Question

In "Death of a Salesman", "I’m not saying he’s a great man. Willy Loman is not the finest character that ever lived, but he’s a human being and a terrible thing is happening to him, so attention must be payed!" -Who says this and what is meant by?

Answer 1

The character who says this is Linda Loman, who is married to Willy Loman. In this scene, she delivers one of the most important and powerful speeches of the play. Linda is talking to her son Biff about his father. She wants Biff to show Loman more respect. She believes that, even if Loman is not an amazing person, he is still a person, which means that he deserves respect. The speech serves two main purposes. First, it allows us to understand how Linda thinks about her husband. Second, even more importantly, the speech emphasizes the fact that Willy Loman is a regular character, and not a particularly special, good or bad man.