Willy Lohan: A Poor Role Model to His Two Sons Biff and Happy

Willy Lohan, a poor role model to his two sons Biff and Happy

In his stage play Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller introduces us to the family of Willy Lohan. There is greater influence of the parents to the children as is portrayed in the play. Willy Loman laxity has weighed heavily on the conduct of his sons, Happy and Biff. The main theme in the play is sustained in the play with the sons of Willy attaining their personality from their father. We learn that one’s upbringing shapes their behavior. The actions of those within one’s surrounding influence one’s behavior. This is quite evident in the case of a parent child interaction as portrayed in the play. Since most the time the child will look up to their parents, their ethical and moral values will be acquired from their parents. The impact of parent’s ethical degradation, on their children in is shown clearly in the play Death of Salesman by Arthur Miller.

Willy Loman set a very low level of morality for his sons by his actions and therefore he was not a good role model to them. For instance, when Biff was in high school, he stole a football from the locker room. He was a star in the game of football but that was not reason enough for his actions to go unpunished. When Willy learnt of his son’s felony, he never punished him. Instead, he regarded it as an initiative by Biff which was due to get appreciated by the his coach. On another occasion, lumber was stolen from a construction site by Biff and his brother Happy. In place of rebuke, they received appreciation from their father for the wrong they did. He was proud of the large amount of lumber they stole. By praising them, Willy blurred his sons’ vision of stealing as immoral and ethically wrong. Past studies show that th...

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...ldren during their upbringing. In so doing, I will guard them from engaging in lawlessness. From the play, we also learn that it is the responsibility of the parent to be strict with their children, so that as their children grow, they will be able to know what is morally upright and that which is not. It is also clear that the action of the parents with the consent of their children will always serve as a reference point. Parents are undoubtedly the ultimate role models to their children. Therefore, parent should at all times strive to maintain high standards in all that they do. In the case of Willy, had he been stern with his children and quick to rebuke them when they steal or do any other thing that was wrong, his sons would have grown to be moral upright members of the society. It is unlikely that children will grow to be ethical if their parent is unethical.