Willy, in Arthur Miller's play, Death of a
Salesman, idolized his brother Ben.
It is ironic
that Ben was "a man worth talking to" because in Willy's state of mind, which continues
to deteriorate through the play, he has quite a few discussions with Ben, even though
Ben is not there. Some discussions are imagined; some are
remembered. Perhaps Willy feels that his brother tells him what he
wants to hear, or what he wishes he had listened
to before.
Willy sees his brother as the
quintessential success story: he lived a life of adventure, went to Africa and
discovered diamonds and became rich. In Willie's "conversations" with Ben, his older
brother...
...owns timberlands in Alaska and diamond mines
in Africa...
Ben's life, in
Willy's eyes, was so much better than Willy's life, which has been a disappointment to
him, especially in that his boss doesn't appreciate his work anymore, and even worse,
fires Willy, though he is still willing and just barely able to work. Willy remembers
Ben asking his younger brother to go with him:
BEN:
Now
look here, William. I've bought timberland in Alaska and I need a man to look after
things for
me.
WILLY:
God,
timberland! Me and the boys in those grand
outdoors.
BEN:
You've
a new continent at your doorstep, William. Get out of these cities, they're full of talk
and time payments and courts of law. Screw on your fists and you can fight for a fortune
up there.
Ben is not
there, but in Willy's mind, his discussions are
very real as he tries to make sense not only of his world, but of
what his sons are working for (or not), and what Willy should do next. He thinks back on
his past with his brother, sorry he never took his advice. But the two men are also very
different. Willy seems to be a man comfortable in the day-to-day, though it brings him
little happiness. It seems unrealistic that the frontier life would have appealed to
him. Willy has chosen to lead a safer
life.
His brother's life was different than Willy's. We get
the sense that Ben never married and had nothing to tie him down: no responsibilities.
Willy laments that he did not go with Ben, but he had hoped to be a success in sales
instead, and has taken care of his family many years in this way. He sees Ben's life as
idyllic, but Ben was alone. It is not impossible to imagine that at some point, Ben
might have missed not having a family or a home base to return home
to.
So it seems foolish for Willy to idolize Ben. There is
no such thing as a perfect man, and Ben is certainly not perfect. It may be that
life seemed to be better when Willy thinks back. And Ben is dead
now; Willy is still plugging along. Idolizing Ben seems a thing a teenage boy might do
with his older brother, but not a grown man, not at this point of his
life.
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