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…
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…
While Biff (Willy’s eldest son) was growing up, he did everything he could to be like his father - he idolised and respected him always. However, as much as his son Biff tried to be like his father, he is, in actuality quite the different to him. Biff’s overall nature is an opposition of what a normal model for the American dream is; he has understood that it is just a myth and a pointless dream- and has acknowledged that reality. Biff’s character is stronger than that of his father, just because of that realisation. The acceptance of that reality can be seen on page 18 when he…
Biff Loman displays only a small measure of his youthful confidence, enthusiasm, and affection. More often, he appears troubled, frustrated, and sad. The name ‘Biff’ gives an appearance of a tough man, but in the play ‘Death of a Salesman’, Biff is a flawed character who is the opposite of the appearance his name gives. Although he is a flawed character, he manages to succeed at one thing that Willy was not able to, which is acknowledging his failures, rather than dreaming of something he is not able to achieve.…
I even believed myself that id been a salesman for him!”(act 2) This Quote shows how Biff realizes that he had been lying to himself this whole time. Happy (his brother) and Biff live in a fantasy world a lot of the time and talk about how they're going to go into business together and become rich, as Walter even calls it a “million dollar idea”. When in reality they will never even come close to setting this plan in motion. The reason they even mention the idea is to make their dad feel good, and also because they just enjoy hearing their own ideas. Happy and Biff feed off of each other's enthusiasm as they go on about how the “Loman brothers” are going to go into business together. When in reality it's all talk and biff would never follow through. I feel that biff is a “yes man”, Biff will say anything to anyone to get them to be happy even if it’s not in his best interest or he simply doesn't want to do it. This is evident when Biff talks to Willy about going to see oliver to ask him in his venture to go into business. Not only do we find out at the end of the play that he doesn't want to be a salesman, he also lies to Willy about talking to him as he had backed out of talking to oliver in his office. Biff lies to Willy and say’s that the meeting with oliver went great and he was going to meet with him the next day. He does this to not only avoid confrontation with willy but to also make willy…
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…
I am Willy Loman, and you are Biff Loman!” By using this motto Willy is displaying how much he believes in being a vital, successful, and persuasive man. Willy has this idea of the kind of man he should be well established into her head and his heart. Since Willy was not able to be achieve the perfect man he strived to be, he tries to get his son Biff to believe in his fantasy of being a vital, successful, and persuasive man, However, Biff realizes that this is merely just Willy’s dream more than what real life is actually like.…
During the play the main focus point is Willy’s volcanic relationship with his eldest son Biff, in which he is on the same path as his father. “WILLY: Sure. Certain men just don’t get started till later in life. Like Thomas Edison, I think. Or B.F. Goodrich. One of them was deaf. [He starts for the bedroom doorway.] I’ll put my money on Biff. (Act 1)” Willy sticks to his gut and hopes that Biff will be the greatest major business entrepreneur. He’s desperate for Biff to follow in his foot steps even though his advice is not the reality of the new world they live…
One of Willy’s largest flaws is hubris. His pride gets in the way when he tries to teach his sons the ways of life. He teaches them that they are better than everyone else because they are Lomans. He inflates their egos so they have problems working for people: “Biff: And I never got anywhere because you blew me so full of hot air I could never stand taking orders from anybody! That’s whose fault it is!...It’s goddamn time you heard that! I had to be boss big shot in two weeks”(1494). Biff and Happy dealt with this inability to take orders in different ways to get back at their bosses. Happy started having sex with all of his boss’s wives or girlfriends. That is how he dealt with his inability to take orders. Miller shows this when he says, “Happy: That girl Charlotte I was with tonight is engaged to be married in five weeks…Sure the guy’s in line for the vice-presidency of the store… And he’s the third executive I’ve done that to…And to top it all, I go to their weddings”(1437). Biff dealt with his blown up ego by stealing items from his employers. He started this back when he was in high school playing football. He stole a football from the coach and the way Willy reacted to it set him up for a life of thievery: “Biff: Did you see the new football I got? Willy (laughing with him at the theft): I want you to return that…(to Biff.) Coach’ll probably congratulate you on your initiative”(1439-1440).…
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…
After this event occurs, Biff throws away everything he ever worked for in order to “punish” his father. He allows himself to fail math, to not go to college, and to abandon his family. Biff then goes to the South, where he works as a farmhand and eventually winds up in jail. He does all of this after realizing that all of the values his father had instilled in him were not even being lived out by his father. Everything Biff thought he knew appears to be a lie to him. In Willy’s mind, these values were true and he was simply showing his sons that they were both more than capable of being successful. By squandering his entire future, Biff shows that he is not capable and does not care enough to be a success.…
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…