“The Death of a Salesman” is a tragic masterpiece by Arthur Miller that describes the domestic sadness and ferocity of Dustin Hoffman as Willy Loman. Willy is an aged salesman who is failing in his job and dismayed by the failures of his two sons Biff and Happy. The salesman is jealous of his neighbor and his son for their success and thus views himself as a failure. The relationship between Willy and other characters in the film helps to bring out the hollowness and harrowing journey of Willy Loman. In particular, the relationship between Willy and his son Biff shows the consequences a man not having a grip on the forces of life.
The relationship from both sides
The father-son relationship as seen between Willy and Biff shows that failure to meet one’s expectations can poison how individuals relate with one another. Willy is so much disappointed with his son and thinks he failed as a parent. According to him, he is worth more dead than alive (Miller). Initially, Willy had hopes for his son. Willy started seeing Biff as an indecisive man that cannot make up what to do with his life. Biff on the other side is not in good terms with the father because he was not able to meet up to his expectations. Biff fell way off below Willy’s expectations and thus the reason for his father’s failure and delusion. The two fail to support one another to lead happy lives since Willy cannot accept his mistakes and Biff is working to prove to his father that he cannot share his values. Biff recognizes that he is a failure just like his father and he tells him that, “I am not a leader of men, Willy, and neither are you” (Miller 106).
History of the relationship
The constrained relationship between Willy and his son started way when he was young. Biff recalls when his father left him as a child and that he never had a chance to talk to him. Willy recalls his life and is bitter with the truth of the many mistakes he made. Willy raised his sons with the hope that each will share his values. Initially, he was able to advice his son that he would ask him to watch his schooling first (Miller, 16). However, with the broken relationship, he son could not here him out. Biff grows to develop human flows of his own. In his youth, Biff was deflated about his father’s barrage and the father expected his son to be a successful business person as he. Willy did not anticipate failures from Biff such as poor performance in mathematics. Biff too did not expect to find his father with other women on his trip to Boston where he planned to go and explain his poor performance in mathematics.
What the relationship mean to Willy
Intense feelings of failure about his son make Willy unable to accept his mistakes as well as help from his son. Feelings of failure made Willy underperform at his work and also grew jealous of his neighbor and the son. The constrained relationship made it impossible for Willy to realize that son Biff could succeed in life without having to do business. The lost hope in his son made him mentally unstable as he could not make sense of the son that once promised much to him. Willy was bitter when Biff told him that he would no long bring prizes to him and that he should stop waiting for them (Miller 106).
What the relationship mean to Biff
Biff was fearful of his father and anticipated to make him proud. At one point, he found it challenging to explain to his father that he had missed a chance to join the University of Virginia State football team because he did not pass his final mathematics course. However, when he found his father with other women on his trip to Boston, he stopped having much respect for him, and he felt disappointed to the point that he did not care for his life. The one incident made Biff’s life horrible that he could not finish his mathematics summer school. Throughout his life, Biff lives to proof to Willy that he can live against his wishes and values. According to Biff, his father ‘had the wrong dreams, all all wrong’ (Miller 111).
What holds the relationship together?
The father-son relationship holds Biff and Willy together. Even though Biff is not easy to convince, he agreed to travel and stay with the family for a while for the sake of his father’s health. Biff goes forth to look for a better paying job that will make his father happy. Even with the antagonistic relationship, Biff and Willy reconciled. In the end, Biff let go the antipathy attitude towards his father and forgave him, and he nestles his head to his loving father (Miller). Biff realizes that he was never a business person, just like his father, and thus decides to go work outdoors.
Conclusion
The constrained father-son relationship affected the lives of both Willy and Biff. Once Biff realized his father’s failures which were not concurrent with what he expected from him, he was disappointed. On the other hand, Willy suffered from severe depression for failing his family. Evidently, the plummeted depression resulted from his love for the family. Willy wanted to amass as much wealth for his family and to have his sons grow to be successful. Biff was once a princely football who did not continue with his talent as he tried to disapprove his father. In the end, he left him behind in search of his life; however, Biff forgave his father and found the courage to love him.
Works Cited
Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman: Certain Private Conversations in Two Acts and a Requiem, Text and Criticism. Viking Press, 1949.
Miller, Arthur. "Death Of A Salesman 1985". Youtube, 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMqiCtq5VLs. Accessed 5 Apr 2018.
