In Death of a Sale man, by Authur Miller Willy Loman is 60-year-old man who seems to have a hot temper and is now starting to become very forgetful. At the beginning he starts to forget that he is actually driving and what is going on around him. He tells his wife Linda that “I’m goin’ sixty mile an hour and I don’t remember that last five minutes. I’m- I cant keep my mind to it”(13). Willy seems to becoming very distracted and forgetting what is exactly is going on around him. This forgetfulness also occurs once he demands Linda open up the windows in the house when they are already open. Willy also complains through out about his sons shortcomings and failures. He believes at 34 he hasn’t amounted to anything but a farm hand but maybe later…
Unlike Willy and Happy, Biff feels compelled to seek the truth about himself. While his father and brother are unable to accept the miserable…
One of the many reasons that I feel a connection with Biff and his relationship with his father, Willy, is in the play there are many moments when Willy contradicts himself. At the beginning of Act I, Willy is back home to find out that his sons are back living at home and he is really upset about this at first. Then he mentions, “‘...work a lifetime to pay off a house. You finally own it, and there's nobody to live in it’” (15). Later, he starts a fight with his wife Linda, saying that Biff is a lazy bum. Linda is fighting against Willy, saying that Biff is just trying to find himself and that Willy should not criticize him so much and Willy ends up changing his mind very easily and agreeing with Linda that Biff is not lazy, but even hardworking (16). Willy says many times in the play that…
As a young boy, Biff, Willy’s oldest son showed athletic promise and charming personality that made him proud. Willy instilled in Biff and Happy; that in order to be successful in life all you needed was personality and great looks. He put little emphasis on hard work and repeatedly throughout the play applauds his boys for their popularity. For example, when a neighbor boy, Bernard attempts to get a young Biff to study for his Math regents, Willy…
Willy Loman’s obsession with the American Dream and its ideals has strongly affected the people Biff and Happy have become. Due to Willy’s teachings and influences, both his sons lead a different life from what they expected. Willy believed that his sons’ attributes would lead them to a successful lifestyle with no conflicts. Yet, being well-liked and attractive lead both sons to live a lie, nowhere near success. Biff becomes an underachiever who can’t hold a job, and feels dissatisfied with the fact that his life has been based on a lie. Happy lives in his brother’s shadow, becoming his father’s younger self, lying and manipulating reality to his favor.…
Willy Loman had set forth expectations for Biff to live the American Dream; however the dream he had for his son was not the dream that Biff wanted to pursue. As stated by Irving Jacobson “Biff, on the other hand, is quite the polar opposite in comparison to his father. Biff’s character is an antithesis of what an ideal candidate for the American dream is- he has realized that it is just an illusion, and a futile dream-and accepted that reality.” This statement summarizes Biff Loman as compared to Willy Loman to perfection. The division the father and son had on realization led to the demise of their…
One major flaw of Willy is his reliance on false hope. This can stem from his son, Biff. As seen in imaginings, adolescent Biff looks up to Willy as a great man, causing him to seek for his approval. In high school, Biff has many athletic achievements and is well liked. His awards cause for Willy to have high hopes in what he can conquer later in life. This developed vastly and became an influence in Willy’s mood. When he has a sense of hope to hold onto, he is liberated of his daily pressures. When Biff and Happy are at the restaurant with…
One the other hand Biff still tries to “answer the call” and try to prove to his father that he will make something of himself. Moreover, Willy wanted to be a salesman for the reason that he wanted to make money and support his family. So, he tries to inspire them when he says, Don’t say? Tell you a secret, boys. Don’t breathe it to a soul. Someday I’ll have my own business, and I’ll never have to leave home any more” (Pg. 30). Ever since Biff was in highschool he followed his father’s orders and played football so he could get into a good college. Since Biff is the typical jock, he relied on his looks to get him anywhere in life. Just like any everyday hero Biff needed to leave in order to find himself and go on that journey. At first Biff was mesmerized by beauty of the farm and that made him realize that he is in the same monotonous job everyday . However, when Biff goes back home he is reminded of why he left in the first place; he realizes he has to go find himself yet again. For example Biff says, “I’ve always made a point of not wasting his life, and everything I come back here I know that all I’ve done is to waste my life.” (Pg. 22-23) In order to “answer the call” Biff promises his dad that he going to find himself a steady job at Bill Oliver’s. Similar to Roy, Biff like any hero has their flaws for the reason…
Another idea of success that Happy and Biff embodied from Willy was materialism, the urge to claim as many material things as they can. During Happy and Biffs childhood they observed how Willy got in dues and stole many material things just so he could feel successful. It came to the point in which he had his sons steal for him just so he can feel more empowered over things, and since Happy and Biff were growing around that idea they started to embody it. For instance, as happy got older he was just like his dad, had all the material things he wanted, even the women, but still felt empty. And its not until Biff asks Happy why he's not content with his life since he has all the material things he wanted, and Happy responds to Biff by saying " it’s what I always wanted. My own apartment, a car, plenty of women, and still, goddamnit, I’m lonely. (Act 1)". In other words, this shows how even though he had all the material things he ever wanted, he still didn’t feel happy and successful, because he wanted more.…
In the play "Death of a Salesman" by Arthur Miller, the character Willy Loman displayed characteristics of deep emotion and despair. He blames society for his misfortune but in reality society was not the cause of his turmoil, it was within him the whole time. He made himself crazy by trying to please everyone, in doing so, he became a psychopath.…
The fact that Willy is so set on achieving the “American Dream” regardless of what it may cost is due to his lack of security in himself. He constantly feels useless in his family which is perhaps why he constantly tries to commit suicide. On the other hand, Biff is well aware of who he is and what he wants in life. He can admit that his dads expectations of him have made him an unhappy person. He struggles to decide whether to please himself or his father’s wishes. It is important to note that, Biff reminds us that the American Dream is not every man's dream. Rather than seeking money and success, Biff wants a more basic life. He wants to be seen and loved for who he is, not for who he appears to be. In the end, Willy manages to commit suicide and leaves his children and wife due to his selfish…
Willy Loman has the confidence of a billionaire. He acts like he is a hero, almost as if he ran the town. Willy’s confident attitude rubbed off onto his kids (Biff and Happy) making them believe that their father was a very successful man and that they were living the high class life. When in reality it was so far from that. Only Willy saw himself as the best. His friends, his bosses all knew he was full of talk, but never mentioned anything to him. “Well, that's the training, the training. I'm telling you, i was selling’ thousands and thousands, but I had to come home.”(34) The reality of Willy Loman's life is quite sad and pathetic, thinking that one is making so much money and is going to be so successful when really none of that is going…
Biff was smart and had a lot of potential which wasn’t seen by Willy, he was capable of fulfilling the American dream conversely there were numerous barriers which stood in the way. After he failed his maths test he decided to visit Charley in Boston and this is when it could be recognised that he lost all aspiration to establish a better life. Since the death of Willy Loman it has been thrilling to hear that Biff has been able to alter his path in life along with his self realisation that American dream with not favour those who have the aim of getting rich however it needs the ambition and motivation to achieve this goals by taking…
Biff Loman is an individual who strains his family’s relationship as he cannot maintain a job in business due to wanting to work in a ranch. More specifically, “Sure, maybe we could buy a ranch. Raise cattle, use our muscles. Men built like we are should be working out in the open.” (Miller Act I: 1563) this is important as Biff is describing his dream in which he is able to work with his hands. This scene emphasises how different he and Willy are, while Biff believes that success is doing what you desire Willy believes success is having people respect. Because of this both Biff and Willy do not get along despite having a close relationship when they were younger. Throughout the play Biff tells Happy his dreams depicting the close relationship…
Willy hoping that one day for Biff to be a famous salesman, like one of the best salesman out there, at the top with Thomas Edison, or B.F. or Goodrich. But both Linda and Willy knew that Biff would never be a major success in business, but even though they knew it, they still hoped and believed in him. The American dream was to be the number one, at the top better than everyone else and that's what Willy always wanted, he wanted to be the best, especially the best salesman. He was living in the past and ruining all hopes of ever becoming the best. He just couldn’t grasp on the fact that the future was coming sooner then he thought, and wasn’t ready for it.…