Death of a Salesman

not separate the real world from his business dreamworld; which causes conflict in his life. Willy “allows the dreams necessary to his work to start to take over his whole person”. This in turn, causes Willy to contradict and lie to himself and to his family. In the opening scene, Willy first describes Biff as “a lazy bum,” but when Linda suggests that “he’s still lost,” Willy insists: In the greatest country in the world a young man with such-personal attractiveness, gets lost. And such a hard worker. There’s one thing about Biff-he’s not lazy. Secondly, upon giving advise to Biff, he first tells him not to make jokes when he goes to see Mr. Oliver because “no one lends money to a kidder.” However, soon after, he advises Biff to go in with a “good story.” These contradictions clearly show how Willy is torn between reality and illusion, which leads him to be inconsistent. “Willy’s many contradictions reflect his inability to distinguish between the dream of success and the reality of the world around him”. Willy starts to lie when he begins to feels like a failure because business is slow and he is not providing for his family. As a result, Willy lies to his family about his importance to the company in New England, and how much money he makes in sales. He likes to make his family believe that he is an important, as well as great man; when in reality he is an average person. Willy is trapped in the false image he has created, believing the lies he has been telling himself for years. He is unable to confront reality and face the truth of his failure. A severe lie, which Biff later encounters is Willy’s act of adultery committed in Boston. Willy defies the only person in his life that supports, stands by, and loves him. Upon witnessing this act, Biff’s life slowly goes down hill. Biff labels his father a “fraud” and all respect for his father are lost. As a result Biff has no ambition to succeed in life because everything he believed in was built on a lie. Willy convinces himself and his sons that success is a product of being well-liked; however, he also encourages dishonest behavior. As a son, Biff encounters his father’s acts of dishonesty and learns by them. However, Biff is not only witnessing unlawful acts, but is also being encouraged to perform them. For example, Biff stole a football from the locker room when he was in high school. Rather than be angry at Biff for stealing, like most parents would react, Willy encourages the unlawful act. Willy’s reaction to Biff is: Coach will probably congratulate you on your initiative…That’s because he likes you. If somebody else took the ball ther’d be an uproar. Instead Willy laughs at the theft because it reveals the power of personality, which gives his son privileges over others With the encouragement of stealing, Biff grows with the misconception that stealing is justifiable. This only leads to countless acts of stealing because Biff does not know any better. A second act of stealing cost Biff his job. While working for Bill Oliver, Biff stole a carton of basketballs and he was forced to quit. A third act is when Willy actually sends his sons to steal from a construction site. Charley warns Willy that the watchman will catch the boys, but Willy responds that they are “ a couple of fearless characters.” Biff does not know any better, he is a product as well as a victim of Willy’s false dream. “The boys have been brought up to respect the success ideology; their success will be the salesman’s vindication”. He has been led to believe that he can get away with anything because people like him. In order for Biff to survive in life, “Biff must break away form Willy be rejecting his father’s values and ideals”. However, Biff’s realization comes too late in his life. Biff does not graduate from high school and has not succeeded in life through the ideal set forth by Willy. However, Biff finally realizes that the business world and the dream his father believed in where not for him This realization comes when Biff returns to Bill Oliver’s office with the objective of pleasing his father. In order for him to be successful, he must find his true self in order to find happiness. Biff states: What am I doing in Oliver’s office, making a contemptuous, begging fool of myself, when all I want is out West, waiting for me the minute I say I know who I am! In turn, Biff realizes that he has wasted his life trying to please his father by succeeding in business; when all along working on a farm was what made him happy. This is shown when Biff states the following: I spent six or seven years after high school trying to work myself up. Shipping clerk, salesman, business of one kind or another. And it’s a measly manner of existence… when all you really desire is to be outdoors. Biff comes to understand the falsity of his father’s dream and determines to follow his dreams in order to gain his true self. Biff’s hope for the future is to be in touch with nature by working on a farm. Biff states, “with a ranch I could do the work I like and still be something.” In order to please his father, Biff rejects his own dream of working on the farm, and proceeds to follow the dream of his father. As a result, Biff lived his life in guilt because he was unable to succeed in the business world and impress his father. In turn, Biff is unable to please either himself or his father. The following quote displays Biff’s dilemma: Biff who tries to retrace the steps of his father into the past and the West, is unable to accept a simple sense of harmony with his surroundings as adequate to the definition of success which his father has instilled in him.Furthermore, Biff’s realization allows him to come to the conclusion that his failure is a result of his father’s false dream. Willy has cost him every job he has had because Willy has implanted the idea that he is super to everyone. Biff states to Willy: you blew me so full of hot air I could never stand taking orders from anybody! I had to be the boss big shot in two weeks, and I’m through with it! In summary, Willy Loman never acknowledges or learns the error of his way. To the very end he believes in this ideology that destroys him and Biff. As a result, Biff false victim to this false dream. Both Willy and Biff are denied peace because the philosophy on which they have built their lives denies them this. Both have a spiritual need that is unfulfilled and unrecognized because of their inability to discover what is meaningful in their lives. There is a great gap between what the two men desire and the reality of their lives”