(Revised) Prompt #4

1990. Choose a novel or play that depicts a conflict between a parent (or a parental figure) and a son or daughter. Write an essay in which you analyze the sources of the conflict and explain how the conflict contributes to the meaning of the work. Avoid plot summary.

Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman is a primarily character driven play and most of the conflict is between Biff Loman and his father Willy Loman.  Willy has unrealistic expectations of life and refuses to hear the truth about his son while Biff has come to terms with the person he is and the world around him.  The two's differing ideas lead to conflict that ultimately communicate Arthur Miller's voice, criticizing the falsehood of the American Dream.  

In Death of a Salesman, Willy holds the idea that his son is bound to be great and successful.  His idea of success is society's definition, that it is measured by money and power in the business world.  When Biff can't hold a white-collar job or become "successful" as thought by Willy, Willy thinks he is failing deliberately  out of spite.  Biff actually realizes that he is unhappy in the business world and instead wants a blue-collar job on a farm.  Willy refuses to hear this from Biff and is adamant in thinking that he was born to rise in the business world, and a major source conflict comes from Biff unsuccessfully communicating his self-realization.  At many points during the play, Biff and Willy butt heads because Willy never listens to his own son about his true dreams, creating a major source of conflict. 

A major event in the play is when Willy gets fired from his job of several decades.  Even after faithful service, he is hung up to dry in the end.  Biff sees that he is another victim of a false American Dream, being used by the people at the top, never being able to rise, and that it is simply not for everyone.  He points out that he was always good with his hands (Willy adds several renovations to the family house by hand) and that pursuing a job in the business world was a confusion of what he really wanted.  Willy criticizes Biff by claiming that manual laborers are not worthy and are not successful.  Again, they are at odds and fighting because of their different views, but this time Biff realizing that the American Dream is unobtainable by all people and Willy refusing to accept that.  The major source of conflict is created because of differing views of reality the two possess.  

Through the conflict and dialog between the two characters, the reader is forced to question what it really means to be "successful."  Biff finds himself most happy in a place that is not what the American Dream defines as successful (money and the business world), thus the reader must decide if success is determined by happiness or material wealth.  If indeed success should be defined by happiness, society's American Dream is false.  The reader can also see the American Dream may be false through their arguments and the points that Biff presents, because it failed Willy Loman who worked hard his entire life.  Ultimately, these are Arthur Miller's negative viewpoints and the conflicts let him communicate them.  They add major significance to the play as channels for the author's opinions.    

The conflicts between father and son, Willy and Biff Loman, stem from differing viewpoints of what success is and how reality is.  Ultimately, this communicates Arthur Miller's viewpoints of that the American Dream is a false and superficial one.