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Relationship between father and son
Relationship between father and son
Relationship between father and son Essay
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Character and their relationships
Elements like characterization and their relationship are on of the main points that help the reader to understand more about the work. Through this relationship, the reader can comprehend the conflicts of the play, since the characters play different roles in each other’s lives. The characters are usually connected in different ways, such as emotional and physical. These relationships can be brother and sister, mother and daughter, or father and son. In “Death of A Salesman,” by Arthur Miller the relationship between Willy Loman and his sons, Biff and Happy, allow Miller to comment on the father-son relationship and conflicts that arise from them. In “The Glass Menagerie,” by Tennessee Williams shows the
In most cases, it is the oldest son that is being favored while the younger son is ignored. Usually, the father does not realize that he is picking a favorite; he simply gets caught up in the successes of the oldest and does not try to leave out of it. Throughout the novel, Willy makes references on how wonderful Biff is and he never pays enough attention to Happy. Willy constantly shows favoritism and true love to one of his sons, while his other son is left behind. As Willy shows truly favoritism in Biff, he takes this advantage of that and his dad becomes his role model as compared to Biff, the younger son Happy was really never important to Willy, eventually creating a more negative relationship. Miller is able to give an example of this behavior through the actions of Willy Loman. As the play continues Willy’s favorite relationship starts to have shifts and it becomes tense and difficult. Biff comes home to recall himself and eventually Willy perceives it as a failure since he has no proper job, he is not married and is not capable of doing something for
No, it’s the next room, there’s a party –
Can I come in? There’s something in the bathtub, Willy, and it’s moving! (1267)
Within this relationship, the responsibility of the father is to be a role model, provide values, and leadership skills to his sons. In almost every family, the sons will look to their father as the role model and a hero, which in this case Biff does but Happy does not. It is in the father’s best interest to use this opportunity to give these qualities and allow his sons to become responsible individuals. In this case, Willy does not accomplish this with one of his sons, because of his favoritism. In William’s play, the relationship between mother and daughter is important because it shows how Amanda loves her children and wants the best for them, but she creates an imaginary world. No, I don’t have secrets. I’ll tell you what I wished for on the moon.
Success and happiness for my precious children! I wish for that whenever there’s a moon, and when there isn’t a moon, I wish for it too.
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
Within Death of a Salesman, there are many themes, motifs and symbolism shown to help readers and audiences alike understand the writing. Arthur Miller implemented these developmental characteristics through showing the theme of success and failure, features of a tragic hero and the germination within characters. Through Millers writing, it is shown that the American Dream does not always end in a happy
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...
Willy Loman is not the only victim of his tragic flaw. The rest of the Loman family is also affected by Willy's problem. Willy's wife, Linda, is the only one who supports and understands Willy's tragic flaw completely. Linda supports every far-fetched claim her husband makes. She is even described as having “infinite patience” whenever she is conversing with Willy (Miller 99). Willy's two sons, Biff and Happy, are also affected by his flaw. Happy, when in the company of two ladies, claims that Willy is not even his father, and “just a guy” (Miller 91). Later in the play, Biff decides that he does not want to be in his father's life anymore. Biff's problems are simply too much for Willy to handle with his current state of being, even though Willy needs Biff in his life. After both internal and external conflict, Biff reveals to Willy that Willy had been lied to for a number of years, and that the life he lives is essentially a lie (Miller 104).
Willy and Happy are very similar people. However Biff does not agree with the way Willy and Happy handle situations, which results in several conflicts between Biff and Willy throughout much of the play. Willy describes Biff as being lost saying, “Biff Loman is lost. In the greatest country in the world a young man with such – personal attractiveness gets lost,” (Miller 16). Even though Willy believes Biff is the lost one, in reality, Willy is lost throughout most of the play (Eisinger 2). Willy does not really know himself. Willy always puts on a show for others and does not be his true self, which portrays the feeling of being lost within himself.
At the beginning of the play it is evident that he cannot determine the realities of life, and so he repeatedly contradicts himself to establish that his conclusion is correct and opinion accepted. These numerous contradictions demonstrate that Willy is perturbed of the possibility that negative judgements may come from others. Willy strongly believes that “personality always wins” and tells his sons that they should “be liked and (they) will never want”. In one of Willy’s flashbacks he recalls the time when his sons and him were outside cleaning their Chevy. Willy informs Biff and Happy the success of his business trips and how everyone residing in Boston adores him. He mentions that due to the admiration of people he does not even have to wait in lines. He ultimately teaches his sons that being liked by others is the way to fulfilling one’s life and removing your worries. These ideals, that one does not need to work for success, demonstrate Willy’s deluded belief of achieving a prosperous life from the admiration and acceptance of others. This ultimately proves to be a false ideology during his funeral, when an insufficient amount of people arrive. Willy constantly attempts to obtain other’s acceptance through his false tales that depict him as a strong, successful man. In the past, he attempts to lie to his wife, Linda, about the amount of wealth he has attained during his
The major events in the play, all develop around the memories of Tom Wingfield. The character, who takes care of his mother and sister, due to his father who left them at a young age. The next major event is when Jim who was a potential suitor for Amanda, comes and eats dinner with the family. Later on in the dinner, Amanda learns that her suitor Jim has girlfriend.
Tennessee Williams employs the uses of plot, symbolism, and dialogue to portray his theme of impossible true escape, which asserts itself in his play, The Glass Menagerie. Each of his characters fills in the plot by providing emotional tension and a deep, inherent desire to escape. Symbolism entraps meaning into tangible objects that the reader can visualize and attach significance to. Conclusively, Williams develops his characters and plot tensions through rich dialogue. Through brilliant construction and execution of literary techniques, Williams brings to life colorful characters in his precise, poignant on-stage drama.
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 Loman becomes incredibly involved in work-related matters, instead of the happiness surrounding his family life. He discourages Biff to take his own path, and instead, nearly forces him to become a salesman, in hopes that Biff will be more successful than he turned out to be. Willy tells Biff that his dreams will “cut down (his) life…!” Willy cannot simply hope for Biff and Happy to attain satisfaction in life, which is the element that Willy misses. He is so consumed by the idea of success that he had not once stopped to reflect on being a good father or loving his wife. Having an affair was one of his main problems-he could not put enough love into his family, so he put it anywhere else he could. He visited his mistress on business ventures, which is the only aspect of his life he truly appreciated. Therefore, his home life became full of lies, Biff saying that they “never told the truth for ten minutes.” Miller is, again, critiquing American households, since their typical values revolve more around money and presentation than a loving, kind, and caring home. Willy had a family who loved him, but he neglected to notice this, which lead to his unhappiness. Never placing any type of value of love and kindness can cause a person to become cold and bitter, which is exactly what Willy became. He may have avoided suicide if he had realized the love and care he could have been surrounded
During most father-son relationships, there are certain times where the father wants to become more of a "player" in his son’s life than his son believes is necessary. The reasons for this are numerous and can be demonstrated in different ways. Miller is able to give an example of this behavior through the actions of Willy Loman. When Biff comes home to recollect himself, Willy perceives it as failure. Since Willy desperately wants his oldest son, Biff, to succeed in every way possible, he tries to take matters into his own hands. "I’ll get him a job selling. He could be big in no time" (16). The reason that Biff came home is to find out what he wants in life. Because Willy gets in the way, matters become more complicated. Partly due to Willy’s persistence in Biff’s life, they have conflicting ideas as to what the American dream is. Willy believes that working on the road by selling is the greatest job a man could have (81). Biff, however, feels the most inspiring job a man could have is working outdoors (22).
Willy and Charley motivate their children in different ways, as Willy has Bernard “give [Biff] the answers” (26) while Charley just “[let’s] [Bernard] go” (9) in order to find his own path. Willy’s parenting style is stricter as he does not let Biff fulfill his dreams of working with his hands and living on a ranch, while Bernard is allowed to flourish as a Supreme Court lawyer. Both parents have different personalities that affect their children. Willy is always on his high horse, being arrogant saying comments such as “Go to Filene’s, go to the Hub, go to Slattery’s, Boston. Call out the name Willy Loman and see what happens” (43). In contrast, Charley’s parenting can be shown through his son Bernard as he is humble by not mentioning his Supreme Court case. Willy is constantly boastful believing he is the king of the world and tries to have his children believe so as well. This is very different from Charley’s style of being modest, which his son inherits as is vividly shown through his actions and behavior. Lastly, how both parents act is an essential factor that affects their children. Willy acts more as a friend than a father. When Biff steals the football, Willy tells him “coach’ll probably congratulate you on your initiative” (19), while Bernard has never stolen anything as he knows his father does not approve of it. Biff learned from an early age that stealing was acceptable, which gives him a
A major part of the reader's animosity towards Willy stems from his responsibility for the ruin of his sons. Willy's affair ends up being the reason that Biff ends up a high-school failure and a football has-been. This blunder both disheartens and destroys his eldest son. It becomes the reason Biff refuses to go to summer school; it becomes the reason that Biff leaves home. Yet, this is all a result of Willy's need to be likeable. He cheats on his doting wife simply because it makes him feel special, because it gives him proof that women other that Linda are interested in him, because it makes him feel well liked. A woman "picked [him]"; a woman laughs when he makes jokes about keeping pores open; a woman pays him some attention (38).
Parent and children relationships are the main point of a play in many literary works. Through their relationship the reader can understand the conflicts of the play, since the characters play different roles in each other’s lives. These people are usually connected in physical and emotional ways. They can be brother and sister, mother and daughter, or father and son. In “Death of A Salesman,” by Arthur Miller the interaction between Willy Loman and his sons, Biff and Happy, allow Miller to comment on the father-son relationship and conflicts that arise from them. In “ The Glass Menagerie,” by Tennessee Williams shows this in the interaction between Amanda and her children, Laura and Tim.
Willy is a salesman. Willy believes that success comes from being well liked and popular and has tried desperately to instill his notions to his two boys Happy and Biff, Willy's biggest aspirations in life. His wife Linda is extremely supportive and is Willy's only connection to reality. While raising his boys and trying to instill his "American Dream", he fails to teach them any sense of morality, leading them down to what he feels is the wrong path. At one point, he defended Biff for stealing just because he was an amazing football player.