Biff as hero of Death of a Salesman
In Death of a Salesman, Miller presents the Lomans, a family hindered by a dysfunctional nature. Although Miller presents Willy as the main character of the story, he lacks the praiseworthy traits that would make him the protagonist. Instead, his son Biff is heroic in that as an adolescent, his father impresses faulty ideals upon him, which he later discards in his search for his own identity. Ultimately, Biff does not succeed in his father's eyes, but he does finally realize his true identity and, because of this, deserves the role of protagonist in the play. First, Willy Loman is the overbearing but idolized father, who sets the foundation for Biff's beliefs. There are many aspects of this father-son relationship that lead to Biff's self-realization at the end of the play. In his youth, Biff respects and adores Willy because that is the nature of a young child. Even though we later realize the error in Willy's ways, his intentions on teaching his son to succeed were purely honorable. Willy supplies Biff with an ego because of his excessive praise, consequently making Biff extremely conceited. This praise helps Biff to develop pride in himself and his family and causes him to feel superior to his peers. His father's
------------------------------------------------------------------------ ng for nothing. We were able to see examples of Biff following this philosophy also when he stole a football from the high school. Willy praised him for his actions, teaching him that one should rule over others and not worry about being subject to morality, representing the rule, "The end justifies the means." Stealing, cheating, and lying come naturally with these beliefs, which one can see fits the Lomans like a glove. These themes represent the ideals of the young Biff, before his dreams came tumbling down in a hotel room in Boston. his new self-discovery: "I am not the leader of men...I am just what I am, that's all."(132-133). There are also many themes or motifs throughout the play that influenced Biff and helped in his final attitude change at the end of the story. The beliefs that Willy tried to impress upon his children are the most obvious. First, Willy's main focus in life consisted of trying to become successful by amounting as much material gain as he could, which he felt was the true definition of success. Next was his belief that only those who were blessed by both god-like attractiveness and a very personable personality could succeed in the business world. He always emphasized the need for Biff to maintain his popularity among his peers and to live his life to the fullest. These beliefs seemed to fit a child like Biff perfectly. Willy looked at high school as a popularity contest that was not affected in the least amount by scholastic performance. He also did not take into account the fact that people must be able to work to earn a living. He believed in the philosophy of somethi! After this traumatic experience, Biff decides to take on life without the old Loman morals. This proves difficult for Biff as he is forced to spend time in jail for petty retail theft. After sixteen years without his father, Biff still cannot seem to find his own system of beliefs. An
Some common words found in the essay are:
Happy Biff, Willy Loman, Happy Willy's, Miller Willy, Ultimately Biff, Miller Lomans, own identity, own life, play youth biff, fountain pen, son biff, father-son relationship, biff happy, helps biff, false ideals, father's ideals, realize error,
Approximate Word count = 1343
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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