Questions About Characterization : Linda
Linda Loman is a flat character who is a caring wife who constantly supports her husband throughout the play. In the beginning as Act 1 starts, it says, “Most often jovial, she has developed an iron repression of her exceptions to Willy’s behavior — she more than loves him, she admires him, as though his mercurial nature, his temper, his massive dreams and little cruelties, served her only as sharp reminders of the turbulent longings within him, longings which she shares but lacks the temperament to utter and follow to their end.” This initial description shows to us that Linda is a character who is usually happy because she has accepted Willy the way he is. Even though often times he has a temper and disrespects her, she continues to show her loyalty as his wife by respecting and admiring him throughout the play. In the play she functions as a wife who wishes to support her husband and a mother who tries to get her children to unconditionally love and respect Willy just as she does. We see how she tries to support her husband when Willy comes back from his trip. She keeps asking him what happened and how he is feeling even though he was giving her rude responses. When Willy tells her about how he couldn’t drive anymore and how he thinks something may be wrong with him, she blames it on other things to make him feel better instead of making him accept that it was his fault. She says, “Maybe it was the steering again,” and “Maybe it’s your glasses.” This shows how she doesn’t want to blame him for not being able to drive because she is blinded by his love so much that she feels he is always right. Linda also feels the need to support her husband by giving him advice. For example, she tells him, “Why don’t you go down to the place tomorrow and tell Howard you’ve simply got to work in New York? You’re too accommodating, dear.” She tells him this because she cares so much for him and knows at the age of sixty it would be difficult for him to travel so much. Also, we see throughout the play that Linda feels the need to keep peace in her family. For example, when Willy says, “But it’s more than ten years now and he [Biff] has yet to make thirty-five dollars a week!”, she defends Biff by saying, “He’s finding himself, Willy.” This shows how she is a supportive mother as well and that she wants Willy to see the good in his
children to restore love and peace in their family. Linda is a character who shows a lot of patience as well when dealing with her husband. For example, when Willy loses himself in reminiscences, and Linda calmly tries to bring him out of it by changing the topic. Even though it irritates Willy when she starts doing this and talking about how she got a new kind of cheese, she just laughs and says, “I thought it would be a surprise,” instead of getting mad at him for
being so rude. Additionally, when Linda tries to tell Willy, “He’s [Biff] too tough with the girls,” and how all the mothers are scared of him, Willy just shuts her up. Even in this situation, where she is almost in tears, she does not talk back. She just simply listens to Willy and doesn’t bother proving herself right. This shows how she always trusts Willy’s decisions and feels that he is always right. Also, Linda, as the woman of the house, is very responsible and takes care of all the money. In a flashback scene, when Willy tells her how much he sold, Linda immediately makes calculations to figure out how much their income will be and how much money they owe to people. This shows that Linda is a very calculative and responsible in taking care of her family’s needs. Linda’s objective in the play also seems to make Willy more confident. When Willy says, “I know it when I walk in. They seem to laugh at me,” she replies by saying, “Why? Why would they laugh at you? Don’t talk that way, Willy.” Also, when Willy expresses how maybe they laugh because he talks too much, Linda says, “You don’t talk too much, you’re just lively.” She also says, “Willy, darling, you’re the handsomest man in the world.” These statements show to us how she is trying to make her husband who seems to lack self confidence, believe in himself more and feel better about himself. Linda also feels that even though it’s a problem the condition of Willy is hopeless because when Biff says “Shouldn’t we do anything?” she says, “Oh, my dear, you should do a lot of things, but there’s nothing to do, so go to sleep.” This shows how she recognizes that Willy has issue, but she knows that nothing can be done so she accepts it. She also acts as a supporter for her children. She advises Biff to stay and do something with his life. She tells him, “Biff, a man is not a bird, to come and go with the springtime.” This shows that she is a concerned mother who wishes for her children to settle down. She is also very defensive about her husband. She says, “No, a lot of people think he’s lost his — balance. But you don’t have to be very smart to know what his trouble is. The man is exhausted.” She is defending his behavior since most people think he is crazy. She is giving an excuse for this behavior by saying he is tired. She also explains to them that he is dying. She says, “Are they any worse than his sons?” when Biff calls the people Willy works for “ungrateful bastards”. “This shows how she is trying to make her sons realize that they should be grateful for what their father has done for them and respect him. Oh, boys, it’s so hard to say a thing like this! He’s just a big stupid man to you, but I tell you there’s more good in him than in many other people. (She chokes, wipes her eyes.) I was looking for a fuse. The lights blew out, and I went down the cellar. And behind the fuse box— it happened to fall out — was a length of rubber pipe — just.” She is once again defending her husband’s actions by saying how he is a good person even though people may think he is crazy by saying how he is depressed. Also, she wants to reassure Willy throughout the play that he is doing well in life. That is why she says, “You’re doing well enough, Willy!” and “Enough to be happy right here, right now.” This shows how she wants to make Willy feel like he has succeeded enough to keep their family happy. Linda also is angered when people insult her husband. This is shown when she yells at Biff and Henry about how they ditched their father at dinner. She tells them, “Get out of my sight! Get out of here!” This shows how she cannot tolerate anyone, including her children, making Willy feel bad and disrespected. At the end Linda says, “Forgive me, dear. I can’t cry. I don’t know what it is, I can’t cry. I don’t understand it. Why did you ever do that? Help me Willy, I can’t cry. It seems to me that you’re just on another trip. I keep expecting you. Willy, dear, I can’t cry. Why did you do it? I search and search and I search, and I can’t understand it, Willy. I made the last payment on the house today. Today, dear. And there’ll be nobody home.” This shows how she has suffered so much already that no tears can come out. She can no longer cry because all the bad that can happen in their lives has already happened.
Linda Loman is a flat character who is a caring wife who constantly supports her husband throughout the play. In the beginning as Act 1 starts, it says, “Most often jovial, she has developed an iron repression of her exceptions to Willy’s behavior — she more than loves him, she admires him, as though his mercurial nature, his temper, his massive dreams and little cruelties, served her only as sharp reminders of the turbulent longings within him, longings which she shares but lacks the temperament to utter and follow to their end.” This initial description shows to us that Linda is a character who is usually happy because she has accepted Willy the way he is. Even though often times he has a temper and disrespects her, she continues to show her loyalty as his wife by respecting and admiring him throughout the play. In the play she functions as a wife who wishes to support her husband and a mother who tries to get her children to unconditionally love and respect Willy just as she does. We see how she tries to support her husband when Willy comes back from his trip. She keeps asking him what happened and how he is feeling even though he was giving her rude responses. When Willy tells her about how he couldn’t drive anymore and how he thinks something may be wrong with him, she blames it on other things to make him feel better instead of making him accept that it was his fault. She says, “Maybe it was the steering again,” and “Maybe it’s your glasses.” This shows how she doesn’t want to blame him for not being able to drive because she is blinded by his love so much that she feels he is always right. Linda also feels the need to support her husband by giving him advice. For example, she tells him, “Why don’t you go down to the place tomorrow and tell Howard you’ve simply got to work in New York? You’re too accommodating, dear.” She tells him this because she cares so much for him and knows at the age of sixty it would be difficult for him to travel so much. Also, we see throughout the play that Linda feels the need to keep peace in her family. For example, when Willy says, “But it’s more than ten years now and he [Biff] has yet to make thirty-five dollars a week!”, she defends Biff by saying, “He’s finding himself, Willy.” This shows how she is a supportive mother as well and that she wants Willy to see the good in his
children to restore love and peace in their family. Linda is a character who shows a lot of patience as well when dealing with her husband. For example, when Willy loses himself in reminiscences, and Linda calmly tries to bring him out of it by changing the topic. Even though it irritates Willy when she starts doing this and talking about how she got a new kind of cheese, she just laughs and says, “I thought it would be a surprise,” instead of getting mad at him for
being so rude. Additionally, when Linda tries to tell Willy, “He’s [Biff] too tough with the girls,” and how all the mothers are scared of him, Willy just shuts her up. Even in this situation, where she is almost in tears, she does not talk back. She just simply listens to Willy and doesn’t bother proving herself right. This shows how she always trusts Willy’s decisions and feels that he is always right. Also, Linda, as the woman of the house, is very responsible and takes care of all the money. In a flashback scene, when Willy tells her how much he sold, Linda immediately makes calculations to figure out how much their income will be and how much money they owe to people. This shows that Linda is a very calculative and responsible in taking care of her family’s needs. Linda’s objective in the play also seems to make Willy more confident. When Willy says, “I know it when I walk in. They seem to laugh at me,” she replies by saying, “Why? Why would they laugh at you? Don’t talk that way, Willy.” Also, when Willy expresses how maybe they laugh because he talks too much, Linda says, “You don’t talk too much, you’re just lively.” She also says, “Willy, darling, you’re the handsomest man in the world.” These statements show to us how she is trying to make her husband who seems to lack self confidence, believe in himself more and feel better about himself. Linda also feels that even though it’s a problem the condition of Willy is hopeless because when Biff says “Shouldn’t we do anything?” she says, “Oh, my dear, you should do a lot of things, but there’s nothing to do, so go to sleep.” This shows how she recognizes that Willy has issue, but she knows that nothing can be done so she accepts it. She also acts as a supporter for her children. She advises Biff to stay and do something with his life. She tells him, “Biff, a man is not a bird, to come and go with the springtime.” This shows that she is a concerned mother who wishes for her children to settle down. She is also very defensive about her husband. She says, “No, a lot of people think he’s lost his — balance. But you don’t have to be very smart to know what his trouble is. The man is exhausted.” She is defending his behavior since most people think he is crazy. She is giving an excuse for this behavior by saying he is tired. She also explains to them that he is dying. She says, “Are they any worse than his sons?” when Biff calls the people Willy works for “ungrateful bastards”. “This shows how she is trying to make her sons realize that they should be grateful for what their father has done for them and respect him. Oh, boys, it’s so hard to say a thing like this! He’s just a big stupid man to you, but I tell you there’s more good in him than in many other people. (She chokes, wipes her eyes.) I was looking for a fuse. The lights blew out, and I went down the cellar. And behind the fuse box— it happened to fall out — was a length of rubber pipe — just.” She is once again defending her husband’s actions by saying how he is a good person even though people may think he is crazy by saying how he is depressed. Also, she wants to reassure Willy throughout the play that he is doing well in life. That is why she says, “You’re doing well enough, Willy!” and “Enough to be happy right here, right now.” This shows how she wants to make Willy feel like he has succeeded enough to keep their family happy. Linda also is angered when people insult her husband. This is shown when she yells at Biff and Henry about how they ditched their father at dinner. She tells them, “Get out of my sight! Get out of here!” This shows how she cannot tolerate anyone, including her children, making Willy feel bad and disrespected. At the end Linda says, “Forgive me, dear. I can’t cry. I don’t know what it is, I can’t cry. I don’t understand it. Why did you ever do that? Help me Willy, I can’t cry. It seems to me that you’re just on another trip. I keep expecting you. Willy, dear, I can’t cry. Why did you do it? I search and search and I search, and I can’t understand it, Willy. I made the last payment on the house today. Today, dear. And there’ll be nobody home.” This shows how she has suffered so much already that no tears can come out. She can no longer cry because all the bad that can happen in their lives has already happened.