Biff Loman - Failed American Hero?
Introduction
Who is Biff Loman?
Biff Loman is the eldest son of Willy and Linda Loman. Through out the novel Biff is seen as the only source of hope for this family. He was a very popular teenager who was on his way to fame and success through a football scholarship, but it all ended after a failed math credit. Biff’s lack of motivation to focus on schooling is due to the poor parenting from his father. Ever since that summer his life has been a downward spiral of jumping in and out of jobs.
Question
What do you believe the American Dream is?
Summary
In Arthur Miller’s play, Death of a Salesman, the most commonly viewed theme is the American Dream. The author often goes into detail about how perfect life can be through success and fame. Sadly Biff Loman often struggles with the American Dream due to is inability to connect with who he truly is, and his false mindset of how to be successful.
Media Component
Video Analysis
Poor Parenting Skills
- Biff is always to try fit into what his father wants
- This relates to the video in the sense that the scarecrow is initially following the society around him, even though he doesn’t approve of its actions
- Willy often tells his son to get a job at a big company in order to be successful, but Biff has a different version of achieving the American dream
- This again relates back to his bad parenting and is part of his failure to become an American hero
Stealing
- At a young age Biff was introduced stealing from others
- His father promoted it and would always support it, even though as infants one of the many rules we first learn is to not take from others
- These wrongdoings from his young age start to affect him later on his life, he starts stealing as if it is bad symptom
Quote
BIFF: Did you see the new football I got?
WILLY: Where’d you get a new ball?
BIFF: The coach told me to practice my passing.
WILLY: That so? And he gave you the ball, heh?
BIFF: Well, I borrowed it from the locker room.
WILLY: I want you to return that.
HAPPY: I told you he wouldn’t like it!
BIFF: Well, I’m bringing it back!
WILLY: Sure, he’s gotta practice with a regulation ball, doesn’t he? Coach’ll probably congratulate you on your initiative!
Education
- Biff was a very popular boy in high school, and had a successful career in front of him
- His father taught him that because of his popularity and appearance, that success would follow no matter what.
- This was all proved wrong when Biff failed math in his final year, and it just goes to show that education is more important than your appearance
- This is the first example of poor parenting from Willy, a parent should never enforce sport before education
Adultery
- While Biff was a teenager, he caught his father having an affair
- This is what many of the readers see to be the turning point of Biff’s life
- By seeing this, it completely changed his view of his father and caused him to forget about school and any future success
- This was seen as Biff’s first step to failing as an American hero
Class Debate
Traits of an American Hero
Personal Success
As a parent would you force your child to get into a certain academic program or would you let them decide on their own?
- Biff Loman has always struggled with keeping up with jobs, and staying on task
- He currently has no job and is failing to make ends meet, this is one of the main reasons for him returning home
- Willy deluded his sons mind with false hope, teaching him that because of his looks and charm that money and success will just come to him
- Money is a very powerful thing in life, and no matter what you will always need it to achieve greatness
- Success comes in many ways, at a young age Biff was taught by his father that financial success is all that matters
- With no fortune Biff is on his way to becoming a failed American Hero
Fame
- Part of being an American Hero is being recognized for the good you have done in your lifetime, also referred to as fame
- Abraham Lincoln is an example of an American Hero, he put an end to slavery and also led the union into a civil war to keep the southern and northern states from dividing
- He was recognized for this and achieved the fame of an American Hero
- The only fame Biff was ever rewarded was when he was a popular football player back in high school, this will probably be the highest amount of fame he will achieve
Quote
American Dream / American Hero
"BIFF: And I never got anywhere because you blew me so full of hot air I could never stand taking orders from anybody! That’s whose fault it is!"
American Hero
The American Dream
World's View
- The worlds view of an American Hero is someone who always puts their countries needs before their own. They always provide what is best for their country by doing good and motivating others.
- Examples - Abraham Lincoln & Martin Luther King Jr
- The American Dream is the belief that in order to be happy one must achieve wealth and success
- This idea has motivated all Americans no matter what their background to strive for greatness
- The American Dream used to be about achieving freedom for your family, and creating a safe environment
- However as time has gone on, the idea of the American Dream has shifted to the need of materialistic things, fame and fortune
Willy's View
- Popular
- Successful and well known
- That all these traits come with being liked
Conclusion
Lack of Motivation
Secondary Source
The qualities of an American hero includes someone who has done great things in his/her lifetime, and the courage/motivation to do so. Not everyone is meant to live the American dream. In conclusion, Biff Loman is seen as a failed American hero due to the poor parenting skills, lack of motivation, and not obtaining any traits of an American hero.
Motivation is the force that drives a person to do something. It includes varying emotions such as: initiative, drive, intensity, and persistence; that inhibit, neutralize, or promote goal-directed behaviors.
- Dr. Robert Sweetland's
- Without motivation people don't have the drive they need to succeed in life no matter what their goals are
- In this case Biff's goal is to move out onto a farm and use this as a way to make a living
- But due to lack of motivation, he is unable to achieve this dream of his
Work Cited
Miller, Arthur, and Gerald Clifford Weales. Death of a Salesman. New York: Penguin, 1996. Print.
YouTube. Chipotle - The Scarecrow, 11 Sept. 2013. Web. 12 May 2015.
"Motivational Theory and Self-Efficacy." Motivational Theory and Self-Efficacy. Web. 13 May 2015.
Fathers Approval
- Growing up we always look up to our parents, they are often seen to be our first role models
- The approval of Willy plays a huge role throughout the novel
- While Biff was younger he always had Willy's approval, this is what motivated him to be great in football and other activities
- However once he got older, he no longer had his fathers approval and it started to lower his motivation
- Lack of motivation is never a characteristic that a American hero should posses
Relationships
Thesis
Agenda
- Biff Loman was looked at as a very handsome young man, yet he was never able to hold a relationship with a woman
- He was going into his mid thirties and still wasn’t married or had any children
- Later in the novel Biff starts to realize that this may be a problem, that in order to find success he might need to find a wife and settle down
- This is also connected to why he has failed as an American hero, due to the fact that he has no family to provide for
Quote
"No, I’m mixed up very bad. Maybe I oughta get married. Maybe I oughta get stuck into something. Maybe that’s my trouble. I’m like a boy. I’m not married, I’m not in business, I just — I’m like a boy."
In Arthur Millers play Death of a Salesman, Biff Loman is seen as a failed American hero due to the poor parenting skills of his father for deluding him with a false mindset of success, the lack of motivation from past failures, and not obtaining any traits of an American hero.
- Introduction
- American Dream / American Hero
- Thesis
- Point 1
- Point 2
- Point 3
- Media Component
- Activity
- Conclusion
- Work Cited