pg 83-90

Willy is a character all the way through the play is a man who doesn't seem to have a grip on reality but at some points it's almost as if he knows reality but fantasy is something he'd so much rather hold on to. "past or any crap, the woods are burning boys big blaze going on." The woods are a representation of the place his brother called him to go, into business making money but because of his lies he had to refuse. I see alaska as a life for willy but in a fantasy, because when he's fired in reality this fantasy also seems to go up in flames. The fact that the woods was a place for money and business but it's on fire could be a metaphor that all money and bussiness has gone up in flames for willy and he needs his sons to be his drug, he wants "no crap" which is the facts suggesting that he needs some fantasy and hope from his boys to keep him going. This all links with the struggle of sanity trait from shakespeare that makes a tragic hero as willy's mind isn't stable or sound but very uneasy. The bigger point to be made her could be about the American dream that if you work your way up in the business world you can succeed. This seems to be a prolem because it's what all people then aspire to be like no matter what their strengths are. Just like when charley offers willy a job but he can't accept because of human pride and this is the big problem and possibly downfall.

Ending of act one !

Towards the end of act one evreything starts to be revealed about the characters, linda starts to reveal willy's traits to her sons and starts to get emotional almost as if these secrets she has been keeping has become a burden to her. 'with great difficulty' this suggests that it is hard for her to talk about willy's downfalls 'hes been trying to kill himself ' because she wants only to protect him ' can I insult him that way'. This is said when she doesn't know wether to remove the rubber pipe he was going to kill himself with. The fact that this is something she is really priortitising- his pride or the little he has left of it highlights that this is something that may be very important to willy even more than life and denting his ego maybe worse to him than death and linda recognises this, as 'he goes to charley to borrow 50 dollors a week' but preteands he has earnt it suggests he cares so much about what he appears like.

Towards the end of act one  We also see linda's perception of a 'great man' as she describes it as 'lot of money' , 'name never in the paper' and 'finest character'. These show us that linda views a great man to be rich, famous and have a fine character. She describes ' willy' to have none of these charecteristics but says he is a 'human being' so it's almost as if she sees all these things in a 'great man ' but it isn't what she wants and its just his 'being' that should gain him respect and lets him possess her love.