Character Analysis
Willy
Although we never meet Willy, we know a lot about him based upon things that are said about him by the other characters. Willy has no loyalty toward Walter or Bobo: He absconded with their money. Although he knows that he is robbing two people who have as little as he has, this does not stop him; he takes their money and runs off anyway. Willy is the smartest of the three because he has no illusions about getting rich through Walter's liquor store idea. Willy feels that the most realistic method of his ever escaping poverty is to take the money that Walter and Bobo are foolish enough to entrust to him. Willy would never have entrusted his life savings with either of them. Willy has learned, as Walter says in his speech about the "takers" and the "tooken," how to survive on the streets. He is not bound by moral codes or religious convictions and, therefore, feels no compunction about taking advantage of anyone — not even his close friends.