Willy Loman viewed himself in Biff. One must remember that
Willy did not have a good childhood nor a good relationship with his own father, nor
with his brother. Hence, Biff represents Willy's chance to perhaps build a relationship
with his own son, and to be a better father.
So far, Biff
had done everything Willy wanted: Football player, mischievous boyish behavior, jock,
bully, and Dad's number one son. However, after Biff found out that his father had been
cheating on his mother, all of Biff's hopes went away considering that his Dad had
fallen out of a pedestal.
Hence, in came the conflict
between a father and son that once were cohorts and now are enemies. Both father and son
were enmeshed in a very dangerous co-dependent relationship in which one fed off from
each other. This is the reason why Willy both insults Biff for not reaching up to his
former hopes ans goals (which was Willy's own fault) and he also praises him but in his
former self: As the Biff that would have been the successful man and well-liked football
player who once looked up to Willy.
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