Sharna Maddison
"Explore the view that, Biff's tragic faults are the result of Willy's failings"
Remember to include in your answer relevant comment on Miller's dramatic methods
In this essay I will explore the view that Biff's tragic faults are the result of Willy's failings.
The play 'Death of a Salesman' is centred around the character of Willy Loman. Willy Loman has two sons, Biff and Happy Loman. From Miller's dramatic method of flashbacks we can see that Biff was heading to success with his career as a high school football player and prospective college student. However, he flunked math in his senior year and was unable to graduate. When Biff went to tell his father, Willy, about his failure he found him being unfaithful to his mother …show more content…
After the Second World War, America emerged as a "superpower" amongst the world's nations and in 1947 entered the Cold War with the Soviet Union. This is important as during the Cold War Era, American's felt a deep-seated need to prove that capitalism was better than communism. However, in Act 2, Miller uses the quote "What the hell am I grabbing this for? Why am I trying to become what I don't want to be?". This quote is significant because it shows that Biff has realised that the 'American Dream' is merely and ideal that in reality, is almost impossible to reach. In addition, the American Dream is a capitalist belief as it revolves round money, success and leads people to believe that wealth will solve their problems. This is why I believe its important that Biff Loman didn't strive for the American Dream as it contradicts the attitudes of many Americans at this time. In my opinion , this suggests that Biff's faults are due to him not complying with the needs of his country at this time (proving capitalism was better than communism) and his lack of capitalist ideology. Even though the American Dream may have been criticised by marxists and even Arthur Miller himself, it gave many people hope and ambition to be successful, of which Biff lacked and led to him being a failure. Therefore, this shows that Biff's faults aren't the result of Willy's
"Explore the view that, Biff's tragic faults are the result of Willy's failings"
Remember to include in your answer relevant comment on Miller's dramatic methods
In this essay I will explore the view that Biff's tragic faults are the result of Willy's failings.
The play 'Death of a Salesman' is centred around the character of Willy Loman. Willy Loman has two sons, Biff and Happy Loman. From Miller's dramatic method of flashbacks we can see that Biff was heading to success with his career as a high school football player and prospective college student. However, he flunked math in his senior year and was unable to graduate. When Biff went to tell his father, Willy, about his failure he found him being unfaithful to his mother …show more content…
After the Second World War, America emerged as a "superpower" amongst the world's nations and in 1947 entered the Cold War with the Soviet Union. This is important as during the Cold War Era, American's felt a deep-seated need to prove that capitalism was better than communism. However, in Act 2, Miller uses the quote "What the hell am I grabbing this for? Why am I trying to become what I don't want to be?". This quote is significant because it shows that Biff has realised that the 'American Dream' is merely and ideal that in reality, is almost impossible to reach. In addition, the American Dream is a capitalist belief as it revolves round money, success and leads people to believe that wealth will solve their problems. This is why I believe its important that Biff Loman didn't strive for the American Dream as it contradicts the attitudes of many Americans at this time. In my opinion , this suggests that Biff's faults are due to him not complying with the needs of his country at this time (proving capitalism was better than communism) and his lack of capitalist ideology. Even though the American Dream may have been criticised by marxists and even Arthur Miller himself, it gave many people hope and ambition to be successful, of which Biff lacked and led to him being a failure. Therefore, this shows that Biff's faults aren't the result of Willy's