Willy is attempting suicide in order to finally make things right with Biff. ![]() This guilt and attempted absolution is what ultimately leads to the death of Willy Loman. The immense guilt that Willy felt as a result of his son discovering his infidelity is at the core of play’s plot. This one small action threw away his chances at attending college. ![]() He yells at his father, saying “Don’t touch me, you – liar! (Miller 1241) Biff was so crushed by the realization that his father was not the family man whom he had idolized that he did not even bother to make up the math course that he had to complete that Summer in order to graduate. ” (Miller 1240) Biff saw through to the truth of the matter, though. She lives down the hall – they’re painting. Willy made up ridiculous excuses to cover the fact that this woman was in his hotel room naked. The paramount of Willy’s guilt was the fact that Biff caught him in a hotel room with a woman with whom he was having an affair. This was a parenting strategy that Willy would later live to regret. ” (Miller 1195) Willy felt that Biff already possessed all the qualities needed in order to be successful in life, so there was no need to offer guidance to his son or punish his missteps along the way. ” Willy replied, “Shut up……There’s nothing the matter with him! …. Linda said, “He’s too rough with the girls, Willy. (Miller 1192) Willy’s wife, Linda, had warned him about Biff being rough with the girls and this, too, was shrugged off. Biff said to his father, “I think I’ll have them sweep out the furnace room” to which Willy replied, “Good work, Biff. He chuckled when Biff stole from his football coach and was proud of his son when Biff made his friends clean the family’s basement. Willy never pushed Biff to do the right thing in life. To make matters worse, even though Willy did not admit it, he knew that he, himself was to blame for Biff’s downfall. He thought Biff would succeed in college and find the successful career that Willy himself was never fortunate enough to have.Īll of Willy’s hopes and dreams were wrapped up in this one boy and when Biff failed to live up to them, Willy felt that failure just as deeply as he felt the let-down of his own unfulfilled life. Willy believed that he would find all his dreams that were never realized finally seen through by Biff. Poor Happy was hardly noticed by his father who was so wrapped up in Biff. During Biff’s prime of life, Willy found happiness by living vicariously though his son. Willy Loman, himself, was obsessed with his eldest son. It was simply an instinct which was engrained in him after spending his impressionable years so close to Biff, even sharing a bedroom with him during this time. He couldn’t even understand why he did it. Happy often found himself sleeping with his boss’s wives, girlfriends and fiances. Happy became a womanizer on a level which even exceeded Biff’s promiscuous behavior during his youth. The stage was set for Happy to attempt to emulate Biff’s womanizing, unscrupulous actions during his own life. Biff got the attention from their father that Happy had yearned for. Happy saw Biff skate through his teenage years living in this manner. Happy saw the way Biff behaved during high school and witnessed the positive feedback that he received from both his peers and his father as a result of his behavior, which was less than exemplary. ![]() Happy was eyewitness to the arrogant and womanizing behaviors of his elder brother, Biff during their youth. This is common in most young boys, especially when they are this close in age. Growing up, Happy was influenced greatly by his older brother. The play finds Biff Loman at age 34, while his younger brother Happy is 32. For this reason, even when Biff is not present in a particular scene, he is still omnipresent because of his invisible pull on the actions and feelings of his family members whom he had impacted throughout the years. Biff’s essence is what motivates the men in his family to choose the path that they take in life. The character known as Biff Loman is at the root of his immediate family’s internal dilemmas and inner conflicts. Biff Loman may not be the “Salesman” in Arthur Miller’s masterpiece, The Death of a Salesman, but he is the main character of the play.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |