Willy Loman Family

Throughout the play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, family serves as a constant reminder of the responsibility felt by the main character, Willy Loman, to succeed. This theme is picked apart in the essay, “Family and History in Death of a Salesman,” by James Hurt, which states that the Loman family is held together through a system of emotional bonds and familial expectations. In turn, each character’s actions are motivated directly by a desire to protect that familial system even though the characters keep their concerns hidden from each other. Though Hurt argues soundly, his essay does not fully explore the more extensive truth that Willy’s fate is ironically sealed by his family in their efforts to save him from himself.

Linda’s

Biff has no desire to achieve the success his father dreams of, craving the simplicity of life outdoors. However, Biff repeatedly contradicts his own wishes in favor of those of his father. Biff’s effortss to calm Willy at dinner prove a relevant example, especially when Biff says, “Oliver talked to his partner about the Florida idea. You listening? He- he talked to his partner, and he came to me… I’m going to be all right you hear?,” lying outright and practically pleading to soothe his father (Miller 1284). The halting punctuation and pauses included in the script further demonstrate that Biff pleases his father out of desperation and not sincerity. Even so, the repetition of these lies is enough to fully feed Willy’s imagination, convincing him that Biff needs only a little push -in the form of $20,000- in order to achieve prosperity. Willy thus views suicide as a tool to secure not only Biff’s success but his own. He exclaims to Ben, “I always knew one way or another we were gonna make it, Biff and I!,” with the use of the subjects, “we,” and, “I,” fully demonstrating that he views Biff’s potential success as success for them both, even though his own success will be in death (Miller 1296). Thus Biff’s role as the family hero, however reluctant,