"Death of A Salesman" Several characters influence Willy greatly and magnifiy certain aspects of his character. Biff, Happy, and Ben are three characters that greatly influence and affect Willy's personality. These characters represent well vulnerability, a lack of self-worth, and regret to Willy. The main representation of vulnerability for Willy is Biff. Biff brings out Willy's vulnerability by forcing him to recall harsh memories of his affair.
Elizabeth sees his inner goodness shine when he refuses to lie about being involved in witchcraft, and she realizes how unfair she has been. John Proctor saves the lives of the others who are accused when he unselfishly declines to save his own. He acts as a martyr when he places others before himself. He would rather die an honorable death than live a dishonorable life, which is what precedes him to be the tragic hero of the play. John Proctor, being a very complex character stuck in a world full mischief, madness, and chaos shows a major change as the play unfolds.
Biff has learned or at least acknowledged the truth about his own life and his father’s life. He learns that he is nothing and no one but may be someone one someday. Throughout the play Biff has adored Willy; he believed his father’s stories and accepted his father’s philosophy which was that a person will be successful if he is “well-liked”. Biff was taught to do whatever it took to be successful even stealing and cheating. Prior to his trip to Boston everything changed he saw that his dad was a fake which meant that Biff was also a fake too.
Amir’s relationship to his mother, father and half brother, Hassan, are guilt ridden and strained. Finally, Amir addresses this guilt and proves his remorse through selfless acts. It is through selfless acts that his sins of the past are settled and he is able to become a man and form a complete sense of self. Amir’s sense of guilt stems from the very moment he was born. Amir’s mother died in childbirth and at times, Amir feels like Baba resents him for taking the life of his beautiful wife.
In a somewhat sub-plot, Biff wants to try again at his city life and get a good job that will not only take care of his families’ financial problems, but will also make his father proud of him. Another sub-plot suggests that Willy once had an affair, this somewhat strained his relationship with his son. The overall inciting incident of the play is when the mother tells Biff about what’s really going on with his father. That they’ve been borrowing money to pay their bills, their father drives all over the country and doesn’t actually sell anything. She also tells her two sons about how their father is suicidal and she has found a piece of rubber tubing in the basement that he will use to kill himself.
Biff knew that the life of a salesman was not his own dream but his father’s dream for him. All Biff really wanted was to be able to work with his hands and enjoy the simple things in life. Towards the end of the play, Biff tries to confront his father and get him to see how false his dreams were, and accuses Willy, of having false dreams. In accepting the truth about his father, Biff is able to make a decision about his own future based upon a realistic view of his
Biff’s dream job was to go our west and work on a farm, out in the open air. When he came to New York to visit home, Willy bombarded Biffs fantasy and made Biff feel as if he made the wrong decision. Biff stayed in New York to pursue his father’s dream, as opposed to choosing his own desired path. Biff had “nothing planted” (122). Biff no longer had his own dreams or desires in life, he merely wanted to keep his suicidal father pleased for the time being.
Willy Loman, a self-deluded salesman who lives in complete denial searching for his "American Dream," finds himself in a belated mid-life crisis. He never achieved the glorious existence as a salesman he had envisioned for himself, so he places all his hopes in his two sons, Biff and Happy. But because their father has infused them with the same fundamentally wrong sense of morality and of what is important in life that has delayed his own success and happiness, the sons find themselves equally trapped and suspended in time without the ability to succeed. Miller reveals Willy’s Struggle as the perfect father, his concerns in his image as a role model, and his controllable actions that misguides the downfall in his relationship with his
Shakespeare uses the noble prince, Romeo, as a tragic hero in his play by ending Romeo’s life of prosperity and nobility. The great potential of this young noble shapes the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. In the novel, Gatsby, like Romeo, performs the task of a tragic hero, one who possesses nobility, large potential and a fatal flaw. Jay Gatsby turns his life into that of the American dream. For example Jay begins his life as a poor innocent boy constantly overcoming obstacles in his life such as fighting in the first Great War and losing his love Daisy, yet he pursues his journey to wealth and a celebrity life.
As Aristotle’s writes, the tragic hero, “Lives for honor and fame”. The glaring point of his faulty personality of neglecting others includes those closest to him, his wife, Linda and his two sons, Biff and Happy. “You’ll retire me for life on seventy goddamn dollars a week?” (Miller, 28) is evidence of the cruelty Willy can show toward Happy as he does to Biff. Willy puts enormous pressure on his older son, Biff, to help him out in his time of need, “Hap, [Willy] got to understand that I’m not the man somebody lends that kind of money to,” (Miller, 81). In the past, Biff went unexpectly to Boston, to a hotel