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Happy, Biff's younger brother, has always felt neglected by his father, because he was not as athletic and outgoing as Biff. This causes Happy to distort the truth about the reality of him not being successful in order to make Willy happy. Biff does not share the same view of warping the truth, because that does not solve the problems that the family should face. Biff and Happy disagree with how to treat their father, which is an underlying battle between the two. The truth also widens the gap between the brothers by Biff protecting Happy from the reality of what their father really is. Though the falsehoods are not directly caused by either of the boys, they still affect their relationship.
The relationship between the boys and their mother is also affected by the life their father leads. When Biff finds out about his father, he not only stops speaking to him, but he also grows more distant from his mother. Biff feels guilty about never telling his mother about his father's extramarital relationship, but also doesn't want to be the person to hurt his mother by letting her know about the lies in Willy's life. Once Biff comes back home, he gets into an argument with his mother, criticizing his father by saying he left "because I know he's a fake and he doesn't like anybody around who knows!" (Miller p. 1568) This only pushes him and his mother further apart, because she doesn't know the truth behind what Biff is saying, instead thinking it is criticism toward her husband. Linda views Biff as ungrateful for everything Willy has sacrificed in order to give him everything he has had throughout his life. Happy, on the other hand, is still striving for his father's acceptance and will do anything to satisfy him and is very sympathetic toward his father, which in turn, makes Linda happy with him.
Though Linda is not entirely pleased with the success in his life, she has a closer relationship with Happy than with Biff. Linda's relationship with her sons are not the best, but her relationship with Happy is better than the one she has with Biff. She and Biff are not close, because of her lack of knowledge in the truth of reality about her husband, which Biff knows. Willy had an opportunity to live a normal life, where he had a family, a decent job, and a nice house. He chooses to constantly dream about having more and these dreams became a false reality.
This distorted perception of his life causes all the relationships in his family to fail. Willy's "imagination is the one weapon in the war against reality, " (Lamb p. 23). This war eventually caused Willy to lose his mind and end his own dream world. "The place where optimism most flourishes is the lunatic asylum. " (Gilbert p. 225) This is true for Willy, because he was so optimistic about everything in life, that it caused him to completely distort the truth about his failures in life, which caused him to go insane. Works Cities Evans, Harold. "Life's Adventures. " Editorial. Time 11 May 1999: 18 Tucker, Cynthia. "Education Stays on Top of America's Agenda. " Atlanta Constitution 26 March 2002: 56 Lamb, Douglas H "Reliving Golden Days. " Psychology Today June 2004: 23 Gilbert, Sandra M.
The Madwoman in the Attic. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1972 Miller, Arthur. "Death of a Salesman. " Introduction to Literature. New York: Norton, 2002: 1568
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Research essay sample on Relationship With Happy Distort The Truth Biff
