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Character of Willy Loman in death of a salesman
Death of a salesman character analysis essay
Death of a salesman character summary
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In Death of a Salesman there is a guy, Willy Loman, who is in a heavy conflict with his son, Biff Loman. Throughout the book Willy and Biff fight and also get along at some points. Biff is upset with Willy because of something that happened in Boston, Massachusetts years ago. Willy is upset at Biff because Biff failed math and didn't want to raise his grade or go to summer school, and became a failure according to Willy. At the beginning we don’t know why Willy and Biff have such a heavy conflict but as the book goes along you get to know more and more about why the two of them are in a heavy conflict with each other. The problem between Willy and Biff was that their relationship was built on lies and Biff found out that they are. In …show more content…
In act one Willy at first struggled with being mad at his son Biff and so did Biff to Willy. It was not until closer to the very end of act one that they started getting along. Then in act two they got along till about halfway thru, where Biff, Happy, and Willy gathered at a restaurant. They talk for a little but then Willy went to the bathroom to regather his thoughts. While Willy was in the bathroom at the restaurant Happy and Biff decided to leave for two girls. Then at the very end of act two Biff returned home after hanging out with the girls, Biff went to the exterior of the house to see Willy, planting flowers, where Willy and Biff finally started getting along once again, because he finally believed that Happy and Biff were going to be successful in life and Biff probably saw that his father was going to kill himself and didn’t want him to do that.. In his flashbacks at first Willy and Biff got along, by Willy telling them stories and having them steal stuff to make the house the best it could be, and it was not until Biff went to Boston, Massachusetts to see Willy and found his father cheating by having an affair. After that Biff never respected his father ever again and didn’t want to talk to his father ever
Willy and Biff were so close that no matter what Biff did Willy ignored it. For instance, in one of Willy’s Flashbacks for Act 1 there is a conversation between Willy and his sons about the football that Biff got. Biff tells Willy that he borrowed a football from the locker room and Willy tells him to return it back. However, when Happy
In Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, the conflicts that formulate between Biff and Willy Loman build up to the death of Willy. Biff’s delusional perception of being liked in the world leads to a successful life which was an idea brought onto him by his father, Biff’s discovery of his father's affair, and Biff’s lack of business success all accumulate to the heavy conflicting relationship between Biff and his father, Willy. These contribute immensely to the idea that personal dreams and desire to reach success in life can negatively impact life with personal relationships, which causes people to lose sight of what is important. This ultimately leads to the Willy committing suicide from the build up of problems with his son.
Miller’s Death of a Salesman is the tragic account of the demise of a meager salesman, Willy Loman. Willy is passively nearing the end of his career and life. His two sons, Biff and Happy show little remorse or pity for Willy, despite his obvious senility. When Biff borrows a football from his coach to practice passing, Willy encourages him: “Coach’ll probably congratulate you on your initiative!” (Miller 30). Willy erroneously praises Biff, not realizing that such affirmation could deceive Biff. Later, as Biff awaits an appointment with a prominent businessman, he feels compelled to steal his fountain pen, “I don’t know, I just—wanted to take something”(Miller 104). Such incidents set a precedent for Biff, eventually leading to his lackluster professional status. Willy once again deludes Biff as he mistakenly deters him from his studies. When Bernard reminds Biff, that in order for Biff to graduate, he must study his math, Willy initially agrees and encourages Biff to study: “You better study with him, Biff. Go ahead now”(Miller 32). When Biff confidently shows Willy his sneakers, on which he printe...
Loss of respect can ruin a relationship. Biff left town for many reasons, but one important one had to do with Willy cheating on his wife. During a flashback in the play, Willy is in a room with a woman when Biff knocks on the door. The woman was actually in the washroom as Biff came in, but came out before Biff left. Biff saw the woman and knew that his father was not being loyal to his mother.
One problem Willy has is that he does not take responsibility for his actions; this problem only gets worse because of his lies. Biff looks up to Willy, so when he finds out that Willy has an affair in Boston, Biff is petrified. Biff realizes his hero, dad, the one he wants to impress, is a phony and a liar. Willy destroys Biff's dream of playing football by saying he does not have to study for the math regents, he also Willy telling Bernard to give Biff the answers. When Biff fails the regents, he does not want to retake the test because he is so disgusted with his hero and does not want to succeed. Not only did Willy destroy Biff's dream, he also broke his vows and refused to admit it. Biff is a failure, in Willy's eye, in most part due to Willy and what happened in Boston. Willy refuses to take responsibility for what he did, so he lies about Biff. Willy tells Bernard that Biff has been doing great things out west, but decided to come back home to work on a "big deal". Willy knows that Biff is a bum who has not amounted to anything, but he refuses to take responsibility for what happened in Boston, so he changes the story of Biff's success. Throughout Willy's life he continued to lie. It might have stopped if Linda did not act the way as she did. Linda is afraid to confront Willy, so she goes along with his outlandish lies.
“The Death of a Salesman” is filled with betrayal, especially mainstream between Biff and Willy. Willy Loman being the chief betrayer himself yet most consumed with the fright of being betrayed. His fear causes him to make frequent accusations onto Biff. Willy feels that Biff has betrayed him by not pursing the ambitions he had intended for him. As a father, Willy believes that Biff must meet the particular inherent duty with assurance. However, Biff strays from his father`s aspirations, therefore causing Willy to feel offended. Willy thinks that Biff`s betrayal is in spite of his discovery of Willy`s affair with another woman. Willy is concerned that Biff thinks that he has betrayed his wife, Linda, who is also Biff`s mother. “She's nothing
He is distracted and continues his conversation to himself. Willy is inattentive and absent-minded. Therefore, the audience is able to perceive how their relationship is not that of a stereotypical, perfect marriage. Once Willy leaves the scene, Biff enters and talks to Linda. He has just become aware of Willy's dream.
Although Willy sometimes has flashbacks, examining them, as well as his thoughts, helps the reader to understand and relate to him better. Willy had very high, but unrealistic expectations for his boys, especially Biff; he thought that they would be guaranteed success. This is illustrated in the quote, “I see great things for you kids, I think your troubles are over. But remember, start big and you’ll end big.” (pg. 64) Willy was convinced that Biff should become a great star and could not accept the fact that Biff had turned out less than perfect. This is demonstrated when Willy says “My God! Remember how they used to follow him around in high school?” (pg. 16) It is easy to see that Willy thought the world was against him and that his life would never amount to anything. When he says “I’m always in a race with the junkyard,” (pg. 73...
The first comlication which occurs in Act I, is when the reader acknowledges that Willy put his whole life into his sons, Biff and Happy, and they turned their backs on him. Willy always believed that biff would be this great, successful businessman and it turned out that Biff is still searching to find himself, which disappoints Willy in the worst way. The conflicts between Willy and Biff are rooted very deep. It all started when Biff was younger and he had failed his math class. He traveled to Boston to visit Willy, who was on a business trip. He had told that he had let Willy down and comes to find out that Willy is with another woman. Biff leaves and never takes that math class over. Willy felt guilty about this and believes that deep inside that he is responsible for Biff's choices in life and his failure to be successful. This conflict makes Willy weak and tremendously guilty, which stays with him as a reminder.
In Death of a Salesman, written by American playwright Arthur Miller, focuses on Biff’s relationship towards his father Willy Loman. He plays the role that drives most of Willy’s thoughts and actions, specifically his memories. Whenever Willy is not able to accept the present, he reverts to the past where Biff is usually nearby. Before Willy’s trip to Boston, Biff admired his father. He trusted and believed his philosophy that any person can be successful, provided that he is “well-liked”. Biff never questions his father even though at times it is obvious that Willy is not following the rules himself. This results in Biff growing up believing that rules do not apply to him because Willy does not follow them nor does he expect
Growing up, Willy doted on Biff the most, which reflects the way his own father doted on his older brother Ben. Their father-son relationship was strong until the incident with The Woman caused a rift to grow between them. Willy feared seeing his son due to the chance of being exposed, and Biff did not want to be reminded of his father’s betrayal. However, near the end of the play, Biff and Willy had a heart to heart which seemingly did some repair work on their relationship. Biff grew to forgive his father and confessed that he loved him despite their past. He experienced growth through the events of the story, making him another candidate for the
In the play, The Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller,Willy Loman, an unsuccessful businessman struggling to support his family is completely out of touch with reality throughout the plot line. Many characters throughout this play and their interactions with Willy have shown the audience his true colors and what he thinks is important in life. His constant lying and overwhelming ego certainly does not portray his life in factual terms, but rather in the false reality that he has convinced himself he lives in. Being raised by Willy, Biff and Happy are becoming failures and have no motivation to work hard to achieve anything in life. Throughout this novel, Biff has a few recurrences with stealing.
The Characters of Biff and Happy in Death of a Salesman No one has a perfect life; everyone has conflicts that they must face sooner or later. The ways in which people deal with these personal conflicts can differ as much as the people themselves. Some insist on ignoring the problem for as long as possible, while others face up to the problem immediately to get it out of the way. Biff and Happy Loman are good examples of this, although both start from the same point, they end up going in different directions with Happy still living in his world of lies and Biff, being set free by the truth. Happy Loman is Willy's youngest son and is often over shadowed by his older brother Biff and ignored
Willy's search to find his mistakes of his life failed because, even though he found out what happened to Biff, he did not search for the right thing: his identity. Willy found out that his affair made Biff envision his father as a fake and phony, but he did not realize that a salesman was not the right job for him. When Willy died, no one came to his funeral (Act II. Scene I). This just showed that Willy was not the man he thought he was. He thought he was a great salesman with an unlimited amount of friends, but, when he died, no one was at his funeral but his family (Act II. Scene I). It showed that Willy was just a simple craftsman, who only needed attention and love from his family, and did not need fame or to be well-known ("Arthur Miller and Others," 311-314)
As a teenager Biff idolized his father, but their relationship changed after Biff discovered that Willy was cheating on Linda. Biff realizes that Willy is not the man he presented himself to be, and as a result Biff is left without a role model. Because of this realization, Biff gives up on his dreams and drifts from one job to the next, never progressing in any aspect of his life. This causes conflict between Biff and Willy. Biff has failed in the business world and has accepted his failure as his own fault. However Willy fears that Biff blames him for his failure. Willy’s adulterous ways left Biff without a role model, so he feels responsible for his son’s failure. Willy’s guilt is apparent when he tells Biff, “when you’re rotting somewhere beside the railroad tracks, remember, and don’t blame me!”(130). Willy denies his guilt, because he sees himself as the cause of Biff’s failure, meaning that he himself failed as a father. By denying his guilt Willy hopes that Biff will not realize Willy’s fault and hate him for it. And that is Willy’s greatest fear: Willy’s ultimate desire in life is to be well loved, he already knows Biff dislikes him for being unfaithful, and he lives in fear that his son’s dislike will grow into