Comparing Bartleby And Biff Loman

After the boss finds Bartleby dead, he discovers that he died with a dead letter. This becomes intriguing in view of the fact that Bartleby dedicated the last six years of his life delivering dead letters. Ultimately, the last dead letter Bartleby delivered was to himself. “Dead letters! Does it not sound like dead men?... he whom it would relieve, nor eats nor hungers any more; pardon for those who died despairing; hope for those who died unhoping; good tidings for those who died stifled by unrelieved calamities. On errands of life, these letters speed to death” (323). In the beginning of the story, cadaverous and ghostly are the descriptions given to Bartleby. These characteristics are depicted through Bartleby’s dull, unhealthy appearance and his calm, abnormal personality. Though Bartleby is alive, he has definite qualities that make the reader ponder if he is dead inside. After Bartleby’s death in the story, the narrator mentions Bartleby 's past job of delivering dead letters sounds extremely alike to dead men, which now Bartleby is. Furthermore, the thought of undeliverable letters that “speed to death,” that go on “errands of life,” brings curiosity and suspicion to the reader. Additionally, the narrator portrays the idea that getting rid of dead objects is the best-fit job for someone comparable to Bartleby’s loss of life. Eventually, the reader is left to discern the correlation between Bartleby’s death and his old occupation, and how these significant symbols describe Bartleby’s incomprehensible

Willy always found his dreams in someone else which is why his happiness never came. At first it was his father then it was his brother Ben, and then it was famous sales man Dave Singleman. He looked for others inside of himself which led to him not being satisfied. Dreams can not be rented or borrowed. Willy never realized this and in turn it caused his mental health to deteriorate even more than it already had. While Linda enabled him, Willy could not help himself too keep ruining the good opportunities he had and turning them into some factious reality. At Willy`s funeral Biff comes to the realization that his father had all the wrong dreams and visions of success. Willy`s only dream was the fake “American Dream” that people believe will happen overnight. Willy`s failed attempts and happiness bonded into one and played a part into him creating this false reality and persona that he was the best salesman and that he was well loved by everyone around him. If Willy had altered his dreams and tried to actually work for them then he would have been satisfied and

Because he was the favorite he has a lack of accountability, lack of self-identity and a feeling of entitlement. Biff’s sense of entitlement that was never corrected led him to a path of petty theft. Seeing that Biff had a sense of entitlement and would steal little things Willy never corrected it since he thought Biff could do no wrong. Since Willy never took the time to teach Biff the difference between right and wrong therefore Biff never learned that it was wrong to steal. Since Willy didn’t punish Biff for stealing, Biff continued to steal as if he was entitled to everything regardless of whether he deserved it or not. As Biff got older, he continued to struggle to find or keep a steady job due to the fact that Biff had a tendency to steal. Since Biff is the apple of Willy’s eyes, Biff never got punished for his wrong doing. Biff is struggling in life because Willy loved him too much that he could not correct his wrong

“The man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead” (33). In Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller uses foil characters to elucidate Willy’s flaws that ultimately prevent him and his family from succeeding. The contrast between Charley and Willy and Bernard and Biff serves to highlight how Willy’s obsession with achieving his version of the American Dream impacts both his life and his children’s. His poor values are passed on to his children producing even more failures.

The industrial revolution woke up the sense of humanity in people, yet at the same time It turned it off. To begin with, from the year 1819 through 1901, Great Britain was beginning to face an all new era called the Victorian Era. In fact, this era was named like that, because of queen Victoria. Also, this era was very important because it introduced medical advances, scientific knowledge, and technological knowledge that helped increase work efficiency. However, not all the things that occurred were great. One of the things that were very outrageous, were the working conditions of the employees. As a matter of fact, there were writers, like Charles Dickens with “A Christmas Carol”, Benjamin Disraeli with “Sybil”, and Elizabeth Gaskell with

The identity a person holds is one of the most important aspects of their lives. Identity is what distinguishes people from others, although it leaves a negative stereotype upon people. In the short story Identities by W.D Valgardson, a middle-aged wealthy man finds himself lost in a rough neighborhood while attempting to look for something new. The author employs many elements in the story, some of the more important ones being stereotype and foreshadow.

From an outsider perspective, Willy Loman lives a normal life. He is a traveling salesman with two grown up sons, and a beautiful marriage. But is that really the life he has? No, it is not. One of the first disappointments Willy experiences is with his son. “Biff Loman is lost. In the greatest country in the world a young man with such -- personal attractiveness, gets lost.” (207) The story flashes back to when Biff is a senior in high school. He failed a math class which was needed to graduate. This cancelled his plans to be a collegiate football player. Ever since then, things have kept going on a downhill path for Biff. Willy and Linda both notice this and it devastates them. But, instead of helping his son, Willy becomes agitated for the rest of his life. He expected his son to be better but, Biff did not want to be better. He did not want to become that star football player as much as his father

All of Willy Loman’s family suffers because of him. This is an example of how one person affects the whole family. Willy Loman believes success in life is having nice things, having money, and being known by people. Unfortunately, Mr. Loman never realises that success is much more than having material things. Hopefully Biff and Happy learn from their dad’s mistakes, and reach the real American

    In the play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, the audience follows the dynamic between the members of the Loman family. The father of the family, Willy Loman is a self-deluded traveling salesman whose dreams of success do not match his reality. Prompted by his frustration due to the discrepancy between his unrealistically ambitious expectations and his reality, we watch as his mental health takes a turn for the worse,  and his story eventually ends in suicide. Biff, a consequence of Willy, attempts to bring Willy out of his fantasies and his see the realities of his life, but in the end fails to. The two are different in their ideas, demeanors and personas, yet have some akin characteristics.

Bartleby begins his rebellion against the Lawyer by refusing to work. The capitalistic setting of Wall Street is superficial because life is only measured in terms of money. Bartleby’s rebellion against this type of economic system is symbolic of rejecting the Wall Street setting in terms of the workplace and living quarters. After all Bartleby has to be forcibly removed from the Lawyer’s office because without money, he cannot rent a place to live. The setting is very significant in this story because it shows a limited interpretation of humanity in a place that measures life in terms of profit, production, and

for a few passages in the life of Bartleby, who was a scrivener of the

Herman Melville, 19th century author of various short stories and novels, including Bartleby, the Scrivener, was born in the city of New York on August 1, 1819 (Hillway 29). Melville’s early years were one of familial prosperity from his father’s occupation and the close-knit nature of his family unit (Hillway 29-30). By the time he was 20, Herman was facing a bleak future without a steady job and lack of future career opportunities (Hillway 33). Most of his teenage years were spent seafaring as a whaler and then as a naval officer, both trying and backbreaking labors (Hillway 35-39). When he finally returned to his family home from seafaring, Herman told and retold

In his way, Bartleby is a god. Even though he is dead, his spirit is very much alive. Throughout his life, he fights with the rules of morality and fairness and this in addition to his spiritual conceit disturbs the narrator even after

During a monologue, a long speech by a character that is directed towards another character. Biff confesses to Happy that he is conflicted and confused about what he wants. He cannot hold a job until he finds some happiness working as farm laborer. This arises tension and conflict between Biff and Willy. So much that Linda convinces Biff to please Willy once again. To ease his mother’s worries, Biff decides to ask for a loan to start a sporting goods business, only to later realize that he does not share his father’s work ethic and ambitions. Instead of beginning a sporting goods business, Biff decides that he is going to buy his own ranch. Biff’s decisions prove that unlike, Willy, he believes that success is truly obtained with strong work ethic and being happy with the work that you do.

The Narrator justifies keeping Bartleby and ignores his internal issues with confrontation. When Bartleby refuses to do anything but copy the Narrator forgives the behavior because Bartleby asked so politely. When Bartleby refuses to work all together the Narrator allows him to stay because he thinks it is a good thing to help Bartleby. Even when the Narrator realizes the he can’t have Bartleby in his office anymore he moves offices instead of making Bartleby leave. All these acts show us that the Narrator does not know how do deal with confrontation so he instead fools himself with excuses. Willy Loman behaves similarly with his perception that he is well liked. Willy insists that being well liked is the key to success and he is very proud of being liked. He also teaches his sons that being well liked is more important than getting good grades. This leads Biff to fail math in high school. Biff wants to retake the class in the summer but when he catches his father having an affair his perception of his father, his biggest role model, is shattered causing him to give up on the things he used to want to do. Willy represses this memory entirely and tries to blame others for Biffs behavior instead of himself. Willy also fools himself into thinking he is well liked and successful. In small moments of clarity Willy admits that people have made fun of his physique and no one talks to him anymore when he goes