made fun of by Loman family even though he tried to help Biff pass math.
3.2.2.1.3. Bernard became a lawyer and argued a case in front of the supreme court.
3.2.3. Charley offered Willy a job but Willy had too much pride and delusion so he declined.
4. Theme
4.1. The American Dream
4.1.1. The american dream is the concept that anyone can reach financial and material success if they work hard enough
4.1.2. Willy lived his life trying to reach this American Dream but utterly failed a long with his sons. The Loman family was financially and did not achieve the american dream.
4.1.3. Willy's brother, Ben, achieved the american dream after becoming rich after finding a diamond mine.
4.1.4. BNernard aslo achieved the American Dream
5. Reading and Writing Standards
5.1. Reading Standard RL.9-10.3
5.1.1. As a complex character, Willy exhibits multiple motivations throughout the story. Willy is motivated by trying to achieve the american dream for himself as well as trying to support his financially failing family. In the beginning of the story Willy is motivated by his want to be a popular, successful salesman and have his children follow in his footsteps. At the end of the story Willy realizes that everyone is not entitled to the American dream and believes the best way for him to help is family is by taking his own life.
5.2. Writing Standard W.9-10.1
6. Items
6.1. Stockings
6.1.1. Willy Loman gave his mistress new, expensive stockings while his wife, Linda, had to mend holes in her old stockings.
6.1.2. Willy yelled at Linda every time he saw her mending stockings because it reminded him that he couldn't support his family and him cheating on his wife.
6.2. Fountain Pen
6.2.1. Biff Loman stole Bill Oliver's fountain pen after Biff went so see Bill to get a loan and Bill didn't remember him.
6.3. Diamonds
6.3.1. The diamonds that Willy's brother Ben found represent someone achieving the american dream.
7. Main Characters
7.1. Willy Loman
7.1.1. Worked as a travelling salesman but was not very successful.
7.1.2. Willy is very over confident and lies to himself and others around him
7.1.3. Wanted to achieve the american dream in his life but failed.
7.2. Happy Loman
7.2.1. Thirty-two year old son of Willy
7.2.2. Works an assistant at a department store.
7.2.3. Has a bad tendency to sleep with his bosses' girlfriends.
7.2.4. As a child he was in the shadow of Biff and less acknowledged by Willy
7.3. Biff Loman
7.3.1. Thirty-four year old son of Willy.
7.3.2. Biff was a high school football star who was very popular. He received scholarships to play football in college but he failed math and was not able to go to college.
8. Plot and Background
8.1. Death of Salesman takes place in Brooklyn, New York in the 1940s.
8.2. Willy Loman worked as a travelling to salesman who regularly took trips to New England but struggled to sell his product.
8.3. BIff and Happy are the sons of Willy and they failed in the business world which disappointed WIlly.
8.3.1. jb