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  • Essay / Essay on Inheritance in the Death of a...

    Following his latest dalliance with the business world, he finally accepts the truth. “…I realized what a ridiculous lie my whole life had been! We have been talking in dreams for fifteen years” (104). Happy cannot accept this reality, because accepting it would force him to face his own deception. He implores Biff to tell a different story to appease his father. As blunt as Biff is, Willy won't face the truth about himself or his sons. “Are you going to let him go, for Christ’s sake?” » Are you going to take this false dream and burn it somewhere before something happens? (133) Willy mistakes Biff's pathos for passion and says, "This boy, this boy is going to be magnificent." » (133) Willy becomes convinced that he can achieve greatness through suicide, and leaving the twenty thousand dollar profit will save his sons. Even in death, Willy is a liar; he commits insurance fraud to amass his small fortune. His true gift is deception, and it was passed down long before his death. Biff is no longer chained by the illusion and vows to return to the west where he feels most at home. “I know who I am, Kid” (138), he tells Happy at their father's funeral. Willy's death finally frees