Biff and Cory get different vibes as Willy gives support where Troy does everything to put it in a negative light. Willy believes Biff can have a future as a successful athlete but his aspirations of his son’s success becomes destroyed as Cory because of the fact that Biff becomes consumed of his father’s cheating (Casper1010,
Both protagonists are blinded by their illusions of success, and both of their experiences are akin to one another. Willy's experience with achieving the American Dream is similar to Troy's will to survive because Troy tries to be on the same level as Whites by overcoming racial barriers. Willy Loman, a traveling salesman, believes that one must be well-liked in order to achieve the American dream. However, Willy does not realize that the value of hard work and devotion plays the most important role in achieving success. Willy tries to teach his falsified ideology of the American dream to his sons, Biff and Happy.
In "Death of a salesman" by Arthur Miller, Willy Loman plays a character with characteristics that haunt people of modern America. His delusions fused with his superficial views of life is a concoction for the downfall of himself, and his sons Biff, and Happy. Willy Loman is delusional about how to be successful, and how to live a successful life. Willy displays his delusions in many ways, for example: personal attractiveness and charisma outweigh hard work and dedication. Bernard reveals to Willy that Biff is going to fail his class if he doesn't "Buckle down" and begin to study, to Bernard's astonishment and dismay, Willy responds by saying to Linda: "There’s nothing the matter with him!
He builds up his son’s ego by telling them that all you need to be is well-liked. Theses false values shown by Willy makes Biff become overwhelmed with confidence that all he needs is to be attractive in order to be successful and makes him think of why should he have to try hard in school when his appealing personality will make up for poor grades. Willy’s flawed view of success, where being well-liked is more important than being the best at whatever job you pursue, leads to failure and unhappiness in both his life and his sons life’s in the business world. Although Happy has a job that would be more acceptable by his father than Biff’s, but Willy doesn’t admire Happy like he does Biff. Happy has lived in the shadow of Biff his whole life, he feels that to get the attention he deserves he must strive to be more successful than his brother.
* Willy’s contrasting statements on Biff ’s work ethic show how his hopes for Biff have been dashed, but also his capacity for self-delusion. He can’t accept that Biff has turned out to be something other than a great man of the world because he can’t let go of his American Dream of huge success for himself and his sons. * Willy’s car accidents, at this stage of the play, seem to point to his increasing age and physical fragility. As the play progresses, they will come to mean more. * The original American Dream involved proving and making a life for yourself by heading out into the wilds of nature, as Willy’s father and older brother Ben did, and as Willy himself sometimes wishes he did.
As a result of his failure to make it to the baseball major leagues, Troy reflects his defeat on Cory, telling him he’ll never succeed because of the “white man”. In addition to his jealousy, another reason for Troy holding Cory back is he subconsciously does not want his son to surpassing his own life progress and accomplishments; this is unlike a usual Father who dreams of their child accomplishing more than themselves. Troy’s self-loathing also sabotages his seemingly satisfactory marriage. By cheating on Rose, Troy can escape his daily responsibilities and feelings of failure. He feels this way with his mistress, Alberta, because she does not know much of him or his past, unlike Rose.
Sometimes when cchildren are betrayed by their love ones they tend to struggle with anger the most, just as Biff was affected by infidelity in the movie, Death of a Salesman. While Willy tried to raise perfect sons, he wrestled with himself between reality and denial of his son Biff, catching him in the hotel room with his mistress while on a business trip in Boston. Biff was a great football player; many universities had offered him scholarships but during that year Biff fail math by one point and had gone to Boston to tell his father the devastating news and for his father to come home and ask his math teacher to give him the one point he needed to enter college. When Biff reaches Willy's hotel room in Boston, he sees his dad with another woman and this discovery made Biff see his father as a fake. Biff, said to his dad “you are a fake; you are a liar, a liar” (Miller, 1958).
Symbols are a whole message within a word that must be analyzed and interpreted to discover. In Death of a Salesman Arthur Miller uses symbolism to portray how Willy’s blind faith in the American dream turns into an obsession for prosperity which ultimately destroys Willy. This is presented through the symbolism of seeds, rubber hose and diamonds. The seeds in Death of a salesman represent a chance for Willy to validate the fact that he was successful in his life to everyone around him and it also represents Willy’s failure to raise Biff into a successful and well liked businessman. Willy puts in a lot of effort to provide for his family from the very beginning.
This image is what’s considered the “American Dream”. Miller’s character Willy Loman is the perfect dramatization of many people out there who work hard, yet never seem to quite reach the goal they set for themselves. Willy is a salesman who is convinced that “the man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead.” Willy is constantly worried about how he looks and appears to others because in his mind “he is destined for success” and so “he must constantly dress the part,” (Centola 21). Willy’s brother Ben is the ideal man in Loman’s mind. He has the success, the wealth, and the notability that is everything Willy wants for himself and his family.
Death of a Salesman presents us the tragic character of Willy Loman, who so blindly adheres to the American Dream that it ultimately destroys him. The central protagonist Willy Loman truly believes the key to success is to be “well liked.” The repetition of this trite mantra shows Willy’s adherence to a shallow Dream. He feeds this false mantra to his sons while they grow up imbuing poor values replete with false praise over more sustaining values. When Biff Loman reveals to his dad that he stole a football from the locker room, Willy simply states that the coach will “probably congratulate him on his initiative” missing an important opportunity to appropriately discipline his son with the strong values of life. Likewise to convey the idea that image alone is the key to success, Willy is thankful that his sons are “built like Adonises.” The result from Willy’s false mantra ends up with his sons living directionless and unsatisfying lives.