Biff Loman is the oldest son of Willy and Linda who is thirty four years old. When Biff was younger he earned a scholarship to the University of Virginia but never went to college since he hadn’t passed a class in his senior year that lead him to not graduate high school. He had the chance to make up his class so he could graduate but refused to take part in summer school mainly because of finding out about his dads wrongdoing on having an affair with a woman. “Willy:Never mind! He’s going to give you those points. I’ll see to it… Biff:I’m not going there.” (Miller Act 2:95) The moment Biff caught his dad cheating it impacted him so much that it turned his life
around.
Christopher Johnson McCandless, the main character in the book “Into the Wild,” had made a lot of friends even though he did not like people. Wayne Westerberg was one of Chris’s friends who he met in a bar. Chris also befriended a girl named Jan Burre. Another person who befriended Chris was a guy named Ronald Franz,
It is stated by Standage that, “Sandage believes Willy Loman was a success. But the message of the play, he says, is that “if you level off, you have to give up. You might as well not live”” (Baird 25). This is quite ironic because all Willy does is push to be successful and he when he can’t he puts expects his son’s to follow through so he gives up. He constantly reminds them, “the man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead” (Miller 67). This is also ironic because Willy is the man who creates personal interest in the business world, but when everyone passes away he is left with nothing but the past to remember. This false reality that Willy creates for Biff brings on the conflicts between the father and son duo due to the fact that Biff fails as a result of the way he was raised. So by the time Biff goes to interview for his first job he thinks that his success will come with no effort
Willy Loman receives a deserving punishment for many reasons, but the lesson he leaves behind to his sons is one of the most everlasting to his family. Field in his article claims “what he has taught them does not look to him like what he had wanted them to learn” (21), but Willy’s failure is that Biff and Happy have learned exactly what he has taught them their whole lives. Much of the conflict stems from their similarities rather than their differences. Much of the contradictory nature of Willy’s own thoughts are the same as that of Biff’s. For instance when Biff catches Willy with another woman, he is furious with his father shouting, “You fake! You phony little fake!”(2. 745), but even though Biff is angry with his father h...
Willy Loman’s false pride leads him to believe that he has been successful as a father. He remembers how he was once looked up by his children, especially by his son Biff. However, Willy fails to realize that the relationship he once had with his son Biff has been broken, due to the fact that Biff caught Willy in an affair he was having with another girl; Biff was heartbroken to fin...
Linda does not lose respect for Willy for his actions as much as Biff does. Biff cares about his mother dearly and does not like to see her being yelled at. He grinds his teeth when he sees his father yell at his mother, because he knows that if he argues, there will be that much more tension between him and his father. However, Biff cannot take it much longer because he is losing respect for his father. He knows his father should never get physical with his mother, and he finally takes action before it gets violent. He grabs Willy by the arm and screams at him not to yell at her. Willy gets angry at first, but then goes to bed guilt-ridden.
Biff Loman grew up in a family of a salesman. He had a reasonably happy childhood, and a great school career. He was good at American Football and won a football scholarship. His father, Willy Loman, was always very proud of his son and always praised him and put him above others. Unfortunately, Willy's life philosophy was ruined by the corrupted version of the American Dream. He believed that the key to happiness is money and success and the a person does not necessarily has to work hard to attain it. Biff grew up with those ideas and they influenced him a lot. But when he caught his father with another woman, the realization of the lie and corruption turned his life around. He no longer believes in his father or the dream, and lives a...
Biff Loman is the oldest son of Willy Loman. When Biff was a teenager he looked up to his dad, Willy, as a superhero. Willy was not exactly the best dad but he was the best he could be. It wasn’t until Biff had gone to Boston to explain to his dad that he failed math and he caught his father cheating on Linda. Biff was destroyed and said that Willy was a phony and that he was no good. After that scene Biff and Willy’s relationship changed, they were always arguing, angry, and disrespectful towards each other. Willy did not appreciate the attitude and disrespectfulness coming from Biff. It
Most critics can agree that Biff idolizes his father and enjoys working alongside him. However, Biff finally comes to terms that he has been living a lie his entire life. Even though some critics may or may not believe that Biff Loman is the reason that Willy ends his life, one can assume that Biff plays a significant role in the life of Willy Loman.
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
Biff never kept a steady job during his young adult life, and did not possess a healthy relationship with anyone that was in his life. As the play progresses the reader sees how much Biff becomes more self- aware. An online source states, “Unlike the other members of his family, Biff grows to recognize that he and his family members consistently deceive themselves, and he fights to escape the vicious cycles of lies.” When Biff returns home it becomes a struggle to keep a healthy relationship with his parents. Once Willy and Biff decide together that Biff will go and ask Bill Oliver for a loan is when the differences between the two characters are truly seen. Biff accepts reality for the first time in his life, and realizes how ridiculous it is to ask Bill Oliver for a loan, when he barely knows the man and worked for him about ten years ago. When Biff meets up with Willy after the ‘meeting’ Biff is talking to his Father and says, “Why am I trying to become what I don’t want to be? What am I doing in an office, making a contemptuous, begging fool of myself, when all I want is out there, waiting for me the minute I say I know who I am!” This quote reveals that Biff recently has just experienced an epiphany, and realizes that what he was doing was making no sense. Biff is escaping the self- deception he was caught in with the rest of his
This provides the reader with evidence that the ideas that Willy presented to his sons would make history repeat itself in the next generation. Unlike his brother and father Biff Loman feels compelled to seek the truth about himself. He is Willy's pride and joy, being the first-born; Biff is the personification of all of Willy's dreams, he would be respected and "well liked". As a teenager, Biff worshipped his father. He was everything Willy wanted him to be -- star athlete, popular with the girls, "well liked" by everyone, he was "Like a young god.
WILLY: Biff Loman is lost. In the greatest country in the world a young man with such—personal attractiveness, gets lost. And such a hard worker. There’s one thing about Biff—he’s not lazy.
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
One important event that caused friction between Biff and his father Willy was about college. Since Biff did not pass math, he had to attend summer school. However, Biff refuses to do so. This made him realize he is going nowhere in life, which prompted him to return home. On opposing ends, his father Willy only sees Biff as lazy. “Biff is a lazy bum!” (Miller 859). Biff wants a simpler life, he knows the
In order to build, you need to destroy. In the novel The Help, by Kathryn Stockett, characters throughout the novel display their differences by the actions and decisions they make in order to change society. In Jackson, Mississippi, the expectations of a white woman are pretty straightforward; get married, have kids and become a housewife. Most of the women comply. However, one individual questions society.