Willy Loman had the, “wrong dreams,” for his sons to become well-liked salesmen. Due to his own lack of popularity and success as a salesman, Willy forced Biff to try and become the salesman that he never was. However, Biff was an independent thinker unlike Happy and knew that he wanted nothing to do with corporate America. Still, Biff had more than just one reason why he did not want to be like his father which the reader discovers in the flashbacks throughout the story. In the story, Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller’s unique use of flashbacks illustrates how Willy and his torn relationship with his sons was affected by his past failures as a parent.
Since Biff was away from home for quite some time, Willy wanted his son to desperately succeed when he returned home to New York. He suggested that he would “get him a job selling he could be big in no time” (Miller, 16). Although Biff came home to find out who he truly was, his father got in his way and tried to persuade him to become a salesman just like himself. However, Biff knew that he wanted nothing to do with corporate America which created conflict
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This discovery exposed Willy for his true self which disappointed Biff and caused him to lose all trust in his father. “You fake! You phony little fake! You fake!” (Miller, 121) Not to mention, this experience also left Biff in tears not only in disappointment in his father, but in himself as well. His father’s value of sports over academics came back to haunt him. Unforgiving of this moment, Biff decided to give up on his dream of going to play football at the University of Virginia. “Biff and Willy show the importance of having a dream appropriate to one’s nature” (Leath, 2). Instead of becoming the extremely popular star football player that his father wanted him to be, Biff decided to accept his
“BIFF [crying, broken]: Will you let me go for Christ’s sake? Will you take that phony dream and burn it before something happens?” By saying this Biff tries to address his family on the giant rift between Willy’s dreams for him and reality. He tries to explain that all he wants is for Willy to let go of those dreams and high standards he has set for him so he can create his own reality rather than fulfill his father's dream. Willy's dreams for Biff were very unrealistic for the reality of his situation,which caused him to fill unsuccessful and push himself away from his father. The reason Willy wanted his children to do so well and had such big dreams for them was because he wasn't able to achieve the dream and had a fear he had failed and so he wanted to force his dream to be fulfilled by his children. Therefore, due to Willy’s wildly unrealistic amount of pride, causing him to make poor decisions, betray his family by having a mistress and finally his unrealistic dreams for his sons, he paved his way towards his failure and his deep fear of isolation and
Biff says, "How the hell did I ever get the idea I was a salesman there?" I even believed myself that I'd been a salesman for him!.We've been talking about dreams for fifteen years. I was a shipping clerk (1760). Willy's high demands of Biff cause Biff to experience the same difficulties of living in the present and the desire to live in a fantasy world. This conflict is only resolved in Biff's mind when he releases himself from his father's dominance and establishes his own identity.
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
“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”(Tucker p.56) This quote by Winston Churchill relates to Biff, Willy’s oldest son, and how he gave up on life once he found out the truth and reality about his dad. Upon finding his father cheating on his mother, Biff decides not to take the summer school math class which would have allowed him to graduate high school and go to the University of Virginia. Biff was raised by his father to believe that success and wealth in life were two of the most important goals to achieve. Upon finding the truth of his father’s life, Biff realized his father had neither of these qualities and felt he had lived a life based on falsehoods. Biff left his home to pursue the life of a rancher, which caused him to loose contact with his father. The ties between the two began to unravel even more. Willy’s inability to accept that his son knew the truth about him cheating on his wife only deepens the distortion of his life’s reality. When Biff finally returns home upon his mother’s request, he is unsympathetic about the failing of his father’s mental health, which further worsens the relationship. Biff is the only member of the family that knows the truth behind who his father really is and is the only one to accept the fact that his father is trying to commit suicide.
Biff never kept a steady job during his young adult life, and did not possess a healthy relationship with anyone that was in his life. As the play progresses the reader sees how much Biff becomes more self- aware. An online source states, “Unlike the other members of his family, Biff grows to recognize that he and his family members consistently deceive themselves, and he fights to escape the vicious cycles of lies.” When Biff returns home it becomes a struggle to keep a healthy relationship with his parents. Once Willy and Biff decide together that Biff will go and ask Bill Oliver for a loan is when the differences between the two characters are truly seen. Biff accepts reality for the first time in his life, and realizes how ridiculous it is to ask Bill Oliver for a loan, when he barely knows the man and worked for him about ten years ago. When Biff meets up with Willy after the ‘meeting’ Biff is talking to his Father and says, “Why am I trying to become what I don’t want to be? What am I doing in an office, making a contemptuous, begging fool of myself, when all I want is out there, waiting for me the minute I say I know who I am!” This quote reveals that Biff recently has just experienced an epiphany, and realizes that what he was doing was making no sense. Biff is escaping the self- deception he was caught in with the rest of his
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
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).
The play, “Death of a Salesman” written by Arthur Miller, presents Willy Loman, as a salesman, who fails to earn a living and slowly loses his mind. Willy continuously seeks the past to find out where he went wrong. During his years in life, Willy wanted his two sons, Biff and Happy to become someone they’re not; Willy wanted them to become a salesman like him. However, because of his obsession in the American Dream of easy success and wealth, he created a life full of lies for himself and his sons. In the end because of “his misconception of himself as someone capable of greatness” leads to his downfall and the end of his life (Death of a Salesman).”
middle of paper ... ...giving him the answers to a maths test, so he fails and can't get in. to the university of the United States. Biff and Willy argue a lot in this game. After graduating from high school, Biff lost a lot of his respect for his father.
Miller’s Death of a Salesman is the tragic account of the demise of a meager salesman, Willy Loman. Willy is passively nearing the end of his career and life. His two sons, Biff and Happy show little remorse or pity for Willy, despite his obvious senility. When Biff borrows a football from his coach to practice passing, Willy encourages him: “Coach’ll probably congratulate you on your initiative!” (Miller 30). Willy erroneously praises Biff, not realizing that such affirmation could deceive Biff. Later, as Biff awaits an appointment with a prominent businessman, he feels compelled to steal his fountain pen, “I don’t know, I just—wanted to take something”(Miller 104). Such incidents set a precedent for Biff, eventually leading to his lackluster professional status. Willy once again deludes Biff as he mistakenly deters him from his studies. When Bernard reminds Biff, that in order for Biff to graduate, he must study his math, Willy initially agrees and encourages Biff to study: “You better study with him, Biff. Go ahead now”(Miller 32). When Biff confidently shows Willy his sneakers, on which he printe...
Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman follows protagonist Willy Loman in his search to better his and his family’s lives. Throughout Willy Loman’s career, his mind starts to wear down, causing predicaments between his wife, two sons and close friends. Willy’s descent into insanity is slowly but surely is taking its toll on him, his job and his family. They cannot understand why the man they have trusted for support all these years is suddenly losing his mind. Along with his slope into insanity, Willy’s actions become more aggressive and odd as the play goes on. Despite Willy and Biff’s “family feud”, his two sons Happy and Biff truly worry about their father’s transformation, Happy saying: “He just wants you to make good, that’s all. I wanted to talk to you about dad for a long time, Biff. Something’s – happening to him. He – talks to himself” (Miller 21). Willy, as a father, cares about his children but he wishes they would do better. He believes Biff should have been an athlete. According to Harrington, “Even figuratively, Willy is haunted, and particularly in Biff’s failure to achieve success as a sports figure” (108). This haunting is part of what led to Willy’s slow plunge into madness. As Willy’s career in sales fails, he also fails, even failing his family. Heyen adds: “He didn’t have anything of real value to give to his family, or if he did, he didn’t know what it was” (48). His debilitating flashbacks and delusional hallucinations with Uncle Ben cement his horrifying realizations that he has let down his family. Willy Loman blames the economy for his downfall in his career. In one of his more extreme outbursts he exclaims, “There’s more people! That’s what’s ruining this country! Population is getting out of control. ...
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.
In the play, The Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller,Willy Loman, an unsuccessful businessman struggling to support his family is completely out of touch with reality throughout the plot line. Many characters throughout this play and their interactions with Willy have shown the audience his true colors and what he thinks is important in life. His constant lying and overwhelming ego certainly does not portray his life in factual terms, but rather in the false reality that he has convinced himself he lives in. Being raised by Willy, Biff and Happy are becoming failures and have no motivation to work hard to achieve anything in life. Throughout this novel, Biff has a few recurrences with stealing.
This provides the reader with evidence that the ideas that Willy presented to his sons would make history repeat itself in the next generation. Unlike his brother and father Biff Loman feels compelled to seek the truth about himself. He is Willy's pride and joy, being the first-born; Biff is the personification of all of Willy's dreams, he would be respected and "well liked". As a teenager, Biff worshipped his father. He was everything Willy wanted him to be -- star athlete, popular with the girls, "well liked" by everyone, he was "Like a young god.
In Death of a Salesman, written by American playwright Arthur Miller, focuses on Biff’s relationship towards his father Willy Loman. He plays the role that drives most of Willy’s thoughts and actions, specifically his memories. Whenever Willy is not able to accept the present, he reverts to the past where Biff is usually nearby. Before Willy’s trip to Boston, Biff admired his father. He trusted and believed his philosophy that any person can be successful, provided that he is “well-liked”. Biff never questions his father even though at times it is obvious that Willy is not following the rules himself. This results in Biff growing up believing that rules do not apply to him because Willy does not follow them nor does he expect