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Compare And Contrast Biff And Willy In Death Of A Salesman

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While they both have an idea about the American Dream, Biff and Willy have different interpretations of what that dream is. In the play Death of a Salesman, written by Arthur Miller, Biff is an unemployed thirty-four year old still living at home with his parents. On the other hand, Willy gets up and goes to work everyday to try to support his family. Although one has a job and the other doesn’t, they are both considered to be unsuccessful by societies’ standards. Even though Biff and Willy have some noticeable differences, they do have many similarities when it comes to father figures, successful friends, and choosing the right career paths. From a very young age, Willy never had a constant father figure. Willy's father left and ended up …show more content…

For instance, Willy's best friend Charley grew up to be a successful businessman, while he was a salesman struggling to take care of his family. In fact, he doesn't make enough money to pay his bills, so he has to borrow the money from Charley. For example, Miller writes, ¨Charley, look … I got my insurance to pay. If you can manage it - I need a hundred and ten dollars.” (Miller 96) Because he has to constantly borrow money from others in order to keep his home, this shows just how unsuccessful Willy was. In addition to Willy, Biff also has a friend who grew up and was more successful than him. While Biff was still living at home well into his thirties, Bernard was a lawyer getting ready to present a case in the Supreme Court. For example, during his conversation with Willy, Charley talks about Bernard's accomplishment by saying, ¨How do you like this kid? Gonna argue a case in front of the Supreme Court.¨ (Miller 95) Willy was ¨genuinely shocked, pained, and happy¨ (Miller 95) and wondered why his son never grew up and made their family proud like Bernard did with his family. Similarly to the absence of a father figure, both Willy and Biff had best friends who had well paying and rewarding jobs, while they were

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Death of a Salesman written by Arthur Miller, is about the dysfunctional Lowman family. The family consists of salesman father Willy, homemaker mother Linda, son and sports star Biff, and youngest son and daddy’s boy Happy. It became apparent through the course of the story, that the “Men” of the story were actually boys. By analyzing the males of this story the reasons for their immaturities become clear.

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He sees himself with wealth because of his child's pride in him. Willy's children, Biff and Happy, embrace Willy's propensity for denying or controlling reality

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In order for Willy to be a successful father, he needs to feel that his kids are respected and accomplished. However this shows that Willy is such an outsider, because Biff is quite the opposite, as the Bill Oliver that is references has no idea who Biff is. Another example that shows how Willy’s goals and dreams turn him into a misfit is when he asks for a promotion “ Well, tell you the truth, Howard. I’ve come to the decision that I’d rather not travel anymore.” ( Miller 59).

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In far past times there was a stronger emphasis on the family and love from family. There was a shift from those values in the late 1800s, as the car was invented, and the family was no longer the center of an individual's world. That switch is present in Miller’s character, as he values not the love of his family, but the love of strangers. Willy wants his family to be a perfect success so he can, in turn, brag about them to strangers and receive the strangers love. As Willy mentions, he wants to be as good as his inspirational salesman, who had people mourning his death all around the cost.

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Both characters realized that hard work is necessary to get what they want and that success is not a result of popularity. Bernard recognizes this much earlier in his life and becomes successful from an early age. This highlights how fathers play a crucial role in character development. Ironically Biff is similar to Willy, even though he refuses to admit it. Through this, Miller implies that all humans have inherited traits from their parents that cannot be denied.

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Therefore, he put all his effort and belief into Biff while he feels disappointment in his self. Willy feels like that Biff will be the one to store his hopes and dreams again. After Willy hears that Biff is flunking math, Willy tells Bernard, “You’ll give him the answers!” He is willing to have Biff make a false accomplishment for his chances on making his dreams come true. After the Boston incident, Biff feels like he can not live to his father’s expectations.

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Biff failing math and not going to summer school may have been instigated by Willy encouraging him to blow off his studies and Biff discovering that Willy was having an affair. One cannot lay the blame totally on Willy because while he may have been the catalyst Biff made that decision not to study or go to summer school. Willy is kind of responsible for his family not being wealthy. He turned down an opportunity to go to Alaska with his brother a decision that would eventually cost him. Had he gone with Ben he could have been rich from finding a diamond mine in Africa.

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Willy always found his dreams in someone else which is why his happiness never came. At first it was his father then it was his brother Ben, and then it was famous sales man Dave Singleman. He looked for others inside of himself which led to him not being satisfied. Dreams can not be rented or borrowed. Willy never realized this and in turn it caused his mental health to deteriorate even more than it already had.

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Willy thrusted this view into Biff's mind so far that Biff did not put the effort into school that would have enabled him to pass math and graduate high school allowing him to go to the university of virginia. Willy says “Because the man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead. Be liked and you will never want. You take me, for instance. I never have to wait in line to see a buyer.

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This helped lead Willy to his own downfall because he was always lacking and felt unwanted and

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In one scene, Biff admits to his father that “he is a dime a dozen”. This proves that Biff is aware of the fact that he has wasted his life chasing something that will never be. In his final conversation with his father, he attempts to make him see that he is a failure as well by saying “You were never anything put  hard-working drummer who landed in the ash van lieke all the rest of thgem! I’m one dollar an hour, Willy!”. Willy, however, never admits the fact that his son and him are both losers.

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Biff suffers from this later in life when he goes to jail for stealing a suit. Willy also encourages Bernard to help Biff cheat, “You’ll give him the answers!”(40;1). Willy teaches Biff bad morals that will consequently make Biff suffer. All of Willy Loman’s family suffers because of him. This is an example of how one person affects the whole family.

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A big sign of failure was written in willy 's life after losing his job because without a job he wouldn’t have any money to pay his insurance and neither the last payment of his house. Another example for willy 's failure is when he is starting to realize that people don 't actually take willy serious. After he got fired he noticed that he was losing popularity and the idea of success was betraying him. Willy needed money so he went to ask an old friend for money to pay his insurance. He got the money but also had a job offer but because he didn’t want to admit his failure he decided to say no.

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From an outsider perspective, Willy Loman lives a normal life. He is a traveling salesman with two grown up sons, and a beautiful marriage. But is that really the life he has? No, it is not. One of the first disappointments Willy experiences is with his son.

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He has a Job, two kids, and a wife. Willy is a salesman who dreams to be like his role model, Dave Singleman. Singleman - in Willy perspective- had the ultimate successful life, as expressed in this quote: "Cause what could be more satisfying than to be able to go, at the age of eighty-four, into twenty or thirty different cities, and pick up a phone, and be remembered and loved and helped by so many different people?" [Act 2] Willy believed that success, was equivalent to how well liked he was. Willy's 'flaw' was his foolish pride, his persistence of achieving "his rightful status".

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