Theme Of Expectations In Death Of A Salesman

Ever since Biff walked into the affair between Willy and “The Woman”, Biff hasn’t been able to speak and look at his father the same; this causes Willy to think that Biff hates him. Also, Willy could still be upset about how he may ruined Biff’s chance of going to summer school for his failing subject. From there, Biff could’ve gone to college and become more successful than his father. Willy becomes happier when Biff attempts to talk to Bill Oliver because he wants him to be the successful man that he could’ve been before.

One of the main things that the two characters have in common is that their dreams have been skewed by what they hope to achieve. Willy had hoped to have become a great salesman one day, but was too focused on his likability to have gotten far. On page eighteen, Willy tells Biff, “Someday I’ll have my own business, and I’ll never have to leave home any more” (Miller 18). This quote shows that Willy had dreamt of becoming wealthy and successful by owning disown selling business, but instead, he stayed in the same job for over thirty years. Biff then likens his father’s dreams to Charlie, a family friend, and the position he holds. Willy

Willy’s attempts to become a well-known salesman, which he thought was his rightful position in society, make him a modern tragic hero. In doing so, he eventually loses his salary, dignity, job and in the end, his life. Some elements that lead to his death, are unfaithfulness towards Linda, his inability to travel for his job and, his damaged relationship with his sons. Willy’s fatal flaw is that he is unable to see the happiness in his life and pursues dreams out of his

     The single most weighted factor that edges Willie to his demise is his inability to make a living and achieve his “American Dream”. After being a salesman for many years, Willy just can’t cope with the fact that he hasn’t been successful at all. He believes that he is a terrific salesman. His imaginative thinking won’t let him accept the fact that he has become a failure instead of a wealthy businessman. Willy believes that to be well liked is the means to being

Sources of his situation are sheltered in the past. Biff constantly followed his father’s orienteer that charm and good look are the only tickets to promising future and success. But once he didn’t pass math exam, Biff in despair rushes to his dad and finds him in the room with another woman. Exactly at this moment, Biff’s world falls apart, all his values are wiped out. Willy was his role model, Biff sincerely trusted him, but suddenly he finds out that his dad always lied.

How can two people watch or read the same story and yet, interpret it completely differently? Does it have to do with the author’s intentions, or maybe it has to do with the viewers’ own backgrounds and ideologies? Whatever the case may be, viewing one piece of work can lead to a wide array of opinions and critiques. It is through the diversity of such lenses that Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller has become one of the most well-known plays in modern history. There are many different ways in which a play can be criticized, however, criticisms from the approaches of a Marxist and reader-response will be utilized to further dissect Death of a Salesman. Marxist criticism sees pieces of works as a struggle between different socioeconomic classes; what better way to see Miller’s play than for what it is at face value, the struggle of a middle-class man trying to achieve the American dream (1750). On the other hand, a reader-response criticism comes from either an objective or subjective view; in this case Death of a Salesman will be viewed with a subjective lens based on Willy’s deteriorating mental health (1746).

Willy’s biggest issue with his son is that he let him down by not being any more successful than him. He feels like Biff is failing on purpose just to make him look bad. Although, he has no decent job and is single; Biff has become disoriented about life. Earlier in the play Biff tells Happy, “I tell ya Hap, I don't know what the future is. I don't know - what I'm supposed to want” (Miller266). Biff once looked up to his father as a role model, but lost all faith in him once finding out that he was having an affair. Ever since he has rejected Willy’s commitment of being a husband and also a father. To add to his ruins are Willy’s ideas of how Biff should get ahead in life. Willy taught Biff that popularity was the right way to get to the top, rather than hard-work and dedication. Trying to live by his dad’s standards caused Biff to fail high school and become unable to put forth the effort to become

While Biff is in some ways desperate to impress his father, he is also conscious about the fact that Willy has failed his attempt to be successful in his career. He considers his dad’s dreams materialistic and unreachable. As a matter of fact, in the Requiem, even after his father’s death, Biff says: “He had the wrong dreams. All, all wrong.” Unlike Happy and Willy, Biff is self-aware and values facts; Willy never was a successful salesman and he never wanted to face the truth. On the other hand, Biff is conscious about his failures and the weaknesses of his personality. During an argument with his father, Biff admits that his dad made him “so arrogant as a boy” that now he just can’t handle taking

Because of Willy' incapability to accept Biff for who he is, Willy's failure increases. Willy wants Biff to be the best because he might be a failure as a salesman but he does not want to be a failure as a father. But in some ways he is a failure as a father because he never lets Biff be his own person. It is always about what Willy wants, a "his way or the highway" sort of deal. His not accepting Biff for who he is causes Biff not succeed and because of this Biff and Willy failure becomes one in the same .

Willy’s perseverance to direct Biff into success has resulted to Biff’s desperate acts to earn praise from his father. However, Biff’s dishonest acts of stealing are often justified by Willy through disregard and excuse, even expressing that the “Coach will probably congratulate [Biff] for [his] initiative”. Instead of correcting his mistakes, Willy continuously expresses his belief of Biff’s predetermined success as a result of being attractive and well-liked. These acts effectively exemplifies Biff’s adherence to self-deception as he imagines himself as an important figure in other people’s lives. It can be seen that his belief of being destined for success prevents him from allowing himself recognize the destruction it brings. As a result, Biff has allowed how Willy views him become how he perceives himself. This self-deception has not only affected the actions in his childhood but as well as his decisions when finding his role in the workplace. As stated above, Willy’s consistent beliefs of his son’s predestined success results to Biff’s immense confidence in himself. However, this confidence have provided him a false perception of himself as he struggle to keep a stable job and even faces imprisonment. It can be seen that Biff’s lack of self-perception and compliance to ideals of Willy has only allowed him to restrain and prevent him from recognizing the difference between illusion and reality resulting in the lack of his

The play Death of a Salesman greatly portrays a specific ideology in regards to values, dreams, goals, and success in our consumer-driven society. It helps showcase the American dream that society tends to strive for even in the early 1900’s (the play is set in the 1940’s). That dream of being a successful business person or vendor. As well as the theory that image and physical attributes are most important to gaining fruition. Willy Loman plays a man in his sixties who has strived for this American dream for over 30 years but realistically has failed miserably on his goal in life – a wealthy salesman like his idol Dave Singleman (a fellow who could make a fortune selling without even leaving his hotel room). He spends his entire life in

Later in a flashback, Willy and Biff are on their way to Ebbets Field for a football game when Charley appears and beings a conversation with Willy. Merely joking around, Charley makes a few comments which Willy takes great offense too and beings insulting Charley and telling him to put his hands up as if to fight. Willy's arrogance shows it's face once again when Willy is talking to Biff about his meeting with Oliver. Completly ignoring what Biff is saying, Willy goes on about how good of a kid Biff is and how impressive he is. Though not directly insulting, Willy ignores what his son has to say and goes off on his own tangents, losing the respect of the reader. Willy then ends up in another flashback in the bathroom of the restauraunt where he met Happy and Biff for dinner. The most disgusting part of Willy is revealed here. Biff walks in on Willy and his woman friend whom hes had a secret relationship with. Willy attempts to cover it up and when that doesnt work he orders Biff around and shows how bad of a person he can be.

Biff is the apple of his father’s eye. Young, handsome, strong, intelligent, and full of ambition, Biff is going to take the world by storm, and Willy intends to living vicariously through him. This is not to be however. After Biff’s disastrous attempt to get his father to discuss grades with his math teacher, Biff gives up. Entirely. At one point, he wanted to work and to succeed in order to please his father, but after he discovers Willy cavorting with another woman, Biff does not want to give his father the satisfaction of a flourishing son. Suddenly, Willy is a liar in his eyes, and later in life, this causes Biff to have an almost violent relationship with him. (1268) What makes the strain worse is Willy’s guilt, because he knows whose fault the tension is, yet he cannot bring himself to admit it.

In Arthur Miller's, Death Of a Salesman, the growth and development of Biff are achieved as a result of the change in his relationship with Willy.Growing up Biff had received most of the attention from his father, mother and everyone around him thus building a sense of entitlement from a young age. As time passed Willy had always been there to encourage and mold Biff into what Willy thought of as an ideal American man. When this vision of Biff was unachieved Biff and Willy's relationship began to strain; causing them to fight and disagree on things such as career and the future.

Unemployment is another main theme in the play, Death of a Salesman, Biff tries to catch many jobs, but he fails. So he becomes anger and frustrated. He says "all I `ve done is to waste my life" (I.33). On the other hand, the human suffering is another dominant theme. Miller reflects the human suffering and anger of the twentieth century. In addition, he dramatizes the response of mankind to rapid technological advance (Murphy and Abbotson 55). This is explained in Willy`s speech " I don`t want a change! I want Swiss cheese" (I. 28).