Willy and Linda's younger son. He is the assistant to an assistant manager at a department store, and is always willing to do whatever is convenient: be duplicitous to his family, take bribes at work, or sleep with the girlfriends of his colleagues. At the end of the play he resolves to carry on Willy's legacy by making as much money as possible, which is a twisted misinterpretation of what Willy's death meant. In the importance that Happy places on getting ahead, and in his readiness to delude himself, he represents the worst aspects of Willy's nature.
Happy Loman Quotes in Death of a Salesman
The Death of a Salesman quotes below are all either spoken by Happy Loman or refer to Happy Loman. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Act 1
Quotes
Manufacturers offer me a hundred-dollar bill now and then to throw an order their way. You know how honest I am, but it's like this girl, see. I hate myself for it. Because I don't want the girl, and, still, I take it and - I love it!
Related Characters:
Happy Loman (speaker)
Related Themes:
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Explanation and Analysis:
And they know me, boys, they know me up and down New England. The finest people. And when I bring you fellas up, there'll be open sesame for all of us, 'cause one thing, boys: I have friends.
Related Characters:
Willy Loman (speaker), Biff Loman, Happy Loman
Related Themes:
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Explanation and Analysis:
Act 2
Quotes
But it'll go on forever!
Dad is never so happy as when he's looking forward to something!
Dad is never so happy as when he's looking forward to something!
Related Characters:
Biff Loman (speaker), Happy Loman (speaker), Willy Loman
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Death of a Salesman LitChart as a printable PDF.
Happy Loman Character Timeline in Death of a Salesman
The timeline below shows where the character Happy Loman appears in Death of a Salesman. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act 1
The conversation turns to Willy and Linda's grown sons, Happy and Biff, who are upstairs sleeping after a double date. Biff has been working as...
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...convinces Willy to go downstairs to the kitchen so that he won't wake the boys. Happy and Biff, who are already awake, wonder if Willy has had another car accident.
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...path and briefly worked as a shipping clerk, but he felt too constrained. He tells Happy how inspiring and beautiful it is to see a new colt born on the farm...
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Happy, who works at a department store, declares that he is not content either. He claims...
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...that Oliver still blames him for some basketballs that went missing when Biff worked there. Happy is encouraging, and reminds Biff that he is well liked. The boys are embarrassed to...
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...a memory, which is acted out onstage. He is remembering a time when Biff and Happy, as young boys, helped him wash the car. Happy tries to get Willy's attention, but...
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Happy comes downstairs, distracting Willy from his memories. Happy tries to convince Willy to come upstairs...
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Willy calls Biff and Happy into the room and asks Ben to tell them about their grandfather. Ben describes "a...
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Willy leaves to go on a walk, though he is in his slippers. Biff and Happy join Linda downstairs and the three of them have a worried conversation about Willy's mental...
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Linda says that Biff and Happy have been ungrateful to their father. She says that Happy is a "philandering bum," and...
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To diffuse Willy's anger, Happy announces that Biff is going to ask his old boss Bill Oliver to ask for...
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Act 2
When Willy wakes the next morning, Biff and Happy have already gone, and Linda tells Willy that Biff is on his way to see...
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At Frank's Chop House, Happy banters with Stanley, a waiter he knows. When Biff arrives, Happy is flirting with an...
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Once she is gone, Biff tells Happy that he waited in Bill Oliver's waiting room for six hours. When Oliver finally came...
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Biff tells Happy that he wants to confess all this to Willy, so that their father will know...
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...much, Willy reveals that he's been fired, and needs some good news for their mother. Happy begins to go along with Willy's assumptions about the Oliver meeting, but Biff continues to...
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...this, Biff shows Willy the stolen pen as proof of what he did. He and Happy are frightened by Willy's delusional behavior.
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Trying to calm Willy down, Biff falls back on Happy's strategy and lies: he tells Willy that Oliver is going to lend them the money....
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...with a friend, Letta. Willy, in a daze, wanders off to the restroom. Biff berates Happy for not caring enough about Willy. He pulls the rubber hose that he found in...
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Biff and Happy return home later that night. Happy has brought a bouquet of roses for Linda, but...
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...commits suicide, and accuses everyone in the house, including himself, of maintaining delusions. He charges Happy with making his job title sound more important than it is, and admits that he...
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...that Biff must really like him to cry over him as he did. Linda and Happy assure Willy that Biff has always loved him.
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Happy goes upstairs. Linda follows soon after. Willy promises to also come upstairs soon. Alone, now,...
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Requiem
Happy, upset, says that Willy's death was unnecessary. Linda wonders why Willy would kill himself now,...
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Biff again says that that their father didn't know who he was, angering Happy. When Biff invites Happy to come out west with him, Happy responds that he refuses...
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