Death Of A Salesman Biff's Journey

In Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, characters’ inability to let go of the past causes them immense tragedy. Biff, in particular, is terribly transformed after he catches his father having an affair. Biff’s fall from a promising child to a meandering bum is underpinned by his inability to let go. As he fixates on this single memory, his negative beliefs continually reinforce themselves and he thus stops believing he is worthy of success. Key to Biff’s transformation is the moment he meets Willy’s mistress. After failing his math exam, Biff asks Willy to talk to the teacher and tells him:“if [the teacher] saw what kind of man you are, and you just talked to him in your way, I’m sure he’d come through for me” (118). However, when Biff discovers

In line with his disillusionment of Willy, Biff rejects the confidence Willy tried to instill in him. He decides that Willy just “blew [him] full of hot air” (131), and that in reality, he is nothing special, just “a dime in a dozen” (132). This lack of confidence then leads to poor decisions that trap Biff in a cycle of self-deprecation. After stealing Oliver’s pen, Biff asks himself: “what the hell am I grabbing this for? Why am I trying to become what I don’t want to be? What am I doing in an office, making a contemptuous, begging fool of myself [?]” (132). Biff does not give himself a chance to succeed. Rather, he already thinks of himself as a “contemptuous, begging fool”. Indeed, by questioning why he stole the pen, he reveals that thievery has become an unconscious action— he already thinks he is depraved. In turn, by stealing, he deepens his feeling of inadequacy, and he later reveals, “[he] stole [himself] outta every good job since high school” (131). Each time he steals, he reinforces the idea that he is just a lowlife thief and therefore dooms his subsequent attempts to succeed. In truth, however, It is important to note that this cycle began when Biff discovered Willy’s affair: That moment was the first time Biff rejected the self-respect Willy tried to give him. In that way, Biff’s failures are rooted in the past: each

While he does not explicitly say where he plans to go, he alludes to the beauty of the west, and asks Happy to “come with [him]” (138). Throughout the play, he references the beauty of the west— according to him “There’s nothing more inspiring or —beautiful than the sight of a mare and a new colt“ (23). In truth, however, Biff’s move only represents an extension of the self-hate that he permeates his past. Despite the beauty of the West, Biff thinks that in the West, “[he’s] not getting anywhere” and he asks himself: “What the hell am I doing, playing around with horses, twenty-eight dollars a week” (23). The rural life that Biff idolizes actually leaves him feeling worthless. Life there feels like “playing around” and therefore unsubstantial. Biff later explains the move by telling Happy, “I know what I am”. He settles for a life he knows he will hate and decides it is the best he can do because of “what he is”: the same meandering bum from his business days. In that sense, the cycle of self-deprecation caused by Biff’s tumultuous past stays with him, even as he seems to break