Willy states that his thirty-four-year-old son is a lazy bum, but then says that Biff is anything but lazy.
Before he left that morning, Willy criticized Biff for working at manual labor on farms and horse ranches in the West, which ended in an unresolved argument. Willy’s two adult sons, Biff and Happy, come to visit. Linda pushes him to ask his boss for a non-traveling job in New York City. Irritated, he replies that nothing happened. She asks if he had a car accident, since he once drove off a bridge into a river. His wife, Linda, gets out of their bed to greet him. Willy, a sixty-three-year-old traveling salesman, returns home early from a trip, exhausted. To have a successful business, it has to be efficient, sometimes having to be ruthless.Act 1 of Death of a Salesman starts on a Monday evening at the Loman residence in Brooklyn, New York. Howard isn?t interested in the story of Dave. Rather than the old way of Dave Singleman?s time. He hasn?t realised the demands of the business world. I think that this marks Willy?s failure as a businessman. Also Willy desperately wants a funeral similar to Dave?s, ?When he died, hundreds of salesmen and buyers were at his funeral.? This was because Dave was greatly valued, whereas Willy isn?t, nor is he loved as much. ?He was eighty-four years old, and he?d drummed merchandise in thirty-one states?. But this man is a huge icon for Willy to look up to. When Dave Singleman was mentioned, by Willy when he was trying to tell Howard what being a salesman used to be like, we only have Willy?s evidence, as all we know, this man maybe maid up in Willy?s head. In the eyes of the audience, he has no real happiness. He does this by Ben repeating himself a lot, ? I walked into the jungle, and when I came out I was rich.? But Ben also has emptiness in spite of his success. Miller stressed his success and material reward in Ben. The things that are meant to happen in business are success, wealth and esteem. Miller said, ?That homely, ridiculous little man had after all never ceased to struggle for a certain victory, the only kind open to him in this society ? selling to achieve his lost self as a man with his name and his sons? name on a business of his own.? This explains exactly what he had in mind for Willy to be ? as he was, ?trying to achieve his lost self?. ? Miller based Willy?s character on his own uncle, Manny Newman. I?m vital in New England.?Never leave a job until your sixty.? Willy?s quotes above shows that he is insecure, and is not the successful businessman he says he is. Willy wants to prove himself through successes a salesman, but as he fails, his own life destroys him. This weakness was caused by a combination of business pressures. Capitalism and also the profit motive and competitive instinct, makes Willy have a weakness in his personality. It causes business to develop in the world. ? Willy Loman was ?caught-up? in this American Dream. But this dream for everyone developed, and encouraged greed, selfish behaviour, pride and rivalry between one another. This lead onto success, wealth and in due time ? power. ? To be hard working, honest and have ambition were the ways of the American Dream. ?Death of a Salesman? written in 1949, is a moving destruction of the whole myth. ? Most of Miller?s plays are directly or indirectly about the American Dream, because ultimately this dream wasn?t going to succeed as lots of people wished. But land ?ran out? and so cities developed and massive variations arose in wealth, which meant that this ?American Dream? changed from being a potential reality, into being a dream, like the name implies. In particular, the opportunity to own one?s land. ? The origins of the American Dream seem to have been rooted in the pioneering mentality of the 18th and 19th century immigrants, most of whom came to America because of a promise of a new and better life. However, Miller says people have been ?ultimately misguided?. This ?dream? consists of a genuine and determined belief that in America, all things are possible to all men, regardless of birth or wealth you work hard enough you will achieve anything. To What Extent Is ?Death Of A Salesman? A Critisim Of The Values Of Modern American Society Essay, Research Paper To what extent is ?Death of a Salesman? a criticism of the values of modern American society?The American Dream? is based on the ?Declaration of Independence?: ?We believe that all men are born with these inalienable rights ? life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.? (Thomas Jefferson, 1776).