Act 2 (Part 1)

How is the audience positioned to respond to Willy’s boss, Howard Wagner? Consider how Willy is treated by the company he works for, the significance of Howard's name and the significance of the scene where Howard is playing with a recorder while Willy is trying to talk to him. What do we learn about Howard's family life through the voices heard from the recorder? Why does Miller include this scene?

This scene allows the readers insight into Willy’s professional life. The readers have assumed that Willy is not “well-liked” in the office, but this scene explicitly shows how Willy is treated at work. It also establishes sympathy for the character of Willy. Until this scene, Willy seems to be trying to assert his power over his children and wife and delusional with his own dreams, but now the readers can understand and empathize with his character more.

Howard Wagner is displayed as a rude and self-centered character. He is uninterested in Willy’s concerns and is absorbed in his wire recorder messages. He also repeated shushes Willy and also yells “for God’s sake!” (77) when Willy attempts to speak to him. In the way that he disrespects his employees and cannot divide between his private and work area, he could be seen as unprofessional.

On the wire recording the audience is able to hear Howard’s children and wife. He seems to be loved by his children as they are “crazy for [him]” (77), and he seems to have the leadership position in his household with his shy wife. This shows that Howard seems to be living the American dream that Willy longs for. Howard has a successful career and an idealistic family life—everything that Willy dreams for.

Howard also refers to Willy as “kid” (84,85) asserting his dominance and superiority despite Willy’s age. Willy also emphasizes that Howard’s father “asked [him] what [he] thought of the name of Howard” (80) trying to use this as a way to get Howard to recognize how long Willy has been tied with this company and also how he is not someone Howard should be dismissing so easily. Willy therefore tries to establish his position with events of the past which is another example of Willy being unable to let go of past events and simply accept them as the past.

Explain the difference in Charley and Bernard, and Willy and Biff’s worldviews. How has each father and son pair approached life? How do the different approaches account for where they have now ended up? How does Miller use the pairing of these foil characters to develop his ideas about dreams and success in the play?

Charley and Bernard have worked hard ignoring what others may have thought of them whereas Willy and Biff have been obsessed with being “well-liked.”

Bernard tells Willy “If at first you don’t succeed…” which is also an idea that Willy has that the American dream can eventually be achieved, but Bernard also adds that “it’s better for a man just to walk away” (95) sometimes.

Charley explicitly says that “the only thing you got in this world what you can sell” (97) when Willy brings up that he named Howard. Willy says that “if a man was impressive, and well liked” (97) he thought that that would bring success. This highlights the difference between the two father and son pairs. Charley and Bernard are not concerned with how others perceive them and work hard at their given jobs. Willy and Biff, on the other hand, are obsessed with being well liked and acknowledged in other ways that their actual jobs. Charley and Bernard’s approach to life seems to have brought them success whereas Willy and Biff have not achieved as much.

Miller uses these foil characters to show the different approaches taken to one’s dreams. Miller also uses Charley and Bernard to highlight the unrealistic vision of the American dream that Willy has. Willy has a delusional idea of the American dream that being well liked and outward experiences will bring eventual success, but the characters of Charley and Bernard explicitly show that success is not achieved that way.

What is the significance of the name of the restaurant "Frank's Chop House"? Consider the fact that Willy's old boss (Howard's father) was also named Frank. What promises did Frank make to Willy? How is the name related to Charley's description of the famous American financier J. P. Morgan as looking like a "butcher"? What businesses and companies is the name of J. P. Morgan associated with in American economic history? What is the overall significance of the meat, chopping, and butchering imagery and its relations to business and businessmen? What do you think Miller is saying here?

Frank, Willy’s boss, promised Willy career advancements. “Frank’s Chop House” could be a reference to the “chop house” or company that Frank ran. The reference to J. P. Morgan looking like a “butcher” could be furthering the connection between being a successful businessman and a “butcher.” The connotations of a butcher are ones that make an individual seem harsh and brutal to an extent. Miller could be revealing that being brutal and having the characteristics of a “butcher” are what make a successful businessman and that success is irrelevant to being “well liked.”

J. P. Morgan is associated with financial services as well as firms that are associated in other industries. It is a prolific company with branches in all areas of business. (J.P. Morgan)

What is the nature of the relations between business and sports depicted in this Act? What is Willy's attitude toward sports? What is the significance of the Ebbets Field game and subsequent events? What about the conversation which Willy has with Charley before the game? What does Charley think of sports? Why is this significant?

Willy believes that Biff’s “life ended after that Ebbets Field game” (89).The game signifies the point where Biff started to lose motivation. He sees Willy with the woman that he was cheating on Linda with, and Biff seems to lose the motivation needed to return to school.

Willy places a lot of importance on sports because sports allow for a clear winner. He says that the day of the Ebbets Field game “is the greatest day of [Biff’s] life” (89). Charley reveals that he thinks the importance that Willy is placing on this game is childish. Charley does not see the importance of sports as much as Willy.

Sports are rooted in competition and Charley thinking that Willy’s obsession with sports is immature shows that he does not think much of such silly competition. Willy may be the opposite always commenting that someone is “liked but not well-liked” and always trying to make comparisons between people which is also reflected in his obsession for sports. Miller reveals the difference that Charley does not feed off of competition and therefore is successful whereas Willy who is constantly making comparisons to others is not as successful in the business world.

Find at least three quotations which are examples of foreshadowing in this section of the play and explain the significance of each.

The story of Dave Singleman and how “he died the death of a salesman” (81) foreshadows to the death of Willy. Willy wanted to become a salesman because he believed that he would be loved and cared for if he became a successful salesman like Dave Singleman. Willy seems to have a glorified vision of death of salesmen as they die an honorable death surrounded by people, and he longs for this.

When Charley tells Willy “nobody’s worth nothin’ dead” (98), it foreshadows to the lonely death Willy. Although Willy longs for a death that everyone will mourn, at the end of the play, the audience sees that it is only his family that are at the funeral mourning him.

When Willy is talking about the refrigerator payments, he says that “[t]hey time them so when you finally paid for them, they’re used up” (73). This could be foreshadowing to the mortgage payment that the Loman family has almost finished paying. As soon as they will have “finally paid for [it], [it will be] used up” and of no use to Willy because he will die before getting to “use” it.

Citations:
J.P. Morgan. 2012. JPMorgan Chase & Co. 17 April 2012. <http://www.jpmorgan.com/pages/jpmorgan>.