Family in 'Death of a Salesman'
In ‘Death of a Salesman’, it focused on one specific family, a nuclear family. This family is the Loman family. Arthur Miller intended the main characters to be part of an average American family, and provides a stereotype of the typical members: father, mother and children. This was used to develop one of the main ideas of the play: the American Dream. The American Dream affected everyone at that time, and was strengthened through the Great Depression. It revealed a realistic portrayal of the society at the time, through the story of a working class family. Furthermore, the breadwinner of the family was Willy Loman, a 60 year old man who was a ‘salesman’. The salesman symbolises the working man of a typical American family who was struggling in those times and represents the majority of the population. Through his characters, Miller presents a fresh change and look into the regular American family, and created a story that could very well affect anyone.
Linda was the stereotypical mother figure: the quintessential housewife of the early to mid-1900s. She represented the mother hen, the one who chastises her children for being cheeky, but gives out care at all times. Linda had an infinite storage of patience, devotion and loyalty to her husband, despite his many flaws. ‘He’s the dearest man in the world to me, and I won’t have anyone making him feel blue.’ She was the rock that supported her emotionally weak husband. She didn't have any dreams of her own, but instead, protected Willy’s.
Arthur Miller not only showed the stereotypical American family in ‘Death of a Salesman’, but also the conflicts of the Loman family, and in particular, the problematic father-son relationship. That originated from Willy’s dream and the desire that his sons would share that dream. Thus, he felt the need to control and influence their lives, especially Biff, who throughout the whole play, struggled to break free of his father’s expectations. Willy sought materialistic success, while Biff had realised the failure of their lives, and aimed to do something he enjoyed. This, once again, was initiated from the American Dream. Each person, each character had their own version, and own limit of deviation from the original. However for Biff, the difference was especially large. Biff was conflicted between his father’s dream and his own dream, which resulted in the rift in their relationship. This was worsened when Biff caught Willy cheating with another woman. The man that Biff once idolised had lost his son’s faith and trust. This triggered a whole set of regrettable actions performed by both Biff and Willy. Biff abandoned his hopes of passing math and college. Although so many separate conflicts sprung and impaired the parental relationship between Willy and Biff, it all started when their dreams collided.
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