Sunday, October 12, 2008

I don't completely understand Happy... Why is he so ignored all the time, is he a success or a failure, and why does he lie so much? why can't he face the facts? Why does no one seem to like or care about him?
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3 comments:

JenniferLee said...

I think Happy is a really sad character. He doesn't want to face the facts because he's actually a lot weaker than you'd imagine. He is a success in that he isn't doing bad in the business world but he's a failure in that he doesn't understand, or at least want to understand, the truth. From the beginning, no one really look at him proudly. He always had to try to get attention and usually failed. I think that's why he sucks up to his dad so much. He lies to suck up to his dad and believes that lying will make his dad feel better than the harsh truth. I think he's the lost one because even at the end of the book, he doesn't want to admit his dad's problems.

I'm not to sure why he's always ignored or why no one seems to like or care for him. I think he seems a lot like his mom, however. I think he respects his dad in the same way his mom does. Maybe that's why he's ignored. His respect doesn't allow him to be honest..?

October 13, 2008 at 7:38 AM
Dani O. said...

I agree with Jennifer that he's a success in the business world and such, but that's not good enough for his father. His father didn't really care about tangible successes he focused on "well-liked-ness". That's the reason he focused on Biff more because he thought he was going to be well liked. I dont think Happy ever understood this aspect of his father and it didn't fit his personality type which is why he would try to impress his father with his successes, but unfortunately it didn't work. He lies because that is his escape from the truth, from the fact that he never lived up to his father's expectations and he doesn't want to allow himself to face the facts because it would be detrimental to his cofidence and future sucesses. I think everyone else likes him except his father. His mother likes him but can't show that too much when Willy is around because then she would be going against her husband, something she feels is wrong to do. Biff adores him like Willy to Ben, because he has ground to stand on and a living to be made. He seems to be a very successful businessman and big shot by the way waiters and other people of lower status respond to him (an example of this is Stanley who enters on page 98).

October 13, 2008 at 10:37 AM
Kristine Werling said...

I'm not really sure about Happy but I think that Happy really wants to be like Willy. Unlike Biff, Happy still falls for the fake persona that Willy puts on for everyone. Willy is like a salesman even to his boys, in that he is trying to have them buy into his false identity and false happiness. Happy falls for it and has his father's skewed view of the American dream. Both Happy and Willy believe that if people like you, success will dawn on you. Therefore, Happy puts on this fake cover of being happy, and like his dad, he never wants to face the ugly truth.
Also, I think that Willy always viewed Biff as his own ambitious side. Willy wanted Biff to do what he never did. Willy didn't succeed in his life as he had hoped, so he rested all his dreams of success on Biff. After all, Biff was the one that was liked more as a child.
I think that Linda loves Happy the most, but I don't think that Biff respects him at all. Biff doesn't agree with the way that he treats women and he doesn't think that Happy has had any real successes in his life. For example, when he yells at Happy, telling him that he is only an assistant to the assistant. I think Happy only went into the business world because that's what Willy wanted. Similar to how Willy became a salesman to become successful and please his own father, but neither of them end up actually happy in the end.

October 13, 2008 at 12:40 PM

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