Critical Analysis Of Happy Loman

In Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller, Willy Loman’s life seems to be slowly deteriorating. It is clear that Willy’s predicament is of his own doing, and that his own foolish pride and ignorance lead to his downfall. Willy’s self-destruction involved the uniting of several aspects of his life and his lack of grasping reality in each, consisting of, his relationship with his wife, his relationship and manner in which he brought up his children, Biff and Happy, and lastly his inability to productively earn a living and in doing so, failure to achieve his “American Dream”.

Unfortunately, he goes to his grave without knowing that, maybe he was not fit to be a salesman. After Willy's death, Charley says about Willy, "A salesman is got to dream" (Brown, 306), but one must wonder, did Willy Loman dream the wrong dream (Brown, 306)? Although Willy realizes in his visions that he was not the greatest salesman, he does not realize why Biff is not successful with his "expert advice."

In Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, Biff Loman silently questions his ability to fulfill his father’s wishes. His father, Willie Loman, holds high expectations for Biff’s future and constantly brags to others about how successful Biff will be. Out of respect for his father, Biff conforms to the path that Willie has planned for him. In the beginning, Willie lives vicariously through his son, Biff, who has no choice but to conform in order to preserve father-son respect. However, when the mutual respect that his father holds so dear dissolves, Biff’s concealed questions expand their influence from his thoughts to his actions as Biff becomes his own man.

While the play primarily focuses on Willy’s dream, Death of a Salesman also observes Biff and his American Dream, which may be construed as the “right” one. Compared to his father’s, Biff’s dream is a simple one: own a ranch and labor in the countryside close to nature, happy and content. And yet as his father increasingly pressures him to pursue a dream more aligned to his own, Biff experiences an identity crisis of sorts, desperately seeking to please Willy by taking a job in business but always failing in his efforts. Eventually, he realizes that he cannot be his father, and, at Willy’s funeral, contrasts his earlier statement regarding Willy’s state of mind with one regarding his own person: “I know who I am, kid” (Miller 111). Though at the start of the play it was Willy who thought Biff lost, it is now the reverse. Willy, with his aspirations for renown and major success, found himself perpetually adrift in the world, struggling to make ends meet and maintain his family ties. And yet while Willy suffered at the hands of his American Dream, Biff prospered (although not monetarily) in his “proper” American Dream, experiencing true contentment in his craft. While Willy faced constant confusion and an almost bipolar personality disorder owing to his erroneous endeavors, Biff’s main insecurities and difficulties were those brought on by his father’s notion of success. In other words, Willy’s American Dream caused nothing but suffering for him and those he loved, while Biff’s American Dream would have allowed him peace of mind had it not been for his

Biff Loman is portrayed as the root of Willy’s mental illness and instability. He is also the only member of his family who acknowledges his own failures in life. On the whole, Biff Loman stands out as the most intriguing and strong character in “Death of a Salesman. He is not a successful man and never will be, he is however able to admit this, even in a harsh society as the one of the 1960s America. Biff knows he is a “nothing” and tries to make his father see that he is “no good. I am a dime a dozen, Pop, and so are you.” He begs for Willy to communicate with him and accept him for who he is. Although Willy is forced by Biff to see some of his own failures, he never

As the play progresses, one begins to feel sorry for Willy and his problem, but at the same time angry and frustrated with him for his foolish pride. With this trait, it prevented him from accepting a job from Charlie, something that could have saved his life. Also, it is with this false pride that has been sparking the family flame for years, the fact that the Loman name was well known and well-liked. The family lie that was amongst themselves is revealed during the climax of the play. One example is the way in which Willy led Biff to believe that he is a salesman for Oliver, which at the end left Biff disappointed. The reason for this estimation of the truth may be because of Willy’s idea that he has not raised Biff and Happy the right way.

Happy Loman is the younger Loman brother and lacks any sense of will or poetic want of freedom like his older brother, Biff. Happy has always stayed close to home due to his Oedipal Complex. Happy idolized his father growing up which led him to seek similar career opportunities and indulge in Delusions of Grandeur. Happy often lies to not only make himself feel more important, but to impress other people,

  Charley says something in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman that sums up Willy’s whole life. He asks him, "When the hell are you going to grow up” (Miller 97)?  Willy spends his entire life in an illusion, seeing himself as a great man who is popular and successful.  Willy exhibits many childlike qualities and his two sons Biff and Happy pattern their behavior after their father.  Many of these qualities, such as idealism, stubbornness, and a false sense of self-importance in the world have a negative impact on Willy’s family,

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

Moreover, throughout the play the upbringing of Biff and Happy can be seen mirroring the childhood of Willy and his older brother Ben. During the requiem, Happy feels it is his duty to avenge his father in a way so “Willy Loman did not die in vain.” “Did not” provokes a strong feeling of confidence that he will be the one to make his father proud after his death. Through the play Happy is undermined by his father and seen to be “second best” to Biff; therefore him claiming to be the one to “win it for him” could suggest that he’s never overcome this feeling of neglect from his father,

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

The lives of the Loman’s from beginning to end seems troubling, the play is centered on trying to be successful or trying to be happy, and the sacrifice which must be made of one to achieve the other. The environment that these characters live in encourages them to pursue the American dream, which can be said to devalue happiness through the pursuit of material success. Death of A Salesman written by Arthur Miller has several themes that run through the play, one of the most obvious is the constant striving for success. Willy Loman put his family through endless torture because of his search for a successful life. Willy, Biff, and Happy are chasing the American dream instead of examining themselves

Competition and the drive to better than your opponent can distract you entirely from what is important in life. Ever since Willy’s sons have been young, he hammered the concept of competition into their minds. He started when he would reward whoever he felt was more successful with more attention and praise. So, when one of Willy’s sons, Biff, was in high school, he was the star quarterback of the football team. Willy gave him so much praise for this that it often left his other son, Happy, in the shadows. However, Happy wanted to receive praise and attention from his father too, so he began to try to get Willy’s attention and try to compete with Biff for attention. For instance, when Willy asked the boys to steal materials to build the stoop, to get some praise, Happy quickly asked, “I lost weight, Pop, you notice?” (Miller 50). Still, Happy didn’t receive the same attention as his brother. So, this habit continued into adulthood. When Willy would praise Biff and talks about how Biff is going to be magnificent, Happy familiarly interjects trying to get the attention Biff is receiving by exclaiming “I’m getting married, Pop, don’t forget it. I’m changing everything. I’m gonna run that department before the year is up. You’ll see, Mom” (Miller 133). So throughout his whole life, Happy focused on trying to receive the praise Biff was getting. This is why Happy ended up

In addition, in Warshauer’s essay, he observes that “rather than adhering to a traditional work ethic, far too many Americans are pinning their hopes on ‘easy money’”. The characters of Willy and his two sons, Happy and Biff, prove this. At the end of the play, Willy kills himself in a car crash in order to get insurance money for his family, hoping that Happy and Biff will use that money to start their own business. This shows that instead of continuing to work and make money, he kills himself to get some “easy money” for his family. Also, Happy and Biff plan on becoming successful businessmen, despite failing school. Biff dropped out of high school after failing math, and Happy works as an assistant to an assistant in a department store, where he makes very little money. Although Biff acknowledges his failure, Happy acts as if he had the greatest job ever. He seems to be blissfully unaware of the world around him, and seems to only be interested in girls than actually trying to improve his position. Both Happy and Biff seem to expect success to come to them, hoping to make “easy money”.

However, Happy – Willy’s neglected son – decides to follow in Willy’s footsteps. Biff abandons Willy’s dreams so that he can avoid the same mistakes that beset his father. A common element between Oedipus the King and Death of a Salesman was disillusionment of the tragic hero. Oedipus was ignorant of his true identity and his false notions about his life were affirmed by his belief in his own infallibility. However, his realization of his identity at the end of the play was the cause of his downfall. Willy Loman was crippled by his expectations of prosperity and success. His tragic fall was partially caused by his understanding that his illusions of grandeur would not come to fruition.