![]() By contrast, his younger son, Happy, has a more traditional-albeit lackluster-career and is a womanizer. ![]() ![]() He also constantly fights with his eldest son Biff, who, after dropping out of high school, has been getting by as a drifter and as an occasional thief. While at home, he dissociates from reality, entering in time switches that explain why he turned out the way he did through interactions with his brother Ben and his mistress. Biff, Willys older son, struggles to secure his fathers. Fun Fact: Arthur Miller provided two alternate versions of a physical insult in the play: If Willy Loman is played by a small man (like Dustin Hoffman) he is called a "shrimp," but if the actor is large, Willy Loman is called a "walrus.”ĭeath of a Salesman is, at first glance, about the last day in the life of salesman Willy Loman, who, at 63, has failed at his career. In addition to Lomans inner life, Miller focuses on the troubled bond between father and son.Notable Adaptations: 1984 at the Broadhurst Theater, with Dustin Hoffman playing Willy 2012 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, with Philip Seymour Hoffman as Willy Loman.Main Characters: Willy Loman, Biff Loman, Happy Loman, Linda Loman, Ben Loman.Themes: The American dream, family relationships.Premiere Date:, at the Morosco Theatre.At least, that's what Death of a Salesman seems to argue. Just as Willy is unable to understand or even love his son, America as a whole is unable to understand those who value simple pleasures over the rat race. Sadly, Miller seems to say, Americans (Biff, in this case) are made the victims of the country's success. He wants his dad to stop being such a deluded twerp. Biff in the opening scenes Not finding yourself at the age of 34 is a disgrace Willy says this to Linda in the opening scene. Ben, Willys dead brother and his image of the ideal. He wants to be seen and loved for who he is. Seventeen, Biffs age when he failed math by four points, echoes and contrasts with Bens achievement. Rather than seeking money and success, Biff wants a more basic life. Willy is simply unable to accept the truth.īiff reminds us that the American Dream is not every man's dream. Yet, despite his insight and honesty, Biff is unable to communicate openly with his. In one shouting match with Willy, he says that he cant hold a job because his dad made him so arrogant as a boy that he cant handle taking orders from a boss. Yet, despite his insight and honesty, Biff is unable to communicate openly with his father. Unlike his father and brother, Biff is self-aware and values the truth. In one shouting match with Willy, he says that he can't hold a job because his dad made him so arrogant as a boy that he can't handle taking orders from a boss. Unlike his father and brother, Biff is self-aware and values the truth. Though Biff has done nothing with his life by the age of thirty-four, Willy tells. While Biff is in some ways desperate to impress and please his dad, he also realizes that Willy has flawed, materialistic dreams that Biff is neither able nor desires to achieve. Though hes a disrespected salesman, he calls himself the New England man. When we meet him in the play, he's 34 years old and has finally realized just how bad Willy messed him up. He started working on ranches in the West, but couldn't hold a job because he kept stealing from his bosses. Biff bailed on summer school and the math credit. Once again, Willy had a bad effect on his son's life. However, right about that time Biff caught his dad cheating on his mom, and it made him go kind of crazy. He could've taken a summer course and made everything all right. ![]() Things might have worked out for Biff even though he flunked math. Without the math credit, Biff couldn't graduate and therefore couldn't take his football scholarship to college. A lot of this was due to the fact that Willy let him get away with anything and never encouraged him to do well in school. However, he never put much energy into his schoolwork and failed math as a senior. Biff was a hotshot in high school as the star football player. The deal with Biff is that he's Willy's oldest son and the one whom Willy seems to be really crazy about. Why? Because he shows real initiative on the personal development front. Despite these shortcomings, however, we can't help but like Biff. He can't hold down a job, he steals from all of his employers, and he even went to jail. Sure, Biff is also flawed, just like everyone else. In fact, he's the only character in the book who shows any real personal growth. In his much loved, widely celebrated and oft-studied play Death a Salesman (1949), we see from the very start of the play that Willy Loman, the 63-year-old traveling salesman with a dogged but misguided faith in the ‘American Dream’, is clearly the stuff of tragedy with an identity that’s overshadowed by his hamartia (tragic flaw), and the hub. He's not just the big, dumb lump that his name might make you imagine. (Click the character infographic to download.)ĭon't let Biff's tough-guy name deceive you. ![]()
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