Family relationships are the key to many plots. Within a family, various characters play different roles in each others lives. These are usually people that are connected in one way or another. They could be brother and sister, mother and daughter, mother and son, father and daughter, or in this case, father and son. In "Death of a Salesman" by Arthur Miller, the interactions between Willy Loman and his sons, Happy and Biff, allow Miller to comment on father-son relationships and the conflicts that arise within them.
During many father-son relationships, the father is very uninvolved and not open with his son (Clements). Another frequent relationship is where the father wants to become more active and a best friend in his son's life. The reasons for this are can be demonstrated in different ways. Miller gives us examples of this through the actions of Willy Loman. When Biff comes home to get himself back together, Willy sees this as a failure. Since Willy wants Biff, to succeed in every way possible, he attempts to take matters into his own hands. The reason that Biff came home is to find out what he wants in life. Yet Willy thinks otherwise, "The trouble is he's lazy, goddammit!" (Miller 1305) Because Willy gets in the way of Biff, matters become more complicated. Willy and Biff have conflicting ideas as to what the American dream is. Willy believes that working on the road and selling is the greatest job a man could have. Biff feels the most exciting job a man could have is working outdoors. When their two dreams crash, it becomes frustrating to Willy. Willy was attempting to live through Biff, and what he viewed as Biff's "failure" possibly had an even larger effect on Willy than on Biff. If a father becomes too involved in his son's life hostility will more than likely occur. .
Unfortunately there are many times where a father favors one son over another, which leads to conflicts with the less-favored son.