Reasons of Stealing Things by Biff Loman

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The purpose of this essay is to analyze the reasons of stealing things by Biff Loman. Biff is one of the main characters in the play Death of a Salesman, written by Arthur Miller, an American playwright and essayist. One of the most urgent themes in the play is the generation gap between the father and his son. The play introduces Biff to the reader as Willyr's oldest son. He is a promising football star at high school: he is strong, handsome and popular with both friends and with women. His father sets great hopes on him. Willy Loman lives in the world of illusion, in the world that he has imagined for himself and for his sons. Moreover, I think that he completely failed his role of father, because during his life he taught and encouraged Biff to steal and saw no harm in it. The play isn't written chronologically with some flashbacks into Biff's childhood. When Biff was at school he stole a carton of basketballs, later he stole football equipment from school without his trainer's permission. He also got some grades by dishonest means. From time to time Biff cheated by getting answers from his classmate Bernard, who couldn't refuse him, because Biff was stronger. And it was Willy Loman who taught Biff think and behave like that. He considered Bernard to be a dreadful swot and was laughing at him. I also remember the episode from the first act, when Willy wanted to rebuild the porch of their house. He just ordered his boys to go and steal some sand without any confusion: Boys! Go right over to where theyre building the apartment house and get some sand. And when his neighbour Charlie tries to warn him and bring him to reason by saying Listen, if they steal any more from that building the watchmanll put the cops on them! Willy starts boasting that this is not the first time they commit such a crime: You shoulda seen the lumber they brought home last week. The head of the family doesnt utterly care about the consequences, emphasizing that he got a couple of fearless characters there. After leaving school Biff's tendency to stealing continued. First he goes to jail in Kansas City for stealing a suit, then he tells his father about the evident fact: "I stole myself out of every good job since high school!" The last theft in the play happens when Biff steals a fountain pen in Bill Oliver's office. Throughout his life he got into a habit of stealing. His disability to build a successful life and career emphasizes the depravity of his character and Willy's failures as a father. By stealing things Biff demonstrates his protest against people who he thinks have succeeded in live better than he has. It is also the way that gives him an excuse to be fired from any job he finds unpromising. This fact has a tremendous effect on Biffr's attempts to make his future. But curiously enough he realises that her's living in the imaginary world, living somebody elser's life, but not his own. Biff comes to terms with the reality of his situation and life. By the end of the play he refuses to live in a life of delusion and lie to himself and those around him. He realizes the fact that he is a deceitful thief and leaves home hoping to change his life for the better. Biff is destined to no greatness, but he no longer has to struggle to understand what he wants to do with his life. As a result, the following conclusions should be made: interference into someoner's life leads to its breakdown; parents must treat their children live in a real world; one cant built successful future based on beautiful words and illusions.
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Reasons Of Stealing Things By Biff Loman. (2019, May 31). Retrieved April 23, 2024 , from
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