3.1.2

Key Events 3&4

Test yourself

Act Two: Key Event Three

After losing his job of 34 years, the memory of Ben’s job offer, the opportunity of a lifetime, resurfaces in Willy’s mind.

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Key event three

  • Willy is rejected by Howard, essentially sacked from the company, and left alone on stage.
  • In his distress, Willy reaches out to Ben (“Oh, Ben, how did you do it?”) and recalls Ben’s offer of a position in Alaska.
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Significance

  • After losing his job of 34 years, the memory of Ben’s job offer, the opportunity of a lifetime, resurfaces in Willy’s mind.
  • An audience may see buried feelings of regret in Willy remembering this now, but we also see Willy’s faith in the dream which keeps him in New York and New England.
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Quotation

  • “... and that’s the wonder, the wonder of this country, that a man can end with diamonds here on the basis of being liked!”
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Explanation

  • Willy is kept at home by the example of Dave Singleman, the salesman who died at 84 years of age after a career of success, a man who was “remembered and loved and helped by so many people”.
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Explanation cont.

  • Willy’s repetition of “wonder” helps to capture his child-like belief in this fantasy.
  • His use of the metaphor “diamonds” is a deliberate reference to the source of Ben’s wealth.
  • Willy is trying to tell Ben that he can equal his brother’s success.

Act Two: Key Event Four

Willy has a rare moment of self-discovery at the end of this ‘scene’, admitting how hollow his boasts of popularity have been.

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Key event four

  • Willy, in a state of crisis and lost in his thoughts of Ben and the Ebbets Field game, arrives at Charley’s office.
  • After an emotional reunion with Bernard, now a successful attorney, Willy asks Charley for money but turns down Charley’s offer of a job.
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Significance

  • Willy’s pride will not allow him to accept a job from Charley.
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Quotation

  • “Charley, you’re the only friend I got. Isn’t that a remarkable thing?”
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Explanation

  • Willy has a rare moment of self-discovery at the end of this ‘scene’, admitting how hollow his boasts of popularity have been.
  • However, there is little sense of relief here for the audience as this line follows Willy’s other epiphany (discovery) that, after a whole career, “you end up worth more dead than alive”, suggesting that Willy is again thinking of suicide.

Jump to other topics

1Introduction

2Act One

3Act Two

4Extended Passage Analysis

5Character Profiles

6Key Themes

7Writing Techniques

8Historical Context

9Literary Context

10Critical Debates

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