Theme Of Family Relationships In Death Of A Salesman

Arthur Miller emphasizes the importance of family relationships in his play “Death of a Salesman.” Through the characters, and their actions, Miller demonstrates to his audience how drastically one person’s actions can affect the rest of the family since everyone 's actions affected each other to some degree. Willy’s actions and attitude greatly distressed himself, his wife, Linda, and son Biff, resulting for all three characters to have realizations in the end. Willy learned that Biff had always loved and cared for him even when Willy felt otherwise; Linda learned that she was never able to live a happy life until Willy died; and Biff, who underwent the greatest epiphany, finally accepted the fact that he should have lived his life for …show more content…
From when Biff was a child to an adult, Willy kept badgering him to get a job as a salesman and putting him down when he did not live up to Willy’s standards. In the beginning of the play, Biff went to visit but was still unable to make his father proud. During an earlier discussion between Linda and Willy, Linda told Willy she felt if Biff lived his life the way he wanted to, there would be less arguing between everyone. Linda specifically said, “I think if he finds himself then you’ll both be happier and not fight anymore”. After saying this, Willy was disgusted and replied “How can he find himself on a farm? Is that life? A farm hand?” which meant he disapproved Biffs decision. Although the farm was the path Biff most likely wanted to take, Willy only cared about the fact that Biff was not making money, causing an argument. Although Willy did not approve of Biff’s decision, Biff later realized that he should not have cared about Willy’s criticism, but only cared about his …show more content…
Biff realized this when he went to Oliver’s office for a position and said “What am I doing in an office making a contemptuous fool of myself when all I want is out there.” Biff decided to not take a job he did not want only to be accepted by Willy, but to work on a farm doing what he loved. Another example is when Biff not only acknowledged his life but his father’s life also. Towards the end, Biff told his father “I am not a leader of men Willy and neither are you.” This quote means both Willy and Biff are ordinary men who are not meant to be great successful people, which is what Willy was expecting out of himself and Biff. Since Biff was able to understand this, he was able to accept he could not be what Willy wanted and should be what he wanted