Willy’s daydream involving Ben through Willy’s conversation with
Charley in his office
Summary
After Howard leaves, Willy immerses himself in memories
of a visit from Ben. Ben asks Willy to go to Alaska and manage a
tract of timberland he has purchased. Linda, slightly afraid of
Ben, says that Willy already has a nice job. Ben departs as Willy
tries desperately to gain a word of approval from him, comparing
the intangible success of the honorable Dave Singleman to the concrete
possibilities of timber. Bernard arrives to accompany the Lomans
to the big football game at Ebbets Field. He begs Biff to allow
him to carry his helmet. Happy snaps and insists on carrying it.
Biff generously allows Bernard to carry his shoulder pads. Charley
ambles over to tease Willy a little about the immature importance
he is placing on the football game, and Willy grows furious.
In the present, the grown-up Bernard is sitting in his
father’s reception room when his father’s secretary, Jenny, enters
to beg him to deal with Willy. Outside, Willy, still immersed in
his memory, argues with an invisible Charley from the past about
Biff’s football game. Bernard converses with Willy and mentions
that he has a case to argue in Washington, D.C. Willy replies that
Biff is working on a very big deal in town. Willy breaks down and
asks Bernard why Biff’s life seemed to end after his big football
game. Bernard mentions that Biff failed math but was determined
to go to summer school and pass. He adds that Biff went to see Willy
in Boston, but after he came back, he burned his sneakers with the
University of Virginia’s insignia. Attempting a candid conversation
with the wounded Willy, Bernard asks him what happened in Boston
that changed Biff’s intentions and drained his motivation. Willy
becomes angry and resentful and demands to know if Bernard blames
him for Biff’s failure. Charley exits his office to say goodbye
to Bernard. He mentions that Bernard is arguing a case before the
Supreme Court. Willy, simultaneously jealous and proud of Bernard,
is astounded that Bernard did not mention it.
In his office, Charley counts out fifty dollars. With
difficulty, Willy asks for over a hundred this time to pay his insurance
fees. After a moment, Charley states that he has offered Willy a
non-traveling job with a weekly salary of fifty dollars and scolds
Willy for insulting him. Willy refuses the job again, insisting
that he already has one, despite Charley’s reminder that Willy earns
no money at his job. Broken, he admits that Howard fired him. Outraged
and incredulous, he again mentions that he chose Howard’s name when he
was born. Charley replies that Willy cannot sell that sort of thing. Willy
retorts that he has always thought the key to success was being well
liked. Exasperated, Charley asks who liked J. P. Morgan. He angrily
gives Willy the money for his insurance. Willy shuffles out of the
office in tears.
Analysis
Willy’s conversation with Bernard revives Willy’s attempt
to understand why Biff never made a material success of his life
despite his bright and promising youth. He wants to understand why
the “well liked” teenage football player became an insecure man
unable to hold a steady job. He assumes there is some secret to
success that is not readily apparent. If he were not wearing the
rose-colored glasses of the myth of the American Dream, he would
see that Charley and his son are successful because of lifelong
hard work and not because of the illusions of social popularity
and physical appearances.
Biff’s failure in math is symbolic of his failure to live
up to his father’s calculated plan for him. Willy believes so blindly
in his interpretation of the American Dream that he has constructed
a veritable formula by which he expects Biff to achieve success.
The unshakeable strength of Willy’s belief in this blueprint for
success is evidenced later when he attempts to plant the vegetable
seeds. Reading the instructions on the seed packets, Willy mutters,
as he measures out the garden plot, “carrots . . . quarter-inch
apart. Rows . . . one-foot rows.” He has applied the same regimented
approach to the cultivation of his sons. Biff struggles with this
formula in the same way that he struggles with the formulas in his
textbook.
Charley tries to bring Willy down to earth by explaining
that Willy’s fantasies about the way the business world functions
conflict with the reality of a consumer economy. Charley refuses
to relate to Willy through blustering fantasy; instead, he makes
a point of being frank. He states that the bottom line of business
is selling and buying, not being liked. Ironically, Charley is the
only person to offer Willy a business opportunity on the strength
of a personal bond; Howard, in contrast, fires Willy despite the
strong friendship that Willy shared with Howard’s father.
However, the relationship between Willy and Charley is shaped by
an ongoing competition between their respective families, at least
from Willy’s point of view. Willy’s rejection of Charley’s job offer
stems partly from jealousy of Charley’s success. Additionally, Willy
knows that Charley does not like him much—his offer of a job thus
fails to conform to Willy’s idealistic notions about business relationships.
Willy chooses to reject a well-paying, secure job rather than let
go of the myth of the American business world and its ever-receding
possibilities for success and redemption.
