Happy Loman

Happy Loman

Happy Loman is the second son of Willy and Linda Loman. He is a handsome, young man who constantly sought women to fulfill his feelings of loneliness. Happy felt that he was never good enough in his father's eyes. He felt as if his older brother, Biff, received all the love. Happy was always striving for his father's acceptance and approval. Happy never doubted Willy, her admired him and thought the world of him. Growing up, Willy told the boys that the only way to be successful in life is to be well-liked by everyone. With this misleading knowledge trapped in Happy's mind, he lived life trying to please others and look good in the public eye rather than focus on anything that genuinely mattered, like hard work and dedication. Being the womanizer that Happy is, he focused more on women than his supposed American Dream. Although Happy can be ambitious and competitive, it was not directed toward the right things. Happy's thoughts of competition are winning over his boss' wife of colleagues girlfriend, rather than stepping up in the workplace. Happy was overall awfully naive and blind to everything going on, for the most part. He is deeply saddened at the fact that his decisions never worked out. Happy's name shows irony and displays that although being named 'Happy,' he was far from it. Happy only goes upon what he thinks he should want and do. He feels the need to live Willy's life and gain approval that way. Happy is ambivalent and does not actually know what he is looking for in life. Happy just sticks to his father's path. Eventually, Happy will be living his life with as little success Willy did, probably dying with little to no value.

"I’m gonna show you and everybody else that Willy Loman did not die in vain. He had a good dream. It’s the only dream you can have — to come out number-one man. He fought it out here, and this is where I’m gonna win it for him." (Page 104, A Death of a Salesman) This quote from A Death of a Salesman shows Happy Loman's alacrity for his father's attention. Biff being the first son born, received the most praise and Happy didn't take this lightly. Although, Happy never got much regard from Willy, they were both extremely similar to one another. Willy was the second son born, and never really had a solid father figure growing up. Willy also ended up being the brother who was not successful and did not achieve his American Dream. Happy just the same as Willy, is the second son and follows in his father's footsteps seeking to attain the American Dream. Though we are not told, we can infer that Happy, too will not be successful on his journey due to his lack of supportive guidance and wise knowledge growing up. Happy will follow down the same winding path that leads to nowhere but death.

Song: You're Gonna Go Far, Kid by The Offspring. This song is about going far in life only based on lies and deception. For example a line says, "With a thousand lies and a good disguise...." This shows that you have to basically lie and manipulate people to get what you want, and saying that by doing that you'll be successful.