Death of a salesman is a tragedy, which shows the difference between a person’s dreams and reality. The story is about the Loman family and how they wanted to achieve the American dream. The story criticizes the American dream and shows how the American society became materialistic and competitive, in order to achieve that dream. Biff Loman is a main character of the story that develops as the story progresses and is the only one who doesn’t live in a world of dreams and delusion.
Biff Loman was the son of Willy Loman, who was different from his brother Happy and his father, Willy. The main difference between Biff and his family is that, unlike them, he is not unable to accept the reality of their lives, which is miserable. Biff accepts his failures and even confronts them. Willy and Happy fail too, but they delude themselves into thinking that they are successful. Biff knows that he isn’t successful and he doesn’t deceive himself or hallucinates about being rich. Biff used to trust Willy, however, when he found out that Willy has a mistress, he stops trusting him.
Even though Biff’s name may sound as someone who is big and dumb, Biff is the complete opposite of that description. He shows real personal growth; initially, Biff is shown as someone who has many flaws like the other …show more content…
Biff didn’t want to seek money or success, and he wanted a basic life. He wanted people to see him, for who he is and love him for that. He didn’t want his dad to be so materialistic and delusional. Willy didn’t understand Biff, just like Americans don’t understand those people, who value the simple pleasures in life, and don’t want to be known for their money. The race to achieve the American dream is a rat race, where everyone wants to trump everyone else, so that they can be rich more than the other person. This isn’t what Biff wanted, but the whole Loman family