First Impressions of the Loman Family

First Impressions of the Loman Family In Arthur Miller’s beloved American play ‘Death of a Salesman’, he presents the Loman family in one way, but uses subtle clues to give us, the audience, Miller’s direct interpretation of the characters. The first characters we are introduced to are the protagonist, Willy and his wife, Linda. From the start Miller portrays Willy as a struggling salesman, his last name being ‘Loman’ which is a homophone for ‘low man’. During Willy and Linda’s first exchange, we are introduced to her as a doting wife who cares deeply for her husband, but treats him in a slightly childish manner. She even goes as far as taking his shoes off for him. Her loyalty is apparent and agrees with him whole heartedly. The way she acts towards Willy is similar to the way a mother acts towards her son, rather than a wife towards her husband, with almost no displays of affection. Willy acts in a childish manner with Linda at times. For example: Linda buys him American cheese instead of Swiss and he responds to her: “I don’t want change! I want Swiss. (Act 1 Scene 1 page 12)”. He also has a particular fondness for the outdoors. He dreams of spending time in the country and smelling the flowers. This trait portrays an innocence and a child-like inclination, which Miller is trying to suggest to the audience. One of Willy’s most prominent traits is his hypocrisy. He refers to his oldest son as lazy one minute and then then in the next minute, calls him a hard worker.
Looking at the play from the audience’s perspective, it becomes apparent that Happy, Willy’s youngest son, is living in his older brother, Biff’s, shadow. In the first instance where we are introduced to the duo, the scene is interrupted with Willy talking about Biff’s simonizing job, from years earlier. The two boys appear to be very close. In one instance where Happy is talking about Willy’s interjections, he is reluctant to tell Biff that they are all about him. Feeling