Death Of Salesman Willy's Father Essay

Willy and Ben’s Father: Willy Loman’s father is a big part in Death of Salesman, the character is so deeply embedded in the play’s structure that, the author is able to bring him in to the story without actually being in the play, for Ben and Willy’s father, Willy never actually met his father and only had Ben telling stories of him, this influenced Willy into becoming a salesman.
Willy Loman: Willy believes wholeheartedly in the American Dream of easy success and wealth, but he never achieves it. While he achieves a professional understanding of himself and the fundamental nature of the sales profession, Willy fails to realize his personal failure and betrayal of his soul and family through the meticulously constructed artifice of his life. He feels that Biff has let him down by not being any more successful in life than Willy himself has been. Biff has no proper job, is not married and is unable to settle down. Willy seems to feel that Biff has done the things he has done, just to spite his father. Biff and Happy, who idolize and have nothing but love for their father when they are children, but later realize how their father failed to prepare them for the real world. His insecurity does not allow him to see the mistakes he did by implementing his strong beliefs about life, behavior, future, goals

While his father and brother are unable to accept how miserable their lives actually are, Biff acknowledges his failure and eventually manages to confront it. When Biff finds out that his father has another woman, this rips him of his faith and his fathers dream for him. Willy sees Biff as an underachiever, but Biff sees himself as trapped in his fathers fantasies. After his come to life in Bill Oliver’s office, Biff determines to break through the lies surrounding the Loman family to come to realistic terms with his own life. Biff’s identity crisis is a function of his and his father’s