Wednesday, April 4, 2012

In Death of a Salesman, what are some of the values Willy tried to teach Biff as a boy?Does it connect in any way with his going to see Bill Oliver?

Willy Loman had a very different set of values than most
of society's.  He taught Biff that it was ok to steal a football for example, by
condoning his behaviour.  By saying that his son needed to practice with a regulation
ball to get better, he taught Biff that there was nothing wrong with stealing. 
Consequently, when Biff is in Bill Oliver's office, he steal a fountain pen from his
desk for no apparent reason, then runs away.


Willy also
taught his son how to close his eyes to reality.  Willy is a self proclaimed hot shot
salesman who boasts how well liked he is.  In reality, however, Willy needs to borrow
money from his neighbour Charlie on a regular basis to survive on a weekly basis.  We
also see how no one knows who he is and this is when he also finally acknowledges the
fact that he is a nobody.  This type of behavior actually rendered Biff as a
disillusioned character as well.  He had actually convinced his father, as well as
himself, that Bill Oliver knew him - which of course is false.

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