Happy Loman, the Foolish "Low-Man"

In Section 3, Stephen heavily criticized the three male protagonists: Willy, Biff, and Happy. Stephen argued that these three men are overall despicable characters who fail at life. Admittedly, they do, but, as we said in class, at least we feel sympathy for Willy and Biff because they realize the futility of their dreams. Happy, on the other hand, is not as sympathetic of a character because he is obtuse, in denial, and never gains some ultimate wisdom.

Happy is delusional and does not share Biff's realistic perspective on life. He represents many of Willy's worst traits--gluttonous/greedy, lustful, and self-deceiving. Happy is the epitome of all of these qualities: gluttonous or greedy, because he lives life to the fullest, always trying to live the charmed life; lustful, because, similarly to the reason for his gluttony, Happy lives a charmed life that includes hooking up with various women, trying to satisfy his insatiable sex drive; and self-deceiving, because Happy refuses to accept the truth even when all signs indicate that he is wrong. At the end of the play, Happy chooses to keep his sorry job. Happy believes that he is honoring his father, and he may be, but he also continues to believe in the false "happy American Dream.” For Happy, who has lived in Biff's shadow for years, there is no escape from the Dream's indoctrinated lies. Because Happy resumes lying to himself, it is difficult to empathize with him. He is one-dimensional and shallow throughout the play. Unlike Biff, he fails to examine himself and his life or to gain self-knowledge. Instead, he shares Willy's ability for self-delusion, praising himself as his store's assistant buyer, when he is actually only an assistant to the assistant buyer. Biff's ultimate self-understanding saves him, while Happy's lack thereof dooms him. He is a Loman, or "Low-Man," and he is at the bottom in every aspect of his life.

To be honest, though, it is also difficult for me to condemn Happy completely because he legitimately believes that he is living the "right life." While we as readers/viewers know him to be wrong, Happy does not necessarily know that he is wrong. I find a small shred of honor in him because he has unwavering faith in an incredible ideal. Futile, it may be, but a marvelous ideal, nonetheless. (389)