Death of a Salesman | Act 2 - Part 1

The opening of Act 2 - Flashback to the Alaska offer

What does Willy’s desire to plant seeds symbolise?

What does Linda's laughing response suggest?

• for Willy, planting seeds symbolises leaving a legacy

• Willy wants to follow his true essence and reconnect with the pastoral

• Linda's response that ‘not enough sun gets back there’ symbolises the hopelessness that surrounds the future of the Loman house and family values in capitalist America

• Linda's statement that ‘Nothing'll grow any more’ suggests that Willy's attempts to leave a legacy are futile

How are Willy's fantasies and dreams always shattered by financial reality?

• Willy exclaims that he's ‘always in a race with the junkyard’, symbolising both his obsoleteness in capitalist America and his journey towards his arguably inevitable death

• Willy and Linda are trapped by their constant credit payments on material goods

What comment is Miller making about the American Dream?

• Miller's critique of consumerism and materialism

• Miller is suggesting that the American Dream is a lie used by capitalists to trap the working class in an endless flow of credit payments

How is a fancy dinner a measure of success for Willy?

• Willy measures success by material wealth

• Willy believes that someone who can afford a fancy dinner must be successful in the business world

• to Willy, a fancy dinner is a status symbol that should be respected

How is the motif of Linda's torn stockings a measure of failure?

• stockings were a luxury good in post-WWII America

• Willy bought brand new stockings for the Woman in their transactional relationship, whilst Linda was left to repair her old stockings behind Willy's back

• Willy’s frustration at Linda's torn stockings is a manifestation of his guilt about the affair

• Willy sees Linda's torn stockings as an almost inescapable symbol of his familial failure 

How does Howard disrespect Willy?

How is it ironic that the cost of Howard’s machine would be enough money to drag Willy out of debt?​

• Howard interrupts Willy like Willy interrupts Linda

• Howard shushes Willy, even when he is politely complimenting Howard’s children

• ‘Sh, for God’s sake!’

• Howard denies Willy’s request for ‘forty dollars a week’ after flaunting his $150 machine

• ‘[Howard has not looked at him.]’

• ‘[impatiently]’

• Howard shows little respect or understanding for Willy's struggles

• Howard fires Willy without considering his financial or emotional state

Why does Howard fail to value the loyalty that Willy has demonstrated to his father’s company?

• personal relationships mean nothing in the business world anymore

• capitalism prioritises profit over long term loyalty

• “business is business”

• due to his privilege and wealth, Howard cannot comprehend Willy’s struggles

• the business world has shifted from the era of Howard’s father

What “golden rule” of business does Willy break when he locates Howard’s lighter?​

• Willy instructed Biff to never act like an ‘office boy’

• ‘[unable to resist] And if anything falls off the desk while you’re talking to him […] don’t you pick it up. They have office boys for that.’

• Willy breaks his “golden rule” of business of always appearing confident and superior

What does Willy's choice of role model show us about his interpretation of the American Dream?

• Willy interprets succeeding at the American Dream as being a ‘well-liked’ salesman

• ‘And when I saw that, I realised that selling was the greatest career a man could want.’