Maslow's Hierarchy In Death Of A Salesman

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs in Death of a Salesman It is quite easy to judge a book by its cover, but when a character is broken down into levels, their true colors appear. In Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, Biff Loman seemed to be an all star player in high school, but he never graduated due to him finding his role model father, Willy, committing adultery. He then turned down a shaky path in which he ended up spending three months in a Kansas City jail for robbery. Family is what he eventually came back to, and they made him who he was from the beginning. Biff developed into a whole new person after high school, and his distinct personality and lifestyle can prove where he fits on the level of needs and the effects from his level. Based

Five levels on a pyramid are initiated to explain the most basic of needs to harder to obtain ones. They are ordered physiological, safety, love and belonging, esteem, and self-actualization. Physiological needs include fundamentals such as food, water, sleep, and shelter. Next, safety is the stability one has to maintain life, for instance, personal well-being and health are included. After that comes love and belonging, having friendships and family as major aspects. In addition, esteem is the last of the most important levels of needs. It contains one’s positive feeling of importance and status. Last, and least important, self-actualization is the desire to be at one’s fullest potential. If the first four are not met, it may cause tension and anxiety, according to Maslow. Biff passed these levels with flying colors, as he wanted to do more and excel in college athletics, until things were changed after Biff saw his idol’s

Clearly, he is nourished and is living at home by the way he speaks, defining that he satisfies the physiological category. Throughout the play there is obviously no sign of him lacking survival needs. Safety is also a quality he possesses; he has no health issues and can do things on his own. Then comes belonging, and he fits in this category as well. He is accepted by his brother, perhaps not his father, but he does have relationships in life and is not completely isolated. Biff may have qualities of the first three levels, but he does not carry esteem and self actualization. To have esteem he must be secure in his position in life. He is unsatisfied with himself, and feels as if he is a failure. In the beginning of the play he did have esteem, though, and it is exemplified especially by the lines, “I’m takin’ one play for Pop. You watch me, Pop, and when I take off my helmet, that means I’m breakin’ out. Then you watch me crash through that line!”. As it can be seen, Biff felt as if he is a vital asset and is therefore important. After high school he had lost his motivation, Willy, and financial and relationship instability are a few of the main causes of no esteem. On the outside he seemed to be fine and dandy, but as he shell is cracked you can see the deeper insecurities. In addition, he is not at the point where he wants to be at his highest level of