Death of a Salesman

A detailed Summary of Death of a Salesman


Several very important things come to light regarding Biff and Willy's relationship during the scene contained in the pages 129-133 of Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller. Biff finally comes out and confronts Willy about the pressure and expectations that he has placed on him throughout his life. One could say that the major conflict of the play unwinds during these few pages, as the two men completely let out their true feelings about each other, constantly using caustic insults to do so. Willy accuses his son of living his life out of spite for him while Biff affronts his father concerning his suicide attempts in the basement. Also, the lack of importance of Happy's job is also unveiled. These few pages are truly a major turning point in Death of a Salesman as Biff and Willy's contrasting philosophies regarding success are revealed.

The importance of this scene lies not only in the fact that the true feelings of the ch


Biff, turning on him: You big blow, are you the assistant buyer? You're one of the two assistants to the assistant, aren't you?

Willy makes the point that Biff has lived his entire life out of spite for Willy. While this may be what started Biff down the path that he has taken, it is certainly not the driving force behind it now. Willy can't understand why Biff doesn't want to be a "success" and the only reason he can come up with is that Biff is rebelling. He isn't able to see that Biff has a different definition of success than he does. Biff tries, in vain, to explain this to his father:

Biff, to Willy: We never told the truth for ten minutes in this house!

During this scene, the philosophy of each main character is revealed. All of the characters are forced to look at their lives and definitions of success. Willy and Biff finally confront each other, making for one of the most important and interesting scenes of the play. The importa

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 644
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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