were you just singing a TLC song?

I'm pretty sure you were.

AAAANYWAY.

The familial relationship here really bothers me. It's not so much that the family doesn't get along. that I understand (to an extent). it's just that somehow Biff is the one who is at fault here. and I don't get that at all. I think even his name makes him automatically the "black sheep" somehow. I mean, his brother's name is Happy! I think "Sunshine" and "Rainbow" are the only two names that are more positive than that. so right off the bat, Biff gets the short end of the stick. plus, he failed algebra and caught dad cheating when he tried to tell him. that's a pretty rough life right there. and things never really got better for him. bummer. =/ what really bothers me is when Willy gets excited about Biff's potential job, but then yells at people for "interrupting" and then suddenly turns sour on everyone. I get that he's got issues. but that just really bothers me. It's just irrational. and I don't understand that, I guess...

I'm anxiously awaiting the start of House

blogs are a good filler, right?

so now, to analyze protagonists, antagonists, foils, ect. yay!

I'm thinking that Willy and Biff are definitely foils. I mean, they bicker all the time. no wait, they're cool and Willy is supporti- oh, wait, nope. they're arguing again. I can't really tell who THE protagonist is... I mean, it's about Willy. and Biff plays a big role in Willy's actions, but Linda is ALWAYS there... if I had to pick one, it'd be Willy. Biff is definitely an antagonist, but whatever mental issue Willy has serves as an antagonist of its own. Happy kinda mellows things out (imagine that!). The rest of the characters just kinda float in and out (literally for some, I think [Ben?]). I think Linda and Happy serve as foils for Willy and Biff, respectively. like I said, I'm still pretty confused by the whole thing.

why are all our plays about crazy people?

I mean really, what's the deal with that?
I'm sorta sick of it, Costello. hahah

I've read (and re-read) Death of a Salesman, and I'm still not entirely sure what's going on. I mean, is Willy entirely crazy? or is some of this actually happening? I can't tell. it's a lot like the Glass Menagerie in that sense. You can never really tell what's happening because it's so... scattered? is that the word I'm looking for? I guess so. In the Glass Menagerie, nothing was reliable because of Tom's obvious bias, but in this, the unreliability comes with the fact that it's so unclear as to what is actually happening. of course, that's the charm of the whole thing, but it's still pretty weird. endearing, and touching, but also really weird.

poor Jim...

don'tcha just feel terrible for the guy?

I mean, this whole dinner scene just seems like something you'd find in a terrible Adam Sandler (that's redundant, I know) movie.
maybe Ben Stiller a la "Meet The Parents"? The guy shows up, and he's suuuper nice, pleasant, attractive - according to Laura -, and generally just a stand up guy, it seems. but then the girl he's come to meet won't even look at him. won't talk to him. becomes "sick" before dinner even starts. so you're just kinda stuck hanging out with a guy that you like, but aren't great friends with or anything.

oh, and did I mention her mom is hitting on you?
yeeeeeeeah.
but what a trooper, right? I mean he puts up with it all night. and doesn't burn the house down or anything...

in fact, I like him. A lot. that whole scene with Jim and Laura together is just so cute! even though they can't be together. it was cute.

I still don't like Amanda.

Hey, there, Mr. Light Bulb!

hahaha, that line makes me laugh.

I'm gonna answer question 3 in this post.
protagonists, antagonists, foils, blahblahblahblahblah - I mean... YAAAY!
okay, but really.

protagonist is Amanda. straight up. she drives the story. she's the one that's making things happen. the mover, shaker, producer, etc... without her, the story would be going even less nowhere. (even more nowhere?) so she's the main character.
antagonists then would be Tom and Laura. mostly because, well, they're the other two. they're important to the story, and they motivate a lot of Amanda's behavior. I would also put the father in as an antagonist since multiple times (especially when talking about courting) Amanda refers to him, which introduces a revival of a glory-day memory for Amanda.

they're all foils of each other as well, I think.
Tom is a go-getter. he wants to make things better for himself - Laura is pretty content with falling through the cracks - Amanda wants the best for her children and tries to motivate them (maybe too strongly) to do what SHE thinks they should be doing.
Jim foils all three of them as well because he seems to be very socially adept and friendly, while the others tend to err on the side of awkward and too forthright/quiet.

be-cause- we NEEEDALITTLECHRISTMAS! //unrelated

okay, I know I've made this entirely obvious in class, but I think Amanda is entirely delusional. Scene 6 pretty much drives the last nail in (ha! more nail-in-coffin-ness). Not only does she tell Tom to "talk sensibly...-and don't be sarcastic!" when he suggests that it's possible that men meet girls that they don't marry, but she's so much more excited about the "gentleman caller" than Laura is. she sorta forces Laura to live in this world where nothing is real except what Amanda believes is real. poor girl. and the way she's always on Tom (anyone else catch the snide "if you tried, you'd have a good job like Mr. O'Connor" remark?) is terrible as well.

also, and most importantly, WHAT IS UP WITH THE YELLOW DRESS? isn't the caller for her daughter?! So, why is she getting all dressed up. and why in the world did she suddenly remember her southern accent on page 1269? I think Amanda gets carried away with pretending things are different. She falls in love with the idea of things, even if said thing doesn't even exist, which is understandable, but also very frustrating. I understand now why Williams described her character as "unwittingly cruel...[but has a] tenderness."

she drives me nuts though.