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Most parents say that the main thing they live for is their children. However, most people have other things going for themselves besides their offspring. Willy Loman in Arthur Miller s Death of a Salesman is the exception. Willy has lived his life to bask in his eldest son, Biff s, personal attractiveness. In his father s mind, Biff is the perfect child; the apple of his eye. While Willy is normal in the fact that he is proud of his oldest son, this feeling of pride does not carry over to his youngest son, Happy.
Happy and Biff both try to live up to Willy s expectations for Biff, but they usually fall short in their attempts and are really nothing more than mediocre bums (Bookrags). Throughout the play, it seems that Willy regards Biff with an almost worshipful reverence and yet it is astounding how little he thinks of Happy. Willy s preoccupation with Biff s success is unhealthy and ultimately contributes to his death. Willy Loman thinks of himself as a wonderful traveling salesman, great husband, outstanding father and an all around good person in general.
His oldest son, Biff, was a star athlete in high school and is a friendly person that people like to be around. Willy tells us that Biff has a personal attractiveness, which means that others love to be near him. This could be due to a great sense of humor or good looks, but whatever the reason, Willy is proud that Biff is well- liked. He often tells him that no matter how hard people try to learn and become smart; they will never get far in this world if they are not liked by others. Willy tells Biff that as long as he stays popular, he will be more successful than Rhoden 2 those with degrees.
Willy teaches Biff that its not what you know, its who you know (Bookrags). Biff s father has eluded himself into believing that his son inherited his people skills from him. As we read the play we learn that Willy is struggling as a salesman because he is not a good people person and others find him obnoxious. This is one of the main reasons that Willy tries to live through Biff. Biff possesses all of the qualities that Willy would like to have. Willy has very high expectations for Biff, yet Biff always stumbles and falls short of his father s goals.
Still, Willy heaps the praise on him and Biff begins to believe that he is the god-like character his father paints him to be. Too much pride in oneself is never good. In high school, Biff fails his math class and loses scholarships to various universities. This is the first tragic blow to Willy s ego that he has built up on Biff s behalf. Later, after Biff has graduated, he finds himself jumping from job to job. Willy doesn t understand how someone who was so talented and popular in high school could have turned out to be such a failure (Downer pg. 72).
He tells his father that he doesn t leave these jobs on good terms; he steals his way out. At the beginning of the play, Biff recounts how he stole a football from the locker room. When Willy found out what his son had done, he only laughed and said that the coach would congratulates him on his initiative for wanting to practice at home. Willy ignore his son s thefts because he regards him as the hometown hero (Gould pg. 240). Also when Willy s brother Ben comes home, Willy wants to show him how tough his boys are so he has them go across the street and steal lumber from a construction company. With these lessons in mind, Rhoden 3 Biff grew up thinking that it was okay to steal as long as there is a good reason, and of course if the stealer has personal attractiveness.
In the end, Willy realizes that Biff will never be what he had dreamed he would grow to be. Willy tells himself that Biff has had some tough breaks and that is what is wrong with him. Deluding himself, Willy believes that nothing he has done has made Biff into the slovenly character that he is. He thinks that if Biff only had some money to work with, he could be successful.
The only flaw with this plan is that he can t seem to get his hands on the funds that he needs. Biff tries to get a job, but ends up stealing the manager s pen during the interview. Willy in return goes to his boss and asks for a job with his company in New York in return for his thirty-four years of dedication. Willy had thought for years that he was invaluable to his company, what a blow it must have been to find out he was not (New York Times). As Willy arguers with his boss, the manager says that it would be best if he did not come back and fires Willy. At dinner, as Biff, Happy and Willy are talking about the events of the day, Biff tries to tell Willy what is wrong with the two of them.
He says that they live in a dream world, but Willy refuses to listen. Biff begins to cry over his father s refusal to accept reality and as he weeps on his father s shoulder, Willy retreats into his dream world. He realizes that he has failed to meet his own expectations, and his life seems wasted (Bookrags). The fact that his proud son is crying like a child or a woman is the final straw.
He now understands that Rhoden 4 Biff has never been who he thought he was, and this reality added to his moral and financial ruin leads him to commit suicide. Willy Loman is like all other fathers who have high hopes for their sons. However, his pride is too smothering and Biff never shines because he is too busy trying to be someone that he is not to please his father. Biff takes away Willy s last illusion and too, his reason for living (New York Times).
It is somewhat ironic that in the end, Willy kills himself to give Biff insurance money so that he can be successful. After his death, the money goes to pay off the debts he has acquired; if the insurance company paid at all. Most often suicides are not included on life insurance policies. Ultimately, Willy died for nothing.
His suicide is the mark of a failed man (Classic Notes). Even if the insurance company had given Biff a substantial amount of money and he had become happy and successful as Willy had hoped, there would still be one very large hole in the well- orchestrated plan. Willy would not be around to see Biff thrive. And that was the whole point of the play; Willy lived to see his son flourish, but missed so much.
He failed to realize that life is not about what we reach in the end, it is about who we are and how we conduct ourselves along the way. Rhoden 5 Works Cited Bookrags: web 2001 Classic Notes: www. classic notes/Titles / salesman /about 2001 Downer, Adam S. 50 Years of American Drama. Chicago: Henry Registry Co. , 1951.
Gould, Jean. Modern American Playwrights. New York: Dodd, Mead 038; Co. , 1966. In Review: web 2000
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