ENGL 10002
5-05-99
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| Jessica Wallace
ENGL 10002 5-05-99 |
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| A Look at the Mind | |||||||||||||||||||
| It is obvious to one reading Arthur Miller�s play, �Death of a Salesman,� that Willy Loman suffers from a mental disorder. However, the story never says what it is he endures. While looking over this play, I see symptoms of Alzheimer�s disease. My grandmother is a victim of this progressive degenerative disorder. After reading the play and watching the movie, I have been able to see much of her in the character of Willy. Therefore, it is my theory that Willy Loman suffers from Alzheimer�s disease. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Due to my family background, I have become familiar with the symptoms of this disease. One suffering from this disease drifts in and out of actuality throughout the day. Conversations with people in the past are also a common occurrence. Willy exhibits these characteristics throughout Miller�s work. In the opening scene, Willy begins one of his �meetings� with the past. As he makes his way down to the kitchen, he remembers a conversation once shared with his son, Biff. He thinks aloud, saying, �Don�t get your sweater dirty, Biff!� (1879). Answering a comment �made� by Biff, Willy replies, �No kiddin�, Biff, you got a date? Wonderful!� (1879). The reader is then brought into a flashback. Yet, Willy�s flashbacks are different from those most commonly seen in a play. It is not as though the reader is really brought back to the past, rather, the reader is watching Willy act out past events or hallucinations in the present. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Talking to a mirror is also a signal of Alzheimer�s disease. Act I shows Willy standing in front of a mirror adjusting his tie (1885). He begins a memory of the affair he had had in the past. Directing his conversation towards the mirror, Willy thinks he is speaking to the woman of his past. Again, he is sucked into one of his flashbacks, completely blocking out the present world around him. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Willy experiences deep mood swings as well. Take, for example, the beginning of the play. Speaking of Biff, Willy is very calm. He remembers the days when Biff was younger. �When he smiled at one of them their faces lit up,� he recalls (1873). Suddenly, however, his mood changes. Finding out his wife, Linda, bought him American cheese instead of Swiss cheese makes him angry. After being told that Linda thought he would like a change, Willy screams, �I don�t want a change! I want Swiss cheese. Why am I always being contradicted?� | |||||||||||||||||||
| A further look at this sentence is also taken into consideration. Individuals with Alzheimer�s do not adjust well to change; a routine is preferred. Willy admits he does not want a change. Not only has this one minor detail changed in his life, but many larger details have changed in his life as well. Things are not as they used to be. Willy loses his job (1909), Biff and Happy are unsure of their futures, technology has come of age, Willy�s income has drastically decreased, and he is not as young as he used to be. It is obvious that many things have changed throughout his lifetime. These changes may have a significant impact on the progression of the disease. The more change, the more disturbed or stressed he becomes. | |||||||||||||||||||
| This is exhibited quite well in Act II. Willy is to meet Biff and Happy at a local restaurant to celebrate Biff�s new job. Willy is excited for he thinks his son is finally back on track. Biff tries to tell his father that he did not get the job, yet Willy does not listen. He interrupts Biff every time he tries to speak to his father (1922-1923). Finally, after sensing the news is not good, Willy goes into one of his �spells�. The words that Biff speaks are blocked out by Willy�s memory of his son flunking math when he was in high school (1923). Biff realizes the onset of his father�s lack of concentration was caused by the upsetting news he had to share with his father. In this case, Biff makes up a story of good news, �Pop, listen! Listen to me! I�m telling you something good� (1924). In an effort to calm his father down, Biff lies to his father. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Disorientation is also evident in the individual with Alzheimer�s disease. Soon after the incident inside the restaurant happens, Willy makes his way to the restroom. Here, he has another episode with the woman of the affair (1927). The bathroom becomes the hotel room in which Biff discovers the secret his father had kept. As Willy yells at Biff, �I gave you an order! Biff, come back here or I�ll beat you! Come back here! I�ll whip you!� he is unaware of those around him (1930). At last, Willy is shaken from the past by the voice of the waiter, Stanley. | |||||||||||||||||||
| A lack of concentration also arises in the individual with Alzheimer�s. Willy loses his focus when playing a game of cards with Charley. He sees his brother Ben and begins having a conversation with him (1889). Charley thinks Willy is speaking to him when in actuality he is speaking to the memory of Ben. Becoming frustrated, Charley asks Willy whom he is speaking to, yet Willy does not answer; he continues talking to Ben (1890). Due to Willy not paying attention, he misses a play, which ends the game in a fight between the two participants. In a fury, Charley goes back to his home while Willy continues the conversation with Ben. | |||||||||||||||||||
| A frequent characteristic of Alzheimer�s disease is irrationality. For example, my grandmother sits in her room all day muttering, �Someone has stolen all of my stuff!� In a sense, Willy shows this symptom as well. While fighting with Biff in the second act, Willy tells him, �May you rot in hell if you leave this house!� (1934). This is quite a harsh thing to say to a son. He also insists Biff is spiting him throughout the whole argument (1934-1935). His conversations with Ben were quite irrational as well. First of all, he is speaking to a �spirit� that is no longer in existence. Secondly, he allows this spirit to lure him into death. In the end we see the result of this way of thinking, the suicide of Willy. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Miller never mentions within the story exactly what is wrong with his main character. Yet, living with an individual with Alzheimer�s disease, I have become familiar with the common mannerisms and tendencies a person with this disease possesses. I am sure this is what is wrong with Willy, especially considering he is an older man. His mind wanders throughout the story. In the end, he himself wanders, right into the arms of death. | |||||||||||||||||||
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