Introduction

“Death of a Salesman” is one of the most famous works by the American novelist Arthur Miller. This play is widely acknowledged as a true masterpiece of the 20^th century literature: the topics that author discusses remain urgent even today, decades after the play was published.

Conflict of generations is the first essential issue that is going to be analyzed in this paper. Misunderstandings that exist between the protagonist of the play, Willy Loman, and his sons are rather common for any family. Miller demonstrates that the conflict between generations is a frequent, but not a typical phenomenon. In each separate case, parents and children may fail to understand one another for various reasons – both psychological and social ones. According to Miller’s play, conflict of generation does not only exist parents and children, but between the two brothers too, as well as between the two business generations that can not coexist normally. Miller lets the reader look for the reasons of the conflict himself, but it can bee seen that Loman’s failure to keep up with the standards of the time. Failure to keep up with time leads to inability to comply with the norms and understand others well.

Conflicts of generations

Arthur Miller describes a number of conflicts between generations in his play. The most obvious conflict is between the father – Willy Loman and his son, Biff. They share different ideals and sets of values. Quite interestingly, though: Biff sees the problem and realizes it perfectly well, while Willy fails to do that and stick to an image he has drawn for himself.  The younger son, Harold “Happy” Loman also lacks understanding and attention inside the family and suffers because of that. The two brothers – Happy and Biff also go through some conflicts, primarily because of the age difference and father’s inability to treat them equally and fairly. It can also be claimed that the termination of Willy’s contract is a result of the misunderstanding of the two generations – the new business people, presented by Howard Wagner and the people of conservative business type, presented by Willy Loman.

Conflict between brothers

Today it is considered to be a norm that the younger kids in the family get most of the attention and care. However, it has not always been so. In the America of 1940’s it was entirely different: the older brother had most of the privileges and chances. The person coming of age first was expected to assist the family, earn a living for himself and the others. This way Biff got most of the family love and attention; the main hopes were laid upon him, while Happy was somehow left behind. Harold certainly feels jealous of the older brother and thinks he deserves more than he is actually given. Staying in the shadow of the older brother certainly influences his behavior and worldview. At the same time, Biff does not pursue his father’s ideals and view and actually suffers from the load of expectations. The conflict surely arises: one brother lacks attention and wishes more, while the other tries to escape responsibility. Happy wishes what he doesn’t have and is not likely to get – father’s approval, while Biff hates the fact that his father thinks he is successful and promising. Ideally, the problem would have been resolved if Willy switched his hopes and dreams from Biff to Happy, but that is surely not possible.

Father – son conflict

This conflict is one of the basic ones in the plot of the play. The problem that lays ground for it is eternal and was frequently addressed in the literature before. While describing the father-son relations in “Death of the Salesman” Miller addresses deep social and psychological issues. Willy Loman and Biff Loman have very different approaches towards career and future. Willy is entirely materialistic, mostly judging people based on their income and business success. Money is the basic and the most important criteria for him. Biff was brought up under the influence of these ideas and was the “star” of the family – intelligent and successful in sports. However, as he grows older and gains his own experience, he starts to doubt his father’s approach.

While the play progresses, the reader notices more and more differences in two men’s character. Father blindly follows the “American dream” and is quite sure Biff should do the same. Willy in fact does not know his elder son at all and cares little about his life perception. He fails to notice the changes that occur in Biff. Loman senior is absolutely sure that he is a perfect role model for his children and frequently sets himself as an example to be followed.