Close quarters

Willy's home is decribed as three rooms and a back yard/urban area. This really is not a whole lot of space, and we know from contexts that the house all together only has 5 rooms counting to brothers loft/bedroom. Obviously this is mainly due to the fact that Willy is not that wealthy of a person, but also it shows how he desires a close family. When he remenices about when Biff and Happy were in high school and Biff steals the football, his memories are of a close bond between father and brothers. With a closed in scenerary, there is no place that the characters can go without runnnig into each other with in minutes. This means a vast amount of interaction between family members, with the hope that a close relationship will form. The brothers are very close as we see when they are in their beds conversing. And we know from context that they are close with their father at an early age. But Willy's inability to live in the present limits his ability to have a close knit relationship with his sons in the here and now. physically being close to someone is very different from being emotionally and mentally close to them.

oh brother, where art though?

When willy is in the kitchen on page 1568, he is playing cards with charley, and in his mind his brother walks in. He tries to tal kto both of them at the same time, but then eventually starts to focus solely on ben. Willy goes off on a lengthy conversation asking him to stay, to talk, wondering how his business is gonig. he keeps saying "why didnt i just go with him". Willy feels betrayed and abandondeed by Ben for just walknig out. Not only that, but then he starts questioning his brother on his father. His father left at a very early age. Willy is trying desperatly, nearly killing himself day after day to provide for his family as his father and older brother did not. The theme of abandondment is heart wrenching, as anyone who has experienced it can say. The pain never truely disappears, and rarely ever numbs. Abandonment truly reduces a person to the mental state of a five year old, which is how Willy starts to sound as Ben says he is departing.

American Dream

The parental generation always wishes the best for their children. it really is just human nature. To wish for the next generation to be better off then the parents were. In an economy that is disagreeable such as ours, many parents need to take any job they can get, even if they are under employed. Willy in the play continues to try and preform a job that he can not physically or mentally complete. His deteriorating mind makes his journey closer to home everyday. he can not even really remember driving al lthat well anymore. And yet he continues to do so so that his sons can have a good life. talk about self sacrifice. he is still desperatly trying to provide for his sons who are in their 30's! now that is a caring father.