Willy Loman is a man in his sixties who is married to Linda Loman, and they have two adult sons named, Biff and Happy. Willy is living the American dream by owning a house, and owning a car, where he can support his wife. Willy works as a traveling sales man in Boston for the Wagner Company for the last thirty-four years. After many uneventful events in his life Willy kills himself by running his car into a tree. The years of guilt that Willy’s lives through that he had ruined his son, Biff’s life, and his betrayal of his wife Linda, is what killed Willy. Willy experiences multiple flashbacks where he to talks to himself and acts out what has happened in his life. During these flashbacks, Willy tries to figure out what he did wrong with Biff …show more content…
and he ruined his son’s life. Willy keeps reliving his past to the point where it destroys himself. He thinks it is his fault for the way his son turned out the way he did. The flashbacks are a way for to him cope with the way complexity of Biff’s choices. Willy feels guilt as a parent, because his son did not make it life. Willy sees his nephew Bernard and his boss Howard getting places life with a career and family which hurts Willy a lot, because they are the same age as Biff. Biff is the apple of Willy’s eye he feels guilt, and that his son has not made it “big”. Willy is only able to see his son Biff as the best.
Whenever Biff’s faults are pointed out Willy becomes angry and tries to defend him. When anyone tells Willy that Biff is getting into trouble or needs to study more, Willy would always stand up for Biff’s honor by saying, “There’s nothing the matter with him! You want him to be a worm like Bernard? He’s got spirit, personality!”(Act one, 40). Willy seems not to have any concerns about Biff when he starts to flunk out of school or get in serious trouble. Willy does not want to hear that his son is having problems and yells, “Shut up” whenever someone tells him if Biff doing something wrong, such as driving without a licenses, being rough with girls, and stealing. Willy feels some responsibility for how unsuccessful Biff became. Willy suffers any parent’s worst fear that their child has become a bum and he couldn’t help them. It emotionally kills Willy that the son who he thought was going to become, “big” did not do anything with his …show more content…
life Biff is Willy’s favorite son whom he idolizes, because he is well liked, captain of the football team at his high school, and has good looks. Biff has qualities that Willy values as important. Biff is offered three full scholarships to the three different colleges. Unfortunately, all Biff needed to do was go to summer school to in order to graduate. Instead, Biff deccides to drop out of school, and to work on farms. Willy has felt years of guilt that his son dropped out school, because he felt it was his fault. Biff is happy working on farms, and even he states, “There’s nothing more inspiring or –beautiful than the sight of a mare and a new colt.” (Act I, 22). Biff is happy and dreams of one day owning a farm. Even though, Biff loves working on a farm Willy thinks being a salesman is Biff’s unknown calling and thinks he “ . . .could be big in no time”(Act I, 16). He is unhappy that Biff won’t take a hold of something, because he knows Biff would make it “big”. What hurts Willy the most was the idea that his son did not like him. Willy has a feeling that the reason that Biff turned out the way he did was because he saw Willy for what he truly is. This destroys Willy, because Willy think that everyone has to be well-liked and this is brutal that because made him feel hated by Biff. When Biff failed his math class he went to Boston to have a talk with his father. This is when Biff caught his father cheating on his mother. Biff realized that everything his father stood for was a fake. Biff calls him a “. . . fake! You phony little fake!” (Act II,121 ). This causes caused Willy to relive the guilt of the affair, and we are able to see his guilt present throughout the play. When Linda mends her stockings, Willy become angry at Linda and tells her to throw them out. We later find out that he was giving his mistress new stocking, while his wife at home was mending her own. Willy had felt guilty about the affair, even though the affair happened fifteen years earlier. The affair made him feel ashamed in his son’s eyes. Even though, as readers we do not know if Linda knows about the affair. Biff knows about what his father has done which makes Willy feel anger towards himself and towards Biff. Willy starts to break mentally, because his son saw him as fake and not well-liked. Willy seems that he wasn’t ashamed of what he did to his wife, but what he did to his son. Biff reminded Willy that he knew the truth of what he did that destroyed him. It killed Willy that favorite his son looked down on him. What killed Willy was a combination of his years of guilt about Biff and the realization that his son will never make it “big” around and his son not liking him.
What throws Willy over the edge is when Biff cries at his feet, and Willy realized that Biff loves him. Years of living with guilt of cheating on his wife, being a fake, and so much regret is finally resolved after fifteen years. Willy thought killing himself would be the best thing for Biff, since it would give him twenty thousand dollars. Willy wanted his son to use that money to be happy and become a success story like his brother Ben, who walked into a jungle at seventeen and walked out millionaire. Willy feels that his son deserves that kinds of instant success. He could not give his son anything while he was alive. Willy gave everything for Biff. Willy sold his brother, Ben’s, diamond watch to help Biff out. Unfortunately, Biff did not do anything with his father’s help when he could help. Willy could not help, which destroy him, since he loves Biff too much. Willy came to the conclusion that he needed to make the ultimate sacrifice by killing himself, so Biff could have the insurance money. Willy wanted his son to be
“magnificent”. Willy died for his son. The ideals of being well-liked and good looking are the qualities that Biff possess which hurts Willy because son did not make it. The idea that his son was unsuccessful killed Willy physically and emotionally. Willy could not let the idea go that his son wouldn’t be magnificent. “He had the wrong dreams. All, all wrong (Requiem,138 )” Works Cited Miller, Arther. Death of a Sales Man. New York, New York: Penguin Twentieth Century Classics, 1998.
Biff loses respect for his father and soon realizes what lie he has been living. Willy is in denial about his involvement with Biff’s failure in life, and when he is confronted about it by Bernard asking, “What happened in Boston, Willy? (141), Willy quickly becomes defensive, saying, “What are you trying to do, blame it on me? Don’t talk to me that way!” (141). After finding out about Biff’s reaction of burning his favorite University of Virginia shoes that symbolize Biff’s hopes and dreams for the future, Willy realizes what impact the affair had on his son. Willy’s lack of acceptance of reality affects his relationship because he never owned up or admitted he had an affair. This weighs heavy on Willy because the hate from his son will always be there. Biff loses all respect for his father and sees not only a failed business man, but in general a failed man. Throughout it all, Willy’s wife still remains supportive of him and constantly reminds him of her love for him. Despite this, Willy still yearns to have what he does not and pursues “the other woman.” It is bright as day that Willy finds some sort of comfort and validation for his affair with a woman who makes him feel wanted, yet his wife does the same thing. This guilt is always carried around with Willy which is just another contributor to the death of Willy
In a flashback Willy has, it is shown that Willy jokes about Charley’s son, Bernard, a “nerd” who helps Biff with his math so he doesn’t fail, by claiming that despite Bernard being smart, he will not get far in life because he is not as “liked: as Biff, who at the time was a football star. After Biff saw his father with is mistress, he began viewing his father more negatively, rejecting all of Willy’s future plans for him, calling him a “phony little fake”. Biff’s rejection of Willy’ future plans for him sends Willy into a downward spiral, making him more and more delusional. Ironically, Willy failed to sell his plans to his own son, when his main profession is selling products to people, as he is a
Both sons live with the same concern for Willy as Linda, especially after she explains to them that Willy’s crashes were not accidents. Biff is particularly affected by Willy’s actions as Biff discovered Willy’s affair with one of his coworkers, an action which enraged Biff and caused Biff to refuse to fix his math grade and finish high school. Additionally, Willy’s affair also caused Biff to grow distant from his father, setting the two up for many future arguments such as one in which Willy tells Biff, “stops him with: May you rot in hell if you leave this house!” (129). Not to forget that Willy’s suicide was originally meant to spite Biff as Willy believed his funeral would be grand, claiming “He’ll see what I am, Ben! He’s in for a shock, that boy!” (126)--this being a tragic twist of dramatic irony. This trauma and strife brought upon Biff leads him into a great deal of hardship, never having had a job or settled down. Willy causes Biff to believe himself a failure, and Biff is dragged into Willy’s world of suffering where Biff cannot attain success in the face of his father’s high
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.
Willy's first flash to the past was when his son, Biff, returns home from the west. Willy discusses his disappointment in Biff with his dear wife Linda. When Willy fails to cope with this misfortune successfully, he returns in his head to a time when everything was going well and life was more fortunate to him. It is perfectly normal for one to remember more fortunate days at the more dispirited times of life, as long as they can return to the present and deal with the reality of the situation. However, Willy never does return to the original problem, he just continues on with life, fleeing from the troubles that cross his path. His refusal to acknowledge reality becomes so significant, that he honestly believes the past, and he lives his entire life through a false identity never looking at the truth of his life.
Like countless characters in a play, Willy struggles to find who he is. Willy’s expectations for his sons and The Woman become too high for him to handle. Under the pressure to succeed in business, the appearance of things is always more important than the reality, including Willy’s death. The internal and external conflicts aid in developing the character Willy Loman in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman.
He then faces some tragedy of failing his family by not giving them what they wanted at the time he was working as a salesmen then he committed suicide by killing himself in a car, so that his family will get an insurance cover so that his wife Linda will get money to help her and his two sons to open big businesses and they would never become hungry anymore. I think by doing this Willy was feeling guilt that he did not accomplish what he needed in life while he was working and his money was spent in the hotels with that mistress that Biff caught him with and forgot to fulfill his American dream.
Willy's affair with The Woman is a crucial turning point in his relationship with Biff, his oldest son. When Biff catches Willy and his mistress, Willy first attempts to distract his son and then be rid of him. However, his attempted cover-up fails and forever shatters the idolatrous relationship between father and son.
Willy also has very poor parenting skills. He has two children Biff and Happy. Willy excuses Biff for a lot of events when he was younger. If Biff stole something, Willy just brushes it off and says that is was no big deal. He didn’t even care when Biff failed math and did not graduate from high school. He measured success in how many people you knew not what your grades are. In one breath Willy would say that Biff is lazy and then in the next say he’s not.
By the time Willy got to be an old man, his life was in shambles. *One son, Biff, was a hopeless dreamer who wasn’t able to hold on to a job. He could have been successful through an athletic scholarship, but he blew the chance he had to go to school. Happy, the other son, had a job, but was basically all talk, just like Willy. Now near the end of his career as a salesman, Willy realizes his whole life was just a joke, and the hopes he placed in the American Dream were misguided. At the end of the play, his only hope is to leave something for his family, especially for Biff, by taking his own life and leaving his family the insurance money. Through his death, Willy thinks he can achieve success and fulfill his dream.
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 discovers who he is and is determined to become true to himself. Happy, unfortunately is destined for living in the same delusion that Willy lived in.
Willy still struggles to find out why his son, Biff, has not made anything of himself yet. Instead of a stable job, Biff has been a farmhand across the country earning only $35 a week (Act I. Scene I). Willy does not know where he has gone wrong with raising his kids, with his job, and overall with his life (Krutch, 308-309). To find the solutions to the problems driving him insane, Willy looks to his past. While he is day-dreaming he actually talks to himself and makes his family worried about his health and sanity. He daydreams and feels as if he is actually encountering the past once again in his journey. Willy is desperately trying to find out what has gone wrong in his life, why no one responds to him in the positive way that he used to, and why Biff does not have a stable job or a family. Through his trek to finding his mistakes in life, Willy finds r...
Moments to Re-Examine: When Willy had the flashback about Biff finding out Willy was cheating on Linda. Willy’s emotions that triggered it could’ve been a happy moment. At the end of the book, Willy was talking to Ben. Willy was struggling to provide for his family. Ben encouraged Willy to come along with him. That made Willy paranoid and ended up killing himself. When Ben and Willy
Willy cannot understand how everything could have gone so wrong for Biff. Willy has always been und...