Born on October 17, 1915 in New York to an Austrian clothing manufacturer and shopkeeper, Arthur Miller's childhood life influenced his writing of Death of a Salesman, which opened in 1949. His father, Isidore Miller was ruined by the coming of the Depression. Consequently, the family moved to a small house in Brooklyn, which was the model for the house in Death of a Salesman. Miller's childhood life became the basis for the play, which incorporated tragic characters …showed first 75 words of 781 total…

…showed last 75 words of 781 total…taking. The conflict was finally resolved when Biff confronted himself and his father in finding who he is. Biff's internal arguments, thus, make him in essence the protagonist of the play. Miller wrote the title of the play as Death of a Salesman as having double meaning; one meaning was that Willy, the salesman, died, and the other meaning was that Biff found out that he never wanted to be a salesman or his father.