Father and son, a cherished bond built on a balance between communication and vital support. In Arthur Miller’s classic playwright, Death of a Salesman, the establishment of said relationships, or in some cases lack of said relationship, is seen throughout the theatrical work. Miller’s vivid use of flashbacks helps exemplify his true intent in writing such a hauntingly realistic story of internal loss of self identity and worth reflected in family relations.Although many do not realize these happenings all begin with Willy’s relationship with his estranged father. Willy’s abandonment by his father at a fairly young age further stints his maturity and sadly passes this onto his own sons somewhat clarifying his poor parenting “skills”. …show more content…
Biff’s brief idolization of his father is depicted throughout these flashbacks revealing how Biff promised “this Saturday, Pop, this Saturday-just for you, I’m going to break through for a touchdown (Miller 19)”. Miller illustrates how Willy is seen reflecting on past memories in order to cope with his current lack of success. Meanwhile, Biff is constantly dealing with inner turmoil concerning his father’s affair, as well as, his own lack of success. Their relationship is under constant strain due to Biff’s father’s lack of willingness to accept reality instead of begrudgingly holding onto the past. As seen in the beginning when Biff’s old trophies are seen still placed upon a shelf as if to reminisce the few times they were seen as “successful”. This doesn’t last long before Biff finally has had enough exclaiming “Pop! I’m a dime a dozen, and so are you!...Will you let me go, for Christ’s sake? Will you take that phony dream and burn it (Miller 106)”. Through Biff’s desperate diction the contrast in their relationship illustrated by the flashbacks shows quite prominently just how quickly a bond can be diminished if not showing the proper emotions much like Willy did not.Comparatively, Willy’s relationship with his youngest son, Happy, is even more so underdeveloped. Happy’s constant need for that fatherly attention, as well as, approval is seen to show in both current time and flashbacks. Going so far as lying to his father in
As soon as Willy finally begins to snap out of his destructive ideals, Biff breaks down and practically begs Willy to drop his act: “Biff, crying, broken: Will you let me go, for Christ’s sake? Will you take that phony dream and burn it before something happens?” (Miller 133) Biff has never acted so vulnerable and utterly distraught at any time before in the play, and that says a lot. Biff is finally to the point where he has no other option but to beg his father to destroy this terrible facade he’s worn for so many years, so the family may finally be at
Although Willy is in reality an unsuccessful salesman he continually speaks of himself and of his two sons in his brash ways, as being part of those whom have affluence and destitution, those whom can become great leaders in the world. Linda, Willy's wife, honourably stands by him even as he start to slowly degenerate into illusion that he cannot differentiate from reality anymore. To some extent Linda is not part of the solution but rather part of the problem with the family's inability to face reality. Linda loves Willy to the extent of accepting her husband's distorted views of reality and falling herself in his world of dreams and aspirations. In doing so, she is telling her sons without a word that their father's destructive direction in life is perfectly viable. Linda also vocalises the main conflict between Biff and his father at the very beginning of the play; "You know how he admires you. I think if he finds himself, then you'll both be happier and fight no more."(p.15) This statement implies the level of control Willy wishes to have on his sons, particularly Biff, as well as his unrealistically high expectations towards them; "God Almighty, he'll be great yet. A star like that, magnificent, can never really fade away."(p.68). However, Biff being a failure ever since he dropped out of school will desperately try to achieve a better knowledge of himself instead of one filtered by his father.
Family relationships, in many literary works, are often essential to the entire plot; not only is there hardship and agony, but confrontation and conflict that arise in the family. The pressures brought upon growing up a particular way, in addition to succeeding are all a reflection based off the parents themselves, and there standards. In Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman,” the relationship between Willy and his sons, Biff and Happy Loman can be considered -- not “typical.” It is a relationship based on success and the persistence to lead a life, that in reality, cannot be lived. Willy and his relationship with his
At one point in the play, Willy says, “Biff is a lazy bum”(16). Moments later in the same conversation with Linda, Willy adds, “There’s one thing about Biff, he’s not lazy”(16). Even when confronted by his boys, Willy is unable to deal with the truth, that his sons won’t amount to very much at all. He ignores reality very well, and instead of pointing out that Biff hasn’t established himself yet, Willy tells Biff, “You’re well liked, Biff….And I’m telling you, Biff, and babe you want…”(26). The boys are clearly aware of their status and the status of their father, and Happy is found putting Willy’s personality in a nutshell, “Well, let’s face it: he’s [Willy] no hot-shot selling man. Except that sometimes, you have to admit he’s a sweet personality”(66). Obviously, Willie’s failure to bring up his children effectively, and his delusional thinking including denial of reality helps fortify his depleting condition and confusion.
Biff came back home this spring, because he didn't know what he was doing with his life. Willy has mood swings and sometimes thinks very highly of Biff sometimes but other times he hates him. The day he came home Willy yelled at him, and because Biff admires his dad, he was depressed. He later reveals to Happy, after their double date, that all he wants is to work on a farm,
Willy’s biggest issue with his son is that he let him down by not being any more successful than him. He feels like Biff is failing on purpose just to make him look bad. Although, he has no decent job and is single; Biff has become disoriented about life. Earlier in the play Biff tells Happy, “I tell ya Hap, I don't know what the future is. I don't know - what I'm supposed to want” (Miller266). Biff once looked up to his father as a role model, but lost all faith in him once finding out that he was having an affair. Ever since he has rejected Willy’s commitment of being a husband and also a father. To add to his ruins are Willy’s ideas of how Biff should get ahead in life. Willy taught Biff that popularity was the right way to get to the top, rather than hard-work and dedication. Trying to live by his dad’s standards caused Biff to fail high school and become unable to put forth the effort to become
While Biff is in some ways desperate to impress his father, he is also conscious about the fact that Willy has failed his attempt to be successful in his career. He considers his dad’s dreams materialistic and unreachable. As a matter of fact, in the Requiem, even after his father’s death, Biff says: “He had the wrong dreams. All, all wrong.” Unlike Happy and Willy, Biff is self-aware and values facts; Willy never was a successful salesman and he never wanted to face the truth. On the other hand, Biff is conscious about his failures and the weaknesses of his personality. During an argument with his father, Biff admits that his dad made him “so arrogant as a boy” that now he just can’t handle taking
Family relationships always have a way of playing a key role for the duration of most literary pieces. According to Arthur Miller’s novel, Death of a Salesman, the interaction of Willy and his sons, Happy and Biff, shows that family ties usually are connected either physically or emotionally in some way or another. Willy Loman is just like every father in a father/son bond, yet all he wants is to be a part of his son’s life. Even though Biff and Happy admire and have so much love for their father when they are younger, later down the road when they are older suddenly they realize he had failed to prepare them for the real society in life.
The Importance of Biff's Role in "Death of a Salesman" The play "Death of a Salesman", by Arthur Miller, follows the life of Willy Loman, a self-deluded salesman who lives in utter denial, always seeking the "American Dream," and constantly falling grossly short of his mark. The member's of his immediate family, Linda, his wife, and his two sons, Biff and Happy, support his role. Of these supportive figures, Biff's character holds the most importance, as Biff lies at the center of Willy's internal conflicts and dreams , and Biff is the only one in the play who seems to achieve any growth. Biff's role is essential to the play because he generates the focus of Willy's conflict for the larger part, his own
His delusions are starting to take a real toll on the family as a whole. Especially Biff who takes them the hardest because he cannot ignore them. This is due to the fact that Biff knows more about the content of Willy’s delusions than anyone else in the family does. When Willy was supposed to have a special night out with his sons, he starts to have one of his many delusions. Instead of dealing with his father, Biff just got up and left with Happy, his brother right behind him.
In his stage play Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller introduces us to the family of Willy Lohan. There is greater influence of the parents to the children as is portrayed in the play. Willy Loman laxity has weighed heavily on the conduct of his sons, Happy and Biff. The main theme in the play is sustained in the play with the sons of Willy attaining their personality from their father. We learn that one’s upbringing shapes their behavior. The actions of those within one’s surrounding influence one’s behavior. This is quite evident in the case of a parent child interaction as portrayed in the play. Since most the time the child will look up to their parents, their ethical and
Biff and Happy once deeply respected and looked to their father for advice and encouragement, as in the past Linda says “few men are idolized by their children the way you are”⁶, but as they realise his advice was false and he had been living a lie throughout life. As soon as Biff finds out about his father’s affair he no longer respects him and Willy remains unable to win back his trust. “You fake! You phony little fake”⁷. Willy feels that by his suicide, it will prove to Biff that he was truly committed to providing for his family. He still believes that Biff will become successful by having the money from his life insurance showing how he never learnt from his mistakes. “Can you imagine that magnificence with twenty thousand dollars in his pocket? ...When the mail comes he’ll be ahead of Bernard once more”⁵. It is more tragic that Biff is the one who realises that “he had the wrong dreams”⁴ at his funeral. Rather than feeling proud, Biff he pities his father. Ironically it is
Furthermore, Biff, along with Happy tries to conjure up a crazy idea of putting on a sporting goods exhibition. The problem with Willy is that he never grows up and deals with his obstacle; and he has taught this life strategy to his sons.
Willy’s clear-cut expectations of his son can be evidently seen even in the early stages Biff’s life, which end up creating a lot of tension between Willy and Biff when Biff doesn’t meet his father’s expectations. Even when Biff is an adult and still hasn’t become successful in his father’s eyes, Willy’s expectations persist, as in a heated argument between the two Willy tells grown-up Biff that “the door of [Biff’s] life is wide open!” (132). Even though Biff will clearly never become successful in his father’s eyes, Willy still forces his unreasonable expectations on Biff, creating hostility between the two. Although Biff initially attempts to fulfill his father’s definition of success by working as a shipping clerk, Biff realizes that he will never fulfill his father’s unrealistic expectations: “Pop, I’m nothing!
Biff is the apple of his father’s eye. Young, handsome, strong, intelligent, and full of ambition, Biff is going to take the world by storm, and Willy intends to living vicariously through him. This is not to be however. After Biff’s disastrous attempt to get his father to discuss grades with his math teacher, Biff gives up. Entirely. At one point, he wanted to work and to succeed in order to please his father, but after he discovers Willy cavorting with another woman, Biff does not want to give his father the satisfaction of a flourishing son. Suddenly, Willy is a liar in his eyes, and later in life, this causes Biff to have an almost violent relationship with him. (1268) What makes the strain worse is Willy’s guilt, because he knows whose fault the tension is, yet he cannot bring himself to admit it.