In "Death of a Salesman", a family of four struggles to achieve prosperity despite constant dreaming and high aspirations. Willy Loman, the sixty-year-old head of the house works under commission only and is eventually fired. He and his wife Linda have two sons, Biff and Happy. Biff is the person the family emphasizes and was a star football player in high school with plans to attend the prestigious University of Virginia. However, he failed to graduate and has struggled ever since. Happy Loman is the younger son and the one mostly ignored. He is motivated to acquire attention from his family.

Hap, short for Happy, is a lonely man who is shadowed by Biff. He takes bribes from manufacturers and frequently gets into affairs with women. The youngest Loman is determined, however, and is willing to do anything to climb the corporate ladder. Arthur Miller says, "He, like...