Death Of A Salesman Conflicts

Most tragedies are focused on either external or internal conflicts of the protagonists. However with more modern tragedies, other characters also influence on how the protagonist come to his or her own downfall. In the play Death of a Salesman, the author Arthur Miller displayed the main protagonist Willy as a man struggling to survive in a hostile society while dealing with his mental health. Despite that, there is another cause to Willy’s suffering which he did to himself; he put all his dreams and ideals onto his first son Biff. In hopes of having Biff pursue a great career, Willy would be satisfied knowing that his family lived the American Dream. As a child, Biff looked up to Willy as a great man and absorbed everything that Willy believed …show more content…
Biff’s childhood was ruined on the same day that he went to the hotel to see his father. He had caught Willy having an affair with another woman. Everything he looked up to and dreams was shattered by the sight of the woman in the room with them. This can be seen when Bernard explains to Willy about what happened to Biff after he came back. Bernard made the comment on “how strange it was that I knew he’d given up his life” (p. 72). This shows that since their confrontation at the hotel Biff became a different person. When Biff went back home, he had a different attitude and went to burn the shoes that he was so proud of and did not bother taking the summer class he needed. He had lost all his determination that he had previously had because he knew that the reason he cared about it before was because it would make his father proud of him. Now it did not matter to him anymore since his whole life has been a lie to him. If they really did not have a perfect loyal family, then his whole career as a football star was probably a lie too. Because of this, he never got along with his father and had to keep the affair a secret. One of the reasons that Biff left the house was because he wanted to distance himself from the family in order to search for his purpose in life. However even when he struggles to find himself, he cannot escape from his old habits that were engraved into him by his father. While he went to look for jobs, he went and stole a suit thinking that he could pay for the suit once he landed a job. This action shows that his idea of how society runs was influenced by Willy. If he was raised properly, he should have learned that it was wrong to steal items. Biff had to learn this the hard way when he had to go to jail afterward. Biff have been so sheltered from the society, his life has been a lie. Even when he learns that one cannot