Compare And Contrast The Conflict Between A Parent And A Son In Death Of A Salesman
The most prominent example of a play that depicts a conflict between a parent and a son is Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller. The conflict occurs between Willy Loman, an idealistic father who lives in his fantasy world, and Biff Loman, a son determined to turn his life around.
The main conflict in this play is Willy’s inability to see reality and how he forces his deception onto Biff, although Biff realizes this and wants his father to come to terms with reality. Willy imagines himself being well-liked and the epitome of success, however in reality he has lost most of his senses to the point where he can’t even drive properly. Furthermore, Willy wants Biff to also be a successful salesman, but Biff just wants to be free and figure out his
true calling. Biff used to be a footballer player, but grades weren’t his first priority because Willy liked the popular image he had and let him get away with the way he was running his life. In a way, Willy was the reason why Biff’s spiral down started in the first place.
When he sees his father with a mistress, he becomes heartbroken and lost and he hits rock bottom. Throughout the novel, it is apparent that although Biff took a turn for the worse, he is willing to put in the effort to change, despite not knowing where he wants to go. However, Willy can be seen guilt tripping Biff into how he became a “loser” and how he had so much potential. He is basically displacing his own guilt at his own failure onto his son whom he hoped would become what he always hoped to be. Although Biff is self-aware about his thoughts and feelings, he has bad communication skills and is thus unable to tell his father how he truly feels. Willy, however, is unable to see his true flaws and therefore has no way to treat them. This serves to be perhaps the biggest misunderstanding between the two. If they only communicated than perhaps anguish on both sides could be treated and their loving father-son relationship could have been reborn. Throughout the play, Willy holds onto this one notion that a “well liked” and “personally attractive” man will succeed no matter what, despite how they may be uneducated or not possess the skill necessary. However, Biff believes that hard work and grit is what inevitably leads to a successful life; a concept that he tries to put into action but Willy’s interference prevents him from doing so.
The novel tries to contrast two distinct ideals of the American Dream and how only one of them is actually attainable. Willy’s dream is based on superficiality and deception, whereas Biff’s is actually rooted in tried-and-true concepts that are applicable to other Americans as well. Willy’s persistence in believing that his hallucination is true and being unable to get a grip on what is actually there is what leads to his downfall.
The main conflict in this play is Willy’s inability to see reality and how he forces his deception onto Biff, although Biff realizes this and wants his father to come to terms with reality. Willy imagines himself being well-liked and the epitome of success, however in reality he has lost most of his senses to the point where he can’t even drive properly. Furthermore, Willy wants Biff to also be a successful salesman, but Biff just wants to be free and figure out his
true calling. Biff used to be a footballer player, but grades weren’t his first priority because Willy liked the popular image he had and let him get away with the way he was running his life. In a way, Willy was the reason why Biff’s spiral down started in the first place.
When he sees his father with a mistress, he becomes heartbroken and lost and he hits rock bottom. Throughout the novel, it is apparent that although Biff took a turn for the worse, he is willing to put in the effort to change, despite not knowing where he wants to go. However, Willy can be seen guilt tripping Biff into how he became a “loser” and how he had so much potential. He is basically displacing his own guilt at his own failure onto his son whom he hoped would become what he always hoped to be. Although Biff is self-aware about his thoughts and feelings, he has bad communication skills and is thus unable to tell his father how he truly feels. Willy, however, is unable to see his true flaws and therefore has no way to treat them. This serves to be perhaps the biggest misunderstanding between the two. If they only communicated than perhaps anguish on both sides could be treated and their loving father-son relationship could have been reborn. Throughout the play, Willy holds onto this one notion that a “well liked” and “personally attractive” man will succeed no matter what, despite how they may be uneducated or not possess the skill necessary. However, Biff believes that hard work and grit is what inevitably leads to a successful life; a concept that he tries to put into action but Willy’s interference prevents him from doing so.
The novel tries to contrast two distinct ideals of the American Dream and how only one of them is actually attainable. Willy’s dream is based on superficiality and deception, whereas Biff’s is actually rooted in tried-and-true concepts that are applicable to other Americans as well. Willy’s persistence in believing that his hallucination is true and being unable to get a grip on what is actually there is what leads to his downfall.