Man vs. Himself Betrayal and Abandonment Shown in Arthur...

Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman tells the story of a man trying and failing to obtain success for him and his family. Willy Loman, a traveling salesman, has been trying to ‘make it big’ for the majority of his life. Miller’s play explores the themes of abandonment and betrayal and their effects on life’s success. Willy sees himself as being abandoned by his older brother, Ben, and constantly views his sibling’s betrayal as one that changed his prospects forever. Willy, in turn, is guilty of a different type of abandonment and betrayal of his sons, especially Biff. Willy first experiences abandonment through the actions of his brother, Ben Loman. In the first act, Willy sees Ben in his dream, â€Å"walking away down some open road; I†¦show more content†¦When Biff comes back home he is willing to meet with Bill Oliver, a man who can provide him with a job that will make Willy happy. Instead of obtaining this job and thus Will y’s dream, Biff steals from Bill Oliver and ends up not getting the job. Bill tries to explain to Willy later on that he cannot follow in his footsteps, finally telling him of the incident. Willy then feels betrayed by this and said, â€Å"You stole Bill Oliver’s pen!† with the shock leading him to leave the room (Miller 1606). Happy and Biff abandon their father in his anger and leave the restaurant with two call girls. As Willy comes to terms with what his life really is, he commits the last betrayal in abandoning his family. Choosing to leave his wife and children, in an attempt to rectify what he has done with their lives, Willy commits suicide. Miller shows the anger felt after the suicide through Happy, â€Å"He had no right to do that†¦We would’ve helped him† (Miller 1619). Willy betrays both himself and his family with his act of suicide, abandoning the world where he could never be successful. He was never satisfied with any of the people in his family, especially Biff. This is something Biff held against him, stating at his funeral â€Å"he had all the wrong dreams† (Miller 1619). Biff could not forgive his father for his greatest betrayal: not giving his son a chance. Willy never wanted to let Biff