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Biff and Happy Loman are the sons of Willy Loman, the main character in the book :“Death of a Salesman“.Biff is Happy´s two years older brother and they both are reunited in the first act of the book. When Biff and Happy where younger ,about the age of Highschool, Biff was popular and a football player (p. 26 ll.24-25) and Happy really admired him. In act one we can hear the brothers talking in their old bedroom. Although both have changed through the years, they still support each other and still have dreams to achieve together (p.19 ll.26-37). Biff and Happy are both dreaming of a fullfiled life and of the respect of their father Willy. They are both very worried when it comes to Willy, but Happy is more aware of what is happening to his father (p.16 ll. 24-33). We can really see the good relationship the have and that they enjoy being together in the begining on act one. In the second act their relationship is still close but there are some arguments, for example when Linda told them Willy wanted to kill himself.

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Biff and Happy are the sons of the Lomans. Biff is the two years older sibling and he has “succeeded less” (p. 16 stage direction l.13). Happy is also “lost” (stage direction l.16), but on another way as his brother. During Willy is talking to himself, the two brothers talk about different topics. First Happy tells Biff that he is caring about Willy because he seems to be absent while he drives a car. Biffs opinion to that is that his dad is just colour blind (com. L.28). Happy does not agree what shows that they are honest to each other, both of them stand for their position and don’t say something just to say what the other wants to hear. After that, Happy holds out a pack of cigarettes. Because of Biffs question “You smoking?” (l.36) it is clear that the siblings do not know each other exactly. That could be because of the fact that they did not see each other for a long time. This is also shown, when Happy asks Biff where his old humor is (com. P.17 l. 24f). Otherwise, the brothers are very close because they talk about privacy topics like women and the first time of Happy, their feelings about their own life and success and their thoughts about Willy. Although Happy says things like “Us sleeping in here again?” and “All the talk that went across those two beds, huh? Our whole lives.” (p.17 l.4ff). That makes clear that they were close all the time and they are not ashamed to talk about everything with the other one. That underlines the good and trustful relationship of them. Besides they talk about Willy because both of them are caring about him, which is another agreement of them. All and all, Biff and Happy have a very strong and open relationship, which is a little bit less good because of the distance. Nevertheless, they can tell the other one everything.

Kristin

Biff and Happy are the two sons of Willy and Linda Loman. The older one of the two, Biff, is “less self-assured “(p.16 l.12) than his younger brother. He is also not as successful and his ambitions are not as accepted compared to Happy's (cf. p.16 ll.12). Who on the other hand is “hard-skinned“ (p.16 l.18), charismatic and attractive, which can be seen in the stage directions. “Sexuality is like a visible colour on him“ (p.16 ll.14). The two talk about past relationships and Happy's first time (cf. p.17 l. 12-18) which shows how comfortable they are around each other. Biff and Happy are also able to look past each other's mistakes. Because when Happy admits that he is still acting bashful towards other women in his life, Biff tells him to “go on“ (p.17 l.22). Therefore, encouraging Happy's behaviour. Furthermore, the brothers are to be seen to be very supportive of one another. Happy calls Biff an “idealist“ (p.19 l.6) while Happy encourages Biff's dreams of living on a farm by asking him about it (cf. p.18 ll.23). The two share a lot of similarities as both feel unhappy with their current lives. Biff on one hand thinks that all he has done is “waste [his] life“ (p.19 l.5). Happy on the other hand tells Biff that he feels “lonely“ (p.19 l.25). Biff also suggests to Happy that they should head west together to live on a ranch. Happy doesn't seem opposed to this idea, as he exclaims “enthralled“: “That's what I dream about“ (p.19 l.35). And further expresses the wish to stay with Biff when he asked him not to leave again (cf. p.22 l.23).

In conclusion, Biff and Happy are very close and play a very important role in one another's life.

8 The Relationship between Biff and Willy

The relationship between Biff and Willy is a turbulent one. Biff doesn’t really like talking about his feelings towards Willy so he tries to change the topic (l.36, P.16) “You Smoking?”. Willy is not noticing any changes in Biffs behaviour, Happy does and he opens up to him, about how the situation with his dad bothers him (p.17 l.27) “Why does Dad mock me all the time?” and how it affects his mental health by feeling not accepted and not getting close to him (l.29-30) “Everything I say, there’s a twist of mockery on his face. I can’t get near him.” After Happy explains to him, what he heard Willy says to himself Biff really wants to know what he says about him by asking questions like (l.1) “What’s he say about me?”, which shows how much he cares about Willys opinion. But after Happy repeats his Dads sentences, Biff seems disappointed, because it’s again about his lifestyle and how he imagines his future. Biff is the complete opposite of Willy. He is not craving for money, success or popularity like his father does, he only wants to become happy, do the things he love and see what the future brings. Biff tried the lifestyle of his dad seven years (l.14-16), but he wasn’t happy with it and he realised that this is not the life he wants. He found his passion working on the farm (l.31-32). Later on, Happy and Biff both have the opportunity to listen what Willy says. First Willy gave Biff some tasks to do (l.14) “You gonna wash the engine, Biff?”. Even in his “Dreams” he still is talking to biff not really deep or lovingly. He wants the best for Biff but he always sounds very strict and not understanding or happy. He wants to persuade Biff to become like him and talks baldy about everything that matters to him. It doesn’t seem like Willy wants Biff to be as happy as possible of even to become a girlfriend (l. 15-19), he wants biff to become the second version of him, no matter what.

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First of all, it becomes clear that Biff is "two years older than his brother Happy" (p. 16 l. 11). Furthermore, it can be said that both of them have the same goals like finding a constant relationship or sharing their vision of a life together in the future. But it is obvious that they go through different developments. In context to that Biff "seems to be less self-assured [...] and succeeded less" (p. 16. ll. 12-13) in comparison to his younger brother who has more success in his career. However, they have in common that both of them are lost, because Biff has no clear plan of his future and Happy tries to find his sense of life. Furthermore, it is apparent that they are supportive and help each other what becomes clear as Biff tells Happy that they "stand up for one another" (p. 20 l. 8). In addition to that it becomes clear that they are really honest, trustful and open to each other when they reveal each other their state of feeling, for example as Happy tells Biff about his situation that he is "lonely" (p. 19 l. 25). Finally, it is shown that Happy cares for his brother and that he wants him to stay as he begs him to "don't leave again" (p. 22 l 23). In addition to that it can be said that his unstable emotional perception is dependent on the support of his older brother what shows that his company has positive effects on Happy 's emotional balance. All in all it can be concluded that Biff and Happy have a really close relationship with each other in comparison to the other members of the family.

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Analysis

The text at hand is part of the modern American Drama “Death of a Salesman”, which was published by Arthur Miller in 1949. The scene is made up of a dialogue between Biff and Happy, the two sons of Willy and Linda Loman. Their conversation deals with both of their personal struggles in life and conveys their close relationship to each other. The scene starts with Biff and Happy talking about Willy (his current state of mind as well as Biff’s relationship to Willy) and some of their childhood memories (p.16 ll.20-p.18 ll.8). Furthermore, they talk about their personal struggles (p.18 ll.9-p.19 ll.25). Finally, they talk about their futures (p.19 ll.26-p.23 ll.7) including options/dreams such as both moving in together (p.19 ll.26ff.). The text extract begins with Happy initiating a conversation about Willy. Happy expresses his worries regarding Willy’s state of mind, proclaiming that he is “getting nervous about him” (p.16 ll.21), which shows that Happy cares about his father a lot. Biff on the other hand is not that close to Willy and does not want to talk about Willy, which is shown as he uses rather short sentences as Happy starts confiding in Biff (p.16 ll.23,28). Biff changes the topic quickly by asking if Happy is smoking (p.16 ll.36), which not only emphasises Biff’s unwillingness to talk about Willy, but also implies that Biff associates Willy with emotions such as stress and pressure considering that smoking cigarettes is a common way of releasing stress. After the change of topic, Biff is more willing to talk, which shows that it is not like he doesn’t want to talk to Happy in general. Happy is upset about the adversarial relationship between Biff and Willy and he wants Biff to “have a good talk with him (Willy)” (p.22 ll.32f.). However, while he implies that he is unhappy with the situation, which is shown by the question “You’re not still sour on Dad, are you, Biff?” (p.16 ll.32), he still decides to let the topic go after a while, avoiding direct confrontation and possible conflict, which conveys his priority to ensure harmony without jeopardising Biff and Happy’s relationship. Furthermore, Biff and Happy talk about their struggles. Unlike before, Biff now talks quite a lot, which indicates that he does in fact want to talk to Happy (except about Willy). He talks a lot about his own struggles such as him being insecure and indecisive regarding his life choices (p.18 ll.11f.), which also highlights the relevance of those struggles to him considering that he has been/is thinking about these issues a lot. He shares these thoughts with Happy, which shows the trust between them as well as it concludes that Biff may have felt the need to address these problems out loud in order to figure out a solution and get clear of his thoughts or that he might even want help as he does not know how to deal with this on his own, which is furtherly pointed out as he says: “if you were with me I’d be happy out there”(p.20 ll.4). This statement suggests that he is not taking responsibility for his own happiness, but he rather treats happiness as though it only depended on certain factors such as living with somebody you care about (Happy). Moreover, Biff asks Happy “Are you content, Hap? You’re a success, aren’t you? Are you content?” (p.19 ll.11f.), which demonstrates that he cares about his brother’s well being. The combination of these questions also links financial/materialistic success to happiness, while implying pride and admiration toward Happy. Throughout the dialogue Happy asks many questions concerning Biff’s happiness (p.18 ll.13,23f.) proving that he truly cares about what is bothering Biff. Biff, on the other hand, does not ask many questions. This does not mean that he doesn’t care for Happy. Perhaps it is just an indication that he is too preoccupied with his own struggles, which can be seen as he is very excited about his idea to move in with Happy (p.19 ll.26) -meaning that he clearly loves Happy-, but when Happy wants to proclaim his feelings about moving in together, he is interrupted (p.20 ll.10). In conclusion, it can be said that Happy and Biff are quite close. However, their relationship is not “perfect” either considering Biff’s lack of attention towards Happy’s struggles and thoughts, and the conflict potential concerning Biff’s troubled relationship to Willy, that affects the general atmosphere in the family.

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First of all, Happy and Biff are the sons of Willy and Linda. And Biff is „two years older than his brother Happy“(p.16 l.11). Happy starts to talking about the past „with deep sentiment“(p.17 l.4), that makes clear that the relationship in the past is better than now. In addition to that „[t]hey share a soft laugh“(p.17 ll10f.) underlines that they have a good past together and that they are happy about it. Furthermore, that the relationship changes makes the question of Happy „Where’s the old humor, the old confiedence“(p.17 l.24) clear and it also emphasizes that the characters have changed too. Biff is also attachment figure and a trustfulperson especially for Happy, because Happy can talk about everthing even about serious topics like his farther (cp.p.17 ll.31f.). Therefore, Happy is honest to his brother, when he says to him that he is „not settled“(p.18 l.4). Despite Biff has secrets in front of Happy (cp.p.18 ll.6f.) shows that the relationship isn’t that close and that he can’t trust him completely. That Biff asks him „You’re a success aren’t you? You’re making money, aren’t you?“(p.19ll.11ff.) points out that Biff is jealous about Happy, because he has more than Biff. Due to this fact, it shows the contrast between them. Even they are different they share the common ground, because Happy is „lonely“(p.19 l.25) too like Biff. Furthermore, Happy gives them the name „The Loman Brothers“(p.19 l.32), which shows that they hold and work together. In addition, it becomes clear that they have the same goal, because they want „to find a girl“(p.21 l.1). That Happy wants Biff to stand by his side shows (cp.p.22 l.23) that he needs the support of his brother. All in all, the extract of the play shows that they have a really close relationship to each other in comparison to the other family members. And it becomes clear that they need each other even they are different.