Death of a Salesman Flashcards
‘If old man Wagner was alive I’d a been in charge of New York now! ‘
This is ironic because ultimately Willy Loman actually isn’t the new England Man nor is he needed. Tone and delivery of this line tends to be done in anger.
misjudgements
‘Oh maybe it was the steering again’
Enables Willy to feel like he is control when he actually isn’t. Ignoring the flaws of Willy.
‘I might’ve killed somebody’
This is a prime example of fate and foreshadowing because essentially Willy almost killed someone with a car but no one actually dies. What later happens is that Willy dies from spinning the car out of control.
You fake! You phony little fake! You fake!
When biff sees willy in the hotel with the woman
You leave the house tomorrow and come back at night and say Oliver is thinking it over. And he thinks it over for a couple of weeks, and gradually it fades away and nobody’s the worse.
Biff’s job interview has gone nowhere, and Happy is advising Biff about the best way to break this bad news to their father. Happy, who has lived with Willy far longer than Biff has, knows how to predict and handle Willy’s reactions. Like Willy, Happy accepts lying as normal, even virtuous behavior, as long as it meets a need.
No, that’s not my father. He’s just a guy. Come on, we’ll catch Biff and, honey, we’re going to paint this town! Stanley, where’s the check? Hey, Stanley!
Happy is speaking to one of the girls he and Biff have picked up in the restaurant. Willy, still suffering from being fired, has collapsed in the restroom. Biff has already rushed out, unable even to look at his father. Now Happy walks away from the problem of Willy in favor of a good time. Happy’s denial of his father is an extreme act of betrayal, given biblical proportions by echoing Peter’s denial of Jesus.
