In Arthur Miller's play Death of a Salesman Harold "Happy" Loman is a near carbon copy of his father, Willy, the modern tragic hero of the play.
Hap is self-delusional, with no real sense of self-awareness. He's overly self-confident and exaggerates his own abilities. He embellishes the truth and tries to puff himself up to his family and friends, claiming, for instance, that he's the assistant buyer for the business where he works, but he's really only the assistant to the assistant buyer.
Hap is quite the ladies' man, too, just like Willy was in his younger days, but Hap is indiscriminate and has no conscience about it, whereas Willy is trying to forget his affair with "the Woman" that his other son, Biff, discovered when he was just a kid.
What Hap does to get even with the executives who he despises for acting superior to him—which is every executive with whom he works—is to seduce their fiancĂ©es.
HAPPY: Sure, the guy’s in line for the vice-presidency of the store. I don’t know what gets into me, maybe I just have an overdeveloped sense of competition or something, but I went and ruined her, and furthermore I can’t get rid of her. And he’s the third executive I’ve done that to. Isn’t that a crummy characteristic? And to top it all, I go to their weddings! Like I’m not supposed to take bribes. Manufacturers offer me a hundred-dollar bill now and then to throw an order their way. You know how honest I am, but it’s like this girl, see. I hate myself for it. Because I don’t want the girl, and, still, I take it and—I love it! (Death of a Salesman, act 1)
Saturday, November 23, 2013
What does Happy do to the executive for whom he works in Death of a Salesman?
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