5.2.2
Biff's Relationship with Willy
Willy and Biff's Relationship
Willy and Biff's Relationship
The damaged relationship between Biff and Willy is at the heart of the play.
The affair
The affair
- At the core of Biff and Willy's damaged relationship is Biff’s discovery of Willy’s affair in Boston.
- Biff accuses his father of being a “phoney little fake”: for the first time, Biff sees through Willy’s lies, the word “little”, often overlooked, telling us how diminished Willy is in his eyes.
- Bernard later tells us that this is the turning-point in Biff’s life, the moment where Bernard felt “he’d given up his life”.
Responsibility
Responsibility
- From that moment, Willy and Biff’s relationship is blighted by guilt and resentment, with Willy accusing Biff of cutting down his own life “for spite!”
- Although absent for months at a stretch from the Loman household, it is Biff who must carry Willy’s fate on his shoulders, his mother telling him, “his life is in your hands”.
Resolution
Resolution
- Biff has returned home to say goodbye to his father, to break off with him for good, but on hearing of Willy’s previous suicide attempts, has to make one last effort to ‘make it’, for Willy’s sake.
Inner conflict
Inner conflict
- Biff, like his father, has had to wrestle with the conflicting urges inside him: between “makin’ my fortune” in the city and working in the great outdoors (“the things that I love in this world”).
- Biff resolves this identity crisis at the end of the play by deciding to leave the Loman home and head out West again.
The Tragic Hero: Willy or Biff?
The Tragic Hero: Willy or Biff?
Some commentators have argued that Biff, not Willy, is the true tragic hero of the play since Biff, unlike his father, gains self-knowledge.
Self-knowledge
Self-knowledge
- Biff, unlike his father, gains self-knowledge.
- He develops throughout the play, gradually coming to the realisation once and for all that he does not need to live up to Willy’s idealised image of him.
- As Biff says to Happy in the closing scene, “I know who I am, kid”.
True tragic hero
True tragic hero
- For many commentators, Biff’s hard-won insights into himself make him the moral focus or the true tragic hero of the play: he alone has had the courage to question himself and his father’s dreams.
Resolution?
Resolution?
- The play offers some resolution of Biff’s dilemma: he chooses to return West.
- However, this does not guarantee a ‘happy ending’ for Biff.
- Audiences will remember Biff’s comments on the economic hardships involved in ranch-work and, even with his share of Willy’s life insurance money, success and fulfilment are not guaranteed.
The Misfits
The Misfits
- Miller later wrote the script for the 1961 movie, The Misfits, in which two Biff-like figures, played by Clark Gable and Montgomery Clift, struggle with the harsh realities of the ‘cowboy’ lifestyle in an America that was rapidly leaving it behind.
1Introduction
1.1Introductions
2Act One
3Act Two
4Extended Passage Analysis
5Character Profiles
5.1Willy & Linda Loman
5.2Biff & Happy Loman
5.3Other Characters
6Key Themes
7Writing Techniques
7.1Structure
7.3Expressionism
8Historical Context
8.1Historical Context
9Literary Context
9.1Tragedy
10Critical Debates
10.1Introduction
10.2The Marxist Reading
10.3The Feminist Reading
10.4The Eco-Critical Reading
10.5Other Debates
Jump to other topics
1Introduction
1.1Introductions
2Act One
3Act Two
4Extended Passage Analysis
5Character Profiles
5.1Willy & Linda Loman
5.2Biff & Happy Loman
5.3Other Characters
6Key Themes
7Writing Techniques
7.1Structure
7.3Expressionism
8Historical Context
8.1Historical Context
9Literary Context
9.1Tragedy
10Critical Debates
10.1Introduction
10.2The Marxist Reading
10.3The Feminist Reading
10.4The Eco-Critical Reading
10.5Other Debates
Unlock your full potential with GoStudent tutoring
Affordable 1:1 tutoring from the comfort of your home
Tutors are matched to your specific learning needs
30+ school subjects covered