Death of a Salesman and Relationships with Sons
Family relationships are the key to many plots. Within a family, various characters play different roles in each others lives. These are usually people that are connected in one way or another. They could be brother and sister, mother and daughter, mother and son, father and daughter, or in this case, father and son. In “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller, the interactions between Willy Loman and his sons, Happy and Biff, allow Miller to comment on father-son relationships and the conflicts that arise within them.During many father-son relationships, the father is very uninvolved and not open with his son (Clements). Another frequent relationship is where the father wants to become more active and a best friend in his son’s life. The reasons for this are can be demonstrated in different ways. Miller gives us examples of this through the actions of Willy Loman. When Biff comes home to get himself back together, Willy sees this as a failure. Since Willy wants Biff, to succeed in every way possible, he attempts to take matters into his own hands. The reason that Biff came home is to find out what he wants in life. Yet Willy thinks otherwise, “The trouble is he’s lazy, goddammit!” (Miller 1305) Because Willy gets in t
When a father chooses to look favorably upon one son over another, problems occur in the father-son relationship as well as in the son’s life. Within a father-son relationship, it is the responsibility of the father to provide sound values and leadership for his sons (Jones). In most families, the sons look to their father as their role model and a hero. It is in the father’s best interest to use this opportunity to instill values that will allow his sons to become responsible individuals (Floyd). Miller uses the Loman family to show how a father acts when he is more concerned with appearance than anything else. Willy is obsessed with status. He believes that if a person is admired, he has everything. Since Willy was never admired himself, he adores the fact that his sons, and Biff in particular, are. In a way, Willy idolizes his children more than they idolize him. Because Willy sees that his boys have attained what he deems as important, he forgets to teach them important values. A father must also learn when to just let their son do what they want. Earl has learned this, "Tiger is learning to be more and more autonomous," says Duran. "Earl is taking more of a back seat. It's hard for him, but it has to be." (Tresniowski). Willy, on the other hand wants to and continues to stay a very active part of Biff’s life and tries to make him do the things Willy wants him to do, such as work as a salesman, and not be so lazy as he calls Biff on an off throughout the play. A father is the most important thing a boy can have in his life. They can relate to one another on a level that cannot be achieved through a mother and son relationship. It is important to have communication in the relationship because talking brings the two closer. A father, though, needs to know when to play an active role in his son’s life, and when to be more of an observer. If he mixes the two up, serious repercussions may occur. A father can be the best thing in his son’s life, but he needs to care for the right. Unfortunately there are many times where a father favors one son over another, which leads to conflicts with the less-favored son. In most cases it is the oldest son that is being favored while the younger son is ignored (Floyd). Typically the father doesn’t even realize what is happening. He simply gets too caught up in the successes of his eldest son a
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Approximate Word count = 1593
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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