From this they can tell many things. Whether it is if the person is funny or down to earth or even irresponsible. Many times people change personalities often and they would be classified as being a dynamic type of person. A person who is doesn’t change is classified as being a static character.
Willy, from Death of a Salesman written by Arthur Miller, is a static character for his inability to grasp reality, his poor parenting and his constant lying to his wife. Foremost, Willy has a problem with his inability to grasp reality. As he grows older his mind is starting to slip. For example, when he talks to the woman and his brother Ben. Throughout the story, Willy dreams of talking to the woman, because the woman is a person that he was dating in when he went to Boston.
He was cheating behind his wife’s back. Willy basically uses her as a scapegoat when he’s hallucinating about her. He blames all of his problems on the woman. For instance Willy says, ” Cause you do .. There’s so much I want to make for.” (38) This is the evidence right here. Also he dreams about his brother Ben.
Willy wishes could be more like his brother who has just passed away a couple of months previously to the story. He also wishes he didn’t have to work and could be rich like Ben. He respects Ben for not really working and making a lot of money. Another example of Willy’s hallucinations are when he says,” How are you all?” (45) This occurs when Willy is talking with Charley and he starts thinking about Ben. Willy’s inability to grasp reality never changed throughout the story. Willy also has very poor parenting skills.
He has two children Biff and Happy. Willy excuses Biff for a lot of events when he was younger. If Biff stole something, Willy just brushes it off and says that is was no big deal. He didn’t even care when Biff failed math and did not graduate from high school. He measured success in how many people you knew not what your grades are. In one breath Willy would say that Biff is lazy and then in the next say he’s not.
A perfect example of this is when Willy says, ” Biff is a lazy bum!” (16). It is actually chilling at times what he says. To Willy, Happy was not a success and he always thought that Biff was superior to Happy. Even though Happy has a good job and gets all of the women, Willy still doesn’t care for Happy. Happy is a womanizer and he gets this from his father.
Happy uses women just as his father does to the woman. On page 31 Willy says, “You and Hap and I .. This summer, Heh?” (31) This is perhaps the one time Willy is going to make peace with Happy and Biff. It is scary that there are fathers just like Willy out there throughout the world. Lastly, Willy has a very bad problem of lying to his wife.
Most of the time it is about money and how much he makes. He tells her that he makes all this money but in actuality it’s nothing. Not even enough to pay the bills. Willy says, “Well I- I did .. whole trip.” (35) Linda however, still makes excuses for him and smoothes things over, just as Willy does for Biff. Willy also never tells Linda about the woman in Boston.
To him it’s not important and thinks that if things stay the same everything will be okay. He also lies about Biff to her. She doesn’t even know the truth about her own son. Also, he contradicts what he says to her. Linda says, “And Willy .. take lunch.” (18) These are prime examples of what’s wrong with the family. In conclusion, Willy is a static character. He remains the same throughout the whole play. Which once again means that he is a static character, which means that his attitude doesn’t change throughout the course of the story. His instable mind, inability to care for his children properly, and his constant lying all contribute to him being a static character.
Although sometimes he has subtle changes Will still sticks to his main topics. Willy is a very troubled character and would not succeed in the real world just as he failed in the play. English Essays.
