I wanted to read this not only because I didn't remember it from assigned scholastic reading (why is this relevant to school kids? Were we supposed to diagnose this depression in our parents?) but also because it was mentioned as a book that dealt with discouragement and feeling like you should be more than you are in midlife. I relate to this, feeling I peaked decades ago and I stalled out; remembering how many friends and cheerleaders you had then, with the road rolled out ahead of you, and how now you might be lucky if a handful of people came to your funeral. Willy is kind of a has-been, sad sack, loser but I'm sure a lot of people have that feeling in measured doses at his age.

Willy Loman is a character who is hard on himself but proud and expects a lot from his kids. His best years are behind him and he bemoans not only his current station but also the decisions he let slip by in his youth. He is big into networking and social niceties. His wife loves him after so long- a true achievement! - but he dismisses the love because his work dismisses him: who could really love this, knowing I am what I am and everyone else sees me as a nuisance. I loved that Willy was hurt by hearing some person POSSIBLY referring to him as a walrus. He assumes most people think the worst of him but he also thinks people should shower him with praise for what he was. Classic White Man. Also, relatable.

Willy is reconciling his past success with his current plateau and it's heartbreaking to see. He's placing overstated value on the wrong things (work, new stockings) and blows up his family in the name of respect, his expectations, and perceived slights (HE NAMED HOWARD). Should he get over himself and adjust his expectations? Maybe, but it's hard, knowing what he was and how his trajectory was poised, to now see his star sputtering out. He could confidently make a new career just then same as he did with sales "back then", fade into nothing, pin his hopes on his kids or violently reject his life. He does not attempt #1, but we see a mix of everything else. He does grow enough to see how much his kids care, but it isn't enough. He makes the choice he feels is best for him and we have to accept that. It got me when Linda says how the house they worked for is paid off now but it's an empty house. They worked hard to make a home and a life and Willy bails short of the finish line, being shortsighted but intensely feeling he is a failure whose only move is to cash in his life insurance. Willy got married young and was emotionally stunted as a result, making him ill prepared to handle this suffocating ennui, if anyone could have been prepared. I still don't think he ever did much soul searching or emotional excavation. He just kinda bopped along making money til he woke up at 40(?) with two grown kids and a pink slip. Instead of studying his feelings, he spaced out driving, unable to understand what he was going through. I'm glad now eighty odd years later we have more (if not unabated) resources for mental health.

If I think about it, he's a lot like Michael Scott (a bumbling doof who was promising but has "settled" past his prime) but Michael is living an unexamined life that keeps him blissful instead of overflowing with failure.The difference is expectations: Willy wanted more and Michael thought that being a manager was the absolute pinnacle so he's living his dream. The only thing Michael really regrets is never having a family, the very thing Willy has and ignores or badgers into tenuousness. We always know somehow that if Michael had a wife and family, he would really treasure it, pretty far beyond what others would recommend (he really stuck it out with Jan: that famous Dinner Party).

I liked the pacing of the story and the character nuances. There's enough to make the people seem fully developed without overburdening you or overexposing. You see how people react to Willy now and how he was. It's a bleak little vignette. Four stars.