Discuss the father-son relationship in Death of a Salesman.

Answer

Discuss the father-son relationship in Death of a Salesman.

The father-son relationship in Arthur Miller’s (1915-2005) play “Death of a Salesman”  (1949) is one of the central themes of the play. The relationships between Willy Loman, the salesman, and his two sons, Biff and Happy, reflect the complexities of familial expectations, personal failure, and the pursuit of the American Dream.

Love and Hate: Biff and Happy are sons of Willy Loman. They love their father when they are Children. Biff is Willy Loman’s favorite son. However, the event that is chiefly responsible for the decline of the relationship is Willy’s illegal affair with a Boston girl. When Biff goes to Boston to meet his father, he catches his father red-handed with a Boston girl. After discovering the illegal affair, Biff heats his father. 

Universal concern for the future: Willy Loman is a salesman for the Wagner Company. But he has failed to fulfill the American Dream. He wants his sons to complete their American dream. Biff and Happy want to succeed in the business. So, they need a lot of money to start a business. The name of the business is Sports Goods. Biff and Happy go to collect to need their money. At last, they are failures. For the Universal future of their sons, Willy Loman decides that he will do suicide. After his death, his family will get dollars from the Insurance Company. Suicidal of Willy Loman is the universal future for their sons.

The man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead. Be liked and you will never want.

One-side Sacrifice: Willy Loman is the drama’s paradigm and symbol of one-sided sacrifice. Willy Loman is now an old man. For the fundamental demands of the family, he has to do the job. On the other hand, he has two sons who have all grown up, but they do not support his father in giving him money. But Willy Loman is an old man who cannot give good service to the Wagner Company. Howard Wagner, the company’s present boss, abrogated Willy Loman’s salary. He only gets a commission on product selling. On the other hand, their sons cannot collect the money, so they are failures Willy Loman sacrifices his life for the money. It is the paradigm of one side of sacrifice.

Forgive me, dear. I can’t cry. I don’t know it is, I can’t cry. I don’t understand it. Why did you ever do that?

Imbalance Love: The relationship between Willy and Happy is not much better because Willy favours Biff over Happy. Happy has always taken second place in the father’s affections. Willy is constantly singing, which has a detrimental effect on Happy’s relationship with the whole family.

 It’d be the family again. There’d be the old honor, and comradeship. 

Absence of respect: Happy and Biff are the sons of Willy Loman.  They do not respect their father. Biff would much love his father. He goes to Boston to meet his father. After reaching Boston, he discovers the illicit love affair with his father. Then, Biff thinks that his father has cheated on his mother. At that moment, Biff doesn’t respect his father. Of the imbalance of love, Happy doesn’t respect his father. Biff Loman says:

We never told the truth for ten minutes in this house!

From the above discussion, we can realize that the father and the son’s relationship is not very good because of the cheating of their mother and the imbalance of love. Death of a Salesman uses the tumultuous relationships between Willy Loman and his sons to explore themes of reality versus illusion, the crushing pressures of societal expectations, and the complex dynamics of family loyalty and personal identity. Through these relationships, Miller critiques the often destructive nature of the American Dream and questions the true meaning of success.