Willy was a horrible salesman who never was able to sell anything and deserved what was coming to him. He just couldn’t’ see this because he wouldn’t face the facts. Another prime example of Willy not being able to face reality involved his oldest son Biff. If Willy had faced reality he could have quit his job with Howard and the company and gotten a job with Charlie. Charlie was always offering Willy work, but he never took it because he was “ such a good salesman.” Once Willy lost his job, he was depressed, but tried to shrug it off.
After Willy’s unexpected death, Biff begins to realize that his father had false dreams. Throughout the play, there are multiple occurrences where Biff is correct about his father having all the wrong dreams. First of all, Willy’s talents and dreams are not selling but are using his hands and building things. Second of all, he tries to repeat the success of another salesman named Dave Singleman, and does not try to go after his own. Furthermore, Willy’s unrealistic dreams of Biff having an ideal life technically ruins his son's life and results in a failure for both of them.
This turns sour however, after Biff discovers the father he idolizes was not all he had thought him to be. Afterward, familial dynamics are never the same, as Willy continues to hope that Biff will succeed, ignorant- perhaps purposely so- that his son is failing out of spite, knowing that all his father’s hopes are resting on his shoulders. Willy’s relationships with his two sons are tentative at best, but Happy and Biff are partly to blame for this downhill spiral- as their relationship is just as complex. In the play, “Death of a Salesman,” Willy Loman remembers scenes from years previous, particularly idyllic times when his two sons were still young and full of promise. Willy’s memories focus on Biff: Biff’s chances at success, Biff’s talents, Biff’s popularity.
Jerry knows Brother Leon’s hate for him and his fear of failure with the chocolate sale. "He had met Brother Leon in the corridor late one afternoon after football practice and had seen hate flashing in the teachers eyes. More than hate: something sick." (Cormier 92) Jerry knows that Leon hates him for refusing the chocolates but he doesn’t want to give into Leon and take the chocolates. This is what motivates Jerry to become a rebel Webster’s dictionary defines a hero as any man admired for his courage, qualities or exploits, especially in war.
This idea of likability filters throughout all of the other aspects of Mr. Loman’s life and as he grows older he fails to understand that he is living a lie. The illusion of self worth, through being liked, affects everything in Willy’s life from his work to the dysfunction of his family, and is the fueled by his wavering hope in the American dream. Early on in the play the notion of likability is shown through Willy’s ranting when he returns home from a business trip. Biff has come home from being out west and his father believes that he is failure. Willy is unafraid to let his disappointment be heard to let Biff know he is not fond him at the moment, “Not finding yourself at the age of thirty-four is a disgrace” (Miller, 2330).
While Biff is happy, he does not meet Willy’s criteria for success. Biff is unable to fulfill Willy’s dream because Willy’s idea of success is not a life Biff wants to pursue. Biff Loman, a highly successful high school football player, was supposedly meant for great things after high school. However, Biff failed to graduate from high school due to failing a mathematics class, and also did not complete the class during summer school, because of the discussion he had with his father. The discussion was one that was eye-opening, as Biff learned that his father was unfaithful to his mother, “You—you gave her Mama’s stockings…don’t touch me, you—liar...You fake!
His distorted perceptions of the American Dream ultimately ruined his life and the lives of his family. Sadly, Willy definitely failed as a father. He obviously favored his eldest son Biff over his youngest son Happy, and this constant neglect drove Happy to become more like his older brother as an adult in order to win his father’s approval. We can see this through his philandering behavior, something Biff was known for in high school, the golden years. Biff, on the other hand, had it worse because his father sold him lies about his importance in the business industry, which forced Biff to admire Willy and strive to be like him one day.
Every thing would have gone fine for Jerry if the power crazy headmaster Brother Leon had not interfered in the student chocolate sale. Jerry noticed how refusing the chocolate was pushing Brother Leon over the edge so he continued to refuse them for more than his ten days. Brother Leon did not like it so he called The Vigils asking for help, they agreed. The Vigils talked to Jerry and they gave him a new mission, they told him to start to sell the chocolates. Jerry still refused to sell the chocolates.
His boss was looking to fire him for a long time. His whole life, he has had the wrong idea. “Success doesn’t come from just luck, popularity, or personality. All throughout the Death of a Salesman, Loman tells his two sons, Biff and Happy, that the key to success in life is to be “well liked” and that all you need is “a smile and a shoeshine.” (Brett) However, Willy completely ignored his true calling of working with his hands, to become a business man. He was so infatuated with the American Dream, he didn’t realize that he wasn’t a good Salesman, and would have succeeded as ... ... middle of paper ... ...ity to indulge in a world that doesn’t exist.
Although the Widow Douglas attempts to change Huck, her attempts are in vain and he continues his merry way. The community has failed to protect him from his father, and though the Widow provides Huck some of the schooling and religious training that he had missed, he does not mkae social values in the same way a middle-class boy like Tom Sawyer has been. Huck’s distance from mainstream society makes him skeptical of the world around him and he questions the ideals passed on to him. In the beginning of the novel, we meet Jim. Jim... ... middle of paper ... ... 2003.