A Character Study of Linda in Death of a Salesman

The Lomax family, upon whom Arthur Miller's play Death of a Salesman centers, is full of dysfunctional characters. First and foremost, there is the weak-willed and insecure father Willy, whose sole goal in life (it seems) is to raise two boys to become more successful than he is; that is, he actively pursues their success much more than his own. Next, there is his son Biff, who is lost and jobless, who really only feels alive in the open air. Unfortunately for him, living his dream job does not pay well, and thus he is regarded as a failure. His younger brother, Happy (Harold), is perhaps the most successful member of the family, and yet he is never noticed for it. He is what Britney Spears would call a "womanizer", and constantly fails to grab the attention of his parents, and his emotions are quite skewed as a result of this constant rejection from his father and mother - who is the final member of the family, and, in my opinion, the hardest person to figure out.

We mentioned in class briefly the scene where Ben approaches Willy with a job opportunity in Alaska, where he would oversee a recent timberland purchase. Willy is ecstatic about the idea, and seems like he would have taken the job in an instant - until he tells Linda. She defends Willy's current job as a salesman, calling it "beautiful" and claiming that he is doing "well enough" and is "well liked". Clearly, none of these descriptions are true about the tough life Willy lives. So why does she fight so hard to keep the family in the city? In the stage directions during this scene, Linda is "frightened of Ben." Why is this so? What does he represent except a wealthier life? True, he did fight Biff that one time, which obviously scared Linda tremendously. But Linda is I think scared of the possibility of a life different from the one she and her family live now, when everything is seemingly balanced. During this tirade against the Alaskan job, she bursts out, "Why must everyone conquer the world?" Linda, apparently, is the only one content with a mediocre job, and a mediocre life, for Willy and his family. In the end, she doesn't defend the profession of a salesman; it is the common, average lifestyle that he leads that she champions.

The biggest difference between Willy (and also his sons) and Linda is that he is never satisfied with what he has: he must always have more, now. On the other hand, Linda is content to the extreme in that she is scared of the possibility of change, even though it might be change for the better. By consequence, then, does Linda really have the family's best interest at heart? We can't be sure. Thus, Linda Lomax is as enigmatic as any other character in Death of a Salesman - which makes her all the more intriguing. (494)