Death Of A Salesman

Willy's Line of Communication

Willy's wife, Linda, is an essential character to the play because she is the glue in their family. She is the one that holds the family together and makes sure that the family communicates properly. This family is typical in the since that they argue, have issues, and the normal problems that most families do, except for the fact that both sons have stressed relationships with their fathers.

If not for Linda, Willy and Biff would have not had any type of relationship at all; good or bad, there wouldn't be any kind of father/son bond. Biff saw his father as overbearing, demanding, and cowardly, often expecting too much from his children. His wife holds the family together to the best of her ability, trying to force Biff and Happy to form some kind of union with their father. Linda, as well as her sons, is aware of the fact that although it may not have been intentionally, Willy has pushed them so hard that they were at the point of resentment; they will do almost anything to please him including steal and lie.

Though they can say that they "got it honest," it sill ruins the rapport and the tie between Willy and his boys, which had long ago been severed. Linda can almost be viewed as the narrator of the play. She guides the men into conversation with each other; if not for her then Biff would not have known that his father was making attempts to kill himself. As a result of her revealing this information, Biff does what he deems essential to make his father happy, as well as to preserve his life.

Linda is aware of the issues between her sons and her husband. She makes numerous efforts to bridge the gap between the three men that she loves. She knows that the only way to please her husband is to allow him to believe that he has been able to provide for her without any outside help. She also recognizes that her husband needs to feel needed