Glengarry Glen Ross Act Two, from its beginning to Moss's entrance Summary & Analysis

Summary

Act Two, which is not divided into scenes, takes place in the office where the salesmen work. It is the day after Act One, and someone has committed the robbery that Moss had been planning. A police detective, Baylen, is on the scene, conducting interviews in Williamson's office offstage. Aaronow and Williamson are onstage at the opening of the scene. Roma comes in from the streets. He is furious; he just heard about the robbery and demands to know if the thieves stole the contracts. Having closed the Lingk sale the previous night, Roma should be over the dollar amount he needs to sell in order to win the Cadillac in the company sales contest. If something has happened to the contract, however, he will not get his prize. Roma, of course, is completely unwilling to accept this possibility. After some yelling from Roma, Williamson assures him that he has nothing to worry about. The thieves did not get the Lingk contract, as it was filed downtown last night.

Williamson goes into his office, offstage, with Baylen. Roma and Aaronow remain onstage. Aaronow makes some meek and nervous comments about how everything should be fine as long as the office is insured. Roma tries to strike up conversation with Aaronow, and Aaronow complains about how poorly he is doing on the board. Roma reassures him, telling him that he has been given terrible leads and has had bad luck, and that his poor performance is not his fault.

Roma starts to head out to the Chinese restaurant. Williamson comes out of the office and asks him where he is going, and why he is not going out on sits. Roma asks how he can go out on sits if the Glengarry leads have been stolen. Williamson offers a lead from last year's file, which Roma derisively refers to as the "nostalgia" file. Having no other options, however, Roma angrily accepts. Williamson goes into the office to get leads for Roma.

Roma and Aaronow have another moment together. Roma suggests that talking to the detective is a waste of time, because he thinks the cops are too stupid to find the robber. Not really meaning it, Roma asks Aaronow if he was the thief. Aaronow says no, but that he gets nervous talking to the police nonetheless.

Williamson comes out with the leads for Roma. The first lead is a man named Ravidam Patel. Just as Moss railed against deadbeats named Patel in Act One, Roma launches into a furious tirade about how impossible it is to close a sale to a Patel.

Levene enters the office, oblivious to the disarray and signs of a break-in, bursting with excitement because he closed a sale to a couple, Bruce and Harriett Nyborg, that morning. He demands to be put on the contest board. After a moment of bragging, he notices that things are amiss, and the others inform him of the break-in.

Previous section Act One, scene three Next page Act Two, from its beginning to Moss's entrance page 2