Willy, Biff, and the Meaning of Success

One topic from my recollection of our class discussions of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman that really caught my interest was that of Willy’s belief that Biff is a failure because of his choice of lifestyle.

A short recount. Basically, as a youth Willy has high expectations for Biff, expectations that Biff meets up until he is about eighteen years old. However, after his youth, Biff no longer meets Willy’s expectations. Willy’s expectations are based on his belief of what success in life means. Willy believes that success is measured in how much money you make, how high a position you hold, and the name of the company you work for. Try as he might, Willy himself cannot be “successful,” since his life is pretty consistent with that of the average working class American. However when Biff moves out west to work on a farm, and does not obtain the “success” Willy expects of him, Willy comes to view Biff as a failure.

My take. Willy is part of an older generation that came to view success only in one way: money and power. They ignored happiness and relationships created along the way. Biff, on the other hand, finds personal success in the simplicity of farming. It provides him with a living and it keeps him happy. Simple, yes, but something about farming corresponds well with Biff’s mentality. Many of us, like Biff, cannot spend our lives sitting behind $9,600 wooden tables, rambling on about relatively insignificant topics, or working fourteen-hour days at the same computer screen, with no physical activity. Men are nothing more than animals that have had a few lucky breaks, such as opposable thumbs, and come to view themselves as superior. They are animals nonetheless, and cannot truly define success in terms of money and cooperate labels. As he grows older, Biff comes to understand these truths, and finds something that gives him personal success. Now for some, personal success can be found in the “civilized” aspects of human life, however for Biff this success lies in the more simple ones. Willy cannot view success in any terms besides wealth and prestige, and therefore cannot obtain success, both literally and metaphorically speaking; this is a tragedy. And with that, I’m done sitting behind this same computer screen. Peace. (390)