Death of a Salesman - Q&A - Passages

Something I whipped up not too long ago, for anyone who's read this play and enjoyed it, as I did.

Death of a Salesman Questions

1. Give some instances where Willy contradicts himself (p. 3-7). Suggest reasons as to why Miller would have Willy do this.

The most notable instance of Willy contradicting himself in the opening of the play is when he initially refers to his son Biff as a lazy bum for being 34 without and solid plans. Shortly after, he says that Biff is anything but lazy. Willy also refers to both his car and refrigerator as both reliable and junk. This proves that he is indecisive and somewhat confused. Another reason for this is that Willy is quick to see the bad side of things because he has become bitter, but somewhere in his mind is a glimmer of positive thinking.

2. What more do we find out about Hap’s character on p. 13-14? Describe the relationship between the two brothers.

Happy explains that he’s tired of his job and he wants to progress. Also, he talks about how he’s uninterested in dating girls all the time and he wants to settle down with someone nice. This is indicates that he is tired of his current life and he seeks change. The two brothers seem completely open with one another and seem willing to make plans for their futures at this time. Happy seems kind of lost about what he wants to do and he is somewhat like his father in the sense that he is indecisive as shown by his lack of long term plans. Biff seems apprehensive but he is still driven by success, and it seems as though both brothers want the American dream very much.

3. On pp.15-16 there is a shift in scene from the bedroom setting to the backyard. How is this transition made smooth?

The scene transition is made smooth through what seems to be Willy’s memory. The descriptions indicate that Willy is fully immersed in himself which would imply that he’s susceptible to flashbacks from the past. People continue talking as though everything’s in real-time and it’s all melded together as one scene.

4. How does life seem to be different in this new backyard setting? Comment on the mood and atmosphere.

The life described in Willy’s memory seems exciting and prosperous. There is a lot of action and momentum occurring as shown by how Willy and his sons are working together to complete everyday tasks and they seem happy. The atmosphere is light and enjoyable, and they all seem to get along well. This goes to show that Willy ants his sons to succeed and he feels full of motivation as well because they all want the American dream.

5. What negative memories do you detect from this backyard sequence? Show that the family paradise may not have been perfect (p. 15-22).

The first sign of a possible negative memory is that Happy is pointed out for stealing a football, which shows that he has a lack of morality. This notion could imply that the American dream is related to lies and theft. Another sign of negativity is Bernard’s news of Biff’s poor performance in school, but this warning doesn’t seem to be taken seriously and Biff is so convinced that he’s going to the University of Virginia that he signed his sneakers with the name. Bernard is merely acting as a voice of reason yet his concerns are disregarded. Lastly, Willy seems to boast about his commission when in fact it turns out he never really made that much when Linda asks him about it, which goes to show that he tries to make things seem better than they really are.

6. What sort of youth is Bernard? What is his relationship to the Lomans? What deficiencies does Willy detect in him? (p. 20-21).

Bernard seems like a determined youth who looks up to the Lomans, specifically Biff and Happy. Willy criticizes him for always studying, yet Bernard is wise for doing so. Willy fails to realize the importance of education, believing that success comes only from material wealth. Bernard’s reason isn’t considered important, yet Bernard realizes these problems with the Lomans and tries to help anyway.

7. Explain Willy’s strong reaction to Linda’s darning her stockings (p. 26).

Willy is upset to see Linda mending her stockings because Willy wants Linda to have fine things that aren’t tattered. He can’t stand to see her with anything less than perfect. Also, Willy gave a fresh new pair of stockings to The Woman, so perhaps he feels guilty to see Linda with ruined ones.

8. Compare/contrast Willy’s attitude towards Charley and Ben.

Willy feels that Ben is success incarnate, and he regrets not going with him to Alaska. However, Willy is hostile towards Charley for a couple reasons. For one, Charley is logical and he could be considered to represent reason, and Willy doesn’t want to accept his advice. When Charley offers Willy a job Willy refuses because he wants to protect his personal pride and he gets very agitated with Charley. Charley understands Willy’s problems and he only wants to help.

Ben represents success to Willy, and he sees him as a way to attain the American dream. However, Ben is always in a hurry and Willy can never seem to get the right answers out of him. This is portrayed by the fact that Willy is always at a loss to understand how one gets to riches and the American dream because Ben is so vague about it; “When I was 21 I walked out… and by god I was rich!” (p.33)

9. Suggest reasons why Miller would want to present Charley and Ben together.

Miller has designed this scene with Charley and Ben to show the mental battle going on in Willy’s mind regarding the American dream and his past. Willy feels that if he would have gone with Ben he would have gotten rich. However, Willy feels that the reasoning and logic given by Charley is annoying because he’d rather just get success without thinking about it. So Willy is denying reason by chasing some mystical story about Ben.

10. What does the character of Ben symbolize?

Ben symbolizes success on every level for Willy. He’s seen as perfect in terms of being able to manage everything by living the American dream, yet it is never clear on how he got there. Willy pleads with him to learn the secret but Ben is always in a hurry and can’t seem to provide Willy with any advice.

11. By referring to the following passage, outline the similarities and differences between Biff and Willy. Passage: p.44 [top]-p.45 [middle]”Sure you will. The trouble with you… Big shot!”

Biff and Willy both have a desire to build and make things new. However, Willy has no respect for Biff wanting to be a carpenter, and he thinks that you can only succeed by selling and being well liked rather than hard work. They both want the American dream, but have no idea how to get there. The main difference between them is that Biff doesn’t like the business world because he sees what’s happened to his dad, and he says that they laugh at him. Willy also childishly compares Biff to Bernard, because he sees his son as incompetent compared to Bernard.

12. Even though Biff knows the business world is not for him, he is still willing to give it a try. Explain his reasons. How does Willy react to the news that Biff will try to make it in the business world? Pp. 43-48.

Biff has a chance to make it in the business world by selling sporting goods for Bill Oliver. Even though he is somewhat reserved about business, he knows a lot of about sporting goods so it would be a good job for him. When he mentions it Happy comes up with his elaborate success plan involving them moving out west and starting a business, and Willy takes over the conversation by telling how to be and how to act in front of Oliver. This shows that Willy wants Biff to be the best and do everything right, because Willy has invested all his faith into him. Biff doesn’t react kindly to Willy’s blatant disregard for Linda though, because he’s always telling her to be quiet, and he yells at her. This causes Biff to get angry.

13. What social commentary is Miller making on p.60-62 via the character of Willy?

What Miller is mainly saying through Willy is that salesmanship used to be about honor and comradeship, but now it’s simply cut and dried. Willy can’t seem to understand where it all changed but he knows things have gone wrong, and Howard’s refusal to give him a job shows that Willy has lost touch with how modern business is conducted.

14. Are you more sympathetic to Howard’s point of view or that of Willy with respect to the business? Explain.

I’m more sympathetic to Willy’s view because he has put his whole life into the sales firm and has gotten next to nothing in return. Howard fires him for being out of touch with the new business world, and Willy can’t even pay his insurance. All Willy knows is how to sell according to how it was when he started out, and for Howard to have no compassion for that is unfair.

15. What is Miller trying to communicate to the reader in regard to the American Dream p.64-66?

I think Miller is saying that Ben represents the American dream. Ben has all the answers, and he knows exactly what he needs to do and where he needs to go. Willy hasn’t a clue, but he wants to follow Ben to the Arctic but can’t because Linda knows it dangerous and uncertain. Ben is always in a rush, and spares little time in explaining how to succeed, and Willy hangs on to every word but can’t seem to grasp any real meaning. Willy wants Ben to stay behind and help him but Ben simply leaves Willy feeling empty. What Miller is saying is that the American dream is some mythical promise of instant wealth with which there’s no defined path on how to receive.

16. We meet Bernard when Willy goes from Howard’s office to Charley’s office. How has Bernard turned out? Why is it appropriate that Bernard should appear now?

Bernard is an intelligent and inquisitive person who admires the Lomans, and he is brought up at this point to show his relationship with them. He simply wants to help them, yet the Lomans have so much pride that they’d rather go their own way without accepting outside help, especially with Willy.

17. Willy becomes aggressively defensive with Bernard. Why? What clues are there at this point that there may be a deeper story? P.71-73

Willy says he looks up to Bernard and values his advice, yet when Biff was flunking math Willy showed no concern, and when Bernard brings it up again and how Biff burned his sneakers Willy gets very angry. Willy can’t accept the fact that it’s his fault or he’s to blame in any way, and he doesn’t understand how Bernard got so successful which makes him jealous in a way. We learn about what happened with Biff and where it all went wrong with him, and we also learn about Willy’s unwillingness to accept failure and he contradicts himself even more.

18. Comment Charley’s character up to the end of his officer scene with Willy. What rather sad ironies are apparent at this point when we consider Willy’s relationship with Charley?

Even though Charley and Willy don’t really like each other, Charley offers Willy a job. Willy, out of his own self pride and stubbornness, refuses by saying he already has a job, which is a direct contradiction to the truth which he reveals later. This is ironic because Willy is desperate yet he won’t even accept the help he needs when it’s offered. Bernard explains to him that being well liked is meaningless, because as a salesman you’re only asset is what you can sell, and Willy doesn’t realize this. Their relationship is that of angst and tension, yet Willy calls him his only friend at the end. Willy is very jealous of Charley’s success.

19. What characteristics of Hap are reinforced in the restaurant scene with Stanley, the girl, and Biff?

Happy lies many times when talking to the girl, which shows that he is very dishonest when it comes to trying to get something. He tells her that he sells champagne and that Biff is a quarterback for the New York Giants, which impresses her but they’re both lies. When Biff explains how he stole Oliver’s pen and that he didn’t get a meeting, Happy tells him to lie to Willy and make it seem like there’s something to look forward to, adding to the dishonesty.

20. How does each of the boys treat Willy? Account for the differences.

Willy only seems to care about what Biff has to say, completely ignoring Happy and telling him not to interrupt. This is because Willy has put all his faith into Biff and he expects him to succeed, yet Biff has a hard time explaining what happened. Willy ignores Happy because he only cares about Biff’s success.

21. The scene with the woman in the hotel room could be considered the climax of the play in many ways. Agree or disagree? What does it explain for the audience p. 88-94

Not only is Biff somewhat traumatized in this scene, likely to cause an impact in his life with regards to his perception of Willy, but the audience also learns that Willy is unfaithful. I would consider this to be the climax of the play, because it as at this point where Biff has flunked math and he’s feeling like a failure, so witnessing this must have made him even more upset, possibly ruining any self-esteem he had. Biff also accuses Willy of giving the women Linda’s stockings. Since new stockings are used to show Willy’s pride in being financially successful and being able to provide for Linda, this act is a clear sign of betrayal.

22. By referring the p.108, argue whether Willy has changed or matured through all his trials and tribulations.

Willy undergoes a revelation in this scene. He’s so entangled in his daydreams that he can’t confront reality anymore, but he finally understands that as a salesman, his primary objective is to sell himself. He makes the ultimate sacrifice in exchange for the American dream in the end, which is something that he’s pursued his whole life in order to provide for his family. However, he still sees Biff and Bernard in competition with each other, and he still ignores Linda altogether, and he went to his grave not understanding the importance of hard work with respect to the American dream. He also never stopped admiring Ben for becoming rich in Alaska, even though his easy riches connected to the myth of the American dream were never explained. When Ben says “It’s dark there, but full of diamonds,” Willy has taken this in a literal sense by relating to how if he ends his life, his insurance will provide wealth to his family. It could be argued that the only ultimate cause he cared about with respect to his family was providing them with wealth and material possession to the extent that he ignored everything else, and this remains current in his character throughout the play.

23. Very few people come to Willy’s funeral. In your opinion, explain the reasons for the scant attendance. What cautionary comment is Miller making?

Sadly, it seems as though none of Willy’s business friends attended his funeral because Miller wants to warn the reader that he essentially sold himself, but failed to truly reap the benefits of the American dream. Linda is upset that so few people showed, and it seems as though the ones he once worked with had forgotten about him completely, because that’s what the sales world is like. Being well liked is not something you can sell, and likewise, Willy taking his life is proof of this.

24. What is reinforced about Linda’s character on p. 110?

Linda feels that his business friends didn’t show up at his funeral because perhaps they blamed him, and later she says that her inability to cry is because she feels that he’s just on another trip. She also knows that Willy was a good handyman, and had he pursued that as a profession he might have enjoyed his life. This reinforces Linda as a voice of reason, because all along she knew where Willy was going and why he having problems, but Willy was so lost in his own pursuits that he ignored her all the time, and he always told her to be quiet.

25. Contrast the characters of Biff and Hap at the end of the play.

Happy believes that he will pursue in Willy’s footsteps to prove that he did not die in vain. He’s so convinced that Willy’s dream was a good one, and that it’s all about being the best. Biff feels that Willy never really knew himself, which makes Happy mad, but there is truth in Biff’s words. Happy is unwilling to accept the fact that his father was anything less than a great man with a good dream, similar to how Willy refused to accept that he needed to change in order to truly love and provide for his family.

26. Discuss the significance of the last words of the play: We’re free… we’re free…”

Linda is explaining that she is free of financial debt, but another interpretation might be that she’s free from Willy’s reckless dream as well. It is true that Willy’s death has freed Linda of financial worry, and perhaps granted her what Willy always wanted in the end; the American dream. However, it is somewhat sad because Linda is finding it difficult to grieve over Willy’s death because she feels that he’s “just on another trip.”

Death of a Salesman Passages

Dallas Swim

Describe the circumstances surrounding each passage and then explain its significance to the novel (thematically, symbolically, with respect to character development, or with respect to any other element of the novel).

1. p. 3 [near bottom] – p.4 [top] “I was driving along you… such strange thoughts.”

Willy explains how he nearly crashed his car while coming home from a sales job while Linda listens. What this passage reveals is that Willy’s mind seems to be slipping, almost as if he’s fading involuntarily. He seems troubled and can’t figure out why. This develops his character into that of a troubled and delusional man who’s veering off the course of his life.

2. p. 6 [near middle] –p.7 [near top] “The way they boxed us in… How can they whip cheese?”

In this passage Willy expresses his negativity towards the rising population that he claims is ruining the neighborhood and increasing competition. Also, he seems to jump to unrelated topics out of frustration, like how he mentions cheese at the end of his speech. This shows that he is beginning to lose grip with reality and he doesn’t like what’s going on around him, indicative of his resistant nature.

3. p.10 [bottom] –p.11 [top] “I tell ya, hap, I don’t know… that’s how to build a future.”

Biff talks to Happy about how unfulfilling it is to lead a normal living in dismal jobs that offer little reward. This passage correlates with the American dream in the sense that most people believe that the only route to success is that you’ve got to start at the bottom and work your way up through hard work, yet Biff is tired of it because he doesn’t see it going anywhere.

4. p.11 [near top] –p.11 [bottom] “hap, I’ve had twenty or thirty… Are you content?”

In this passage Biff goes into further detail about his discontent with a mediocre life. He talks about making his future and getting ahead, and how he’s a boy because he’s not married and doesn’t own a business. This relates to the American dream as well because there’s a strong feeling of wanting to live a happy life and get all those things that society views as status symbols.

5. p.12 [top] –p. 12 [bottom] “All I can do now is wait… till I can’t stand it anymore.”

Happy explains how he’s lonely even with the life that he thought he wanted. Ironically, he isn’t happy at all with how things are. He feels that the only way for him to get ahead is for the merchandise manager to die, and he also believes that he is constantly being surrounded by false people at work. He and Biff come up with a great scheme to head out west and this shows a character development in the both of them in the fact that they are very ambitious and close with one another.

6. p.19 [near top; 8 lines] “You and Hap and I, and I’ll show…This is summer heh?”

Willy furthers the notion that he is ‘well liked’ by everyone and therefore can park his car wherever and be recognized. This can also be considered another allusion to the American dream and how it assumes that if you’re well like you will go places.

7. p.23 [middle] – p.25 [top] “A hundred and twenty dollars! There’s so much I want to make for.”

Again the notion of being well liked in relation to success is emphasized in this passage. Willy first mentions this, but then talks about how people think he’s fat and laughable, and he uses this as a reason fro why his sales have dropped. Perhaps he pretends he’s well liked but the fact that his sales are low concern him. Linda, being the supportive wife she is, comforts him and attempts to boost his spirits. Willy envisions The Woman, who acts a sign of betrayal and infidelity on his behalf, and he converses with her rather than his actual wife. All of these points develop Willy’s character as rejecting reality and desperately wanting a happy life based around his self-constructed delusion.

8. p.33 [bottom] p.39 [middle] “No, Ben! Please tell about Dad… I was right! I was right! I was right!”

Firstly, Willy asks his brother Ben to talk about their dad. This is to give Biff and Happy motivation to pursue the American dream by being well liked and all-around. Then, in a demonstration of how competition is needed to survive, Ben asks Biff to punch him and they go at it, which ties in with the belief that you can only succeed by beating everyone else. We learn a bit more about Willy’s relationship with Ben as well, and from what is said between them it seems as if Willy really looks up to Ben and asks his advice. An example of this is when Willy asks Ben how to raise his kids, and Ben responds with a story about how he got rich. The story itself alludes to the American dream in the sense that there’s no logical method to being successful, it simply comes if you’re lucky

9. p.38 [bottom] p.39 [middle] “Are you home to stay now?... and there’ll be strange people here-

Biff is unsure of what he wants to do, even in this stage of his life. Linda tries to give him advice and she mentions the fact that she is getting old, and won’t always be there to help out. It’s almost as if she’d fading away while Biff is unable to grasp hold of his life and he hangs on to her for guidance and direction because he dislikes Willy.

10. p.40 [middle] p.41 [bottom] “Then make Charley your father… How lonely he was till he couldn’t come home to you!”

This passage clearly indicates that Linda is aware of everything going on in Willy’s life, and she recognizes all the problems he’s going through. She explains how Willy pays her with money from Charley (while pretending it’s his), and that he has been wronged in so many ways. She directs anger towards Biff, who is starting to sound ungrateful, when in fact Biff is simply fed up with how things are going and he doesn’t know how to succeed. This goes to show that although Linda is a voice of reason, Willy has always ignored her and followed his own troubled path.

11. p.51 [top] “Like a young god… can never really fade away!”

Willy is lost in a fantasy image from his memory. This shows that he’s always distracting himself with illusions of success and the American dream to avoid his problems. He never truly recognizes his own plight because of all these grandiose views of his life that he has sunken into. He simply wants to think of everything as working towards success, disregarding any reevaluation needed to fix present problems.

12. p.52 [bottom]-p.53 [middle] “There’s no question, no question at all… how much he’s going to ask Oliver for?”

There is the notion of seeds and growth in the passage to reflect Willy’s desire to grow and prosper despite the circumstances. He talks about building new things and establishing a better life because he wants to live the American dream. He refuses to accept himself as a failure because he believes that success isn’t about reason, but about building bigger and better things.

13. p.54 [middle; approx 10 lines] “Its twenty-five years… good-bye, I’m late.”

Willy is adamant that all the work he put into the home is for nothing. He thinks that it’s all just going to waste and that some stranger will just move in. He expresses his desire for Biff to take the house and raise a family, because he wants his sons to succeed because it would reflect nicely on himself. Once he realizes the negative parts of his message he cuts off the conversation with Linda abruptly and starts to leave because he is so unwilling to accept failure. This shows that since he’s put all his faith into Biff, he wants nothing more than for him to succeed and do well and achieve the American dream.

14. p.55 [bottom; 2 lines] “Maybe beets would grow… tried so many times.”

The theme of growth for success is emphasized through Willy’s desire to prove the worth of his labour. Even though Linda reminds him that he’s tried many times, Willy won’t give up because he refuses to accept failure. This also relates to how Willy put so much effort into raising Biff which has been unsuccessful because he refers to Biff as being lazy.

15.  p.73 [9 lines] “Yeah, I’m going… I guess that’s when it’s tough.”

Willy says that he can’t walk away when the going gets tough. He is so deeply rooted in his delusions that he completely refuses to abandon them, because he does not want to believe anything else. He does not want to restructure his views because he only cares about the drive for material wealth because that, in his mind, is the American dream. It’s ironic hoe he’s asking Bernard for advice, who was originally someone he considered a nerd with no good advice, but now he highly values his advice.

16.  p.81 [whole page].

We begin to see the real problems with Biff arise in this passage. He is starting to feel that everything relating to the business world is a lie, and he says his life has been ridiculous because of it. He took Oliver’s fountain pen out of anger, and he despises the fact that he’s only ever been a lowly shipping clerk, a far cry from Willy’s delusional fantasies of him being a huge success.

17.  p.82 [near top] “Dad is never so happy as when he’s looking forward to something.”

As if to insult him, Happy thinks as long Willy has something to look up to, rather than achieve it, he will be happy. This is in relation to Biff, who is told to construct a lie to make himself look good in front of Willy. Happy thinks its fine to provide Willy with false hope, because perhaps he knows that Willy is a lost dreamer.

18. p.85 [middle] p.89 [top].

In this passage Willy’s worst fear is realized; Biff was not a success with Oliver. Willy’s dream is slowly being eroded even though he desperately holds onto it by searching for hope in Biff’s words, but Biff explains that he doesn’t want to go back to Oliver and that he took his pen. Willy thinks that Biff is spiting him, as if this was all some elaborate plot against him. We begin to see Willy’s fantasy world be torn apart, brought upon by the realization of his failures and how he’s failed those around him.

19. p.96 [middle, 11 lines] “Here’s some more… I don’t have a thing in the ground.”

Tying in with the growth motif, Willy feels that he has nothing planted, or rather he has nothing left to look forward to. He feels defeated because his delusions have been ripped apart. His desire to rebuild and make something new is indicative of his nature to forget his problems and keep doing the same thing until things finally work, because things have failed so far.

20. p.99 [near bottom]-p.101 [middle] “Carrots… quarter inch apart. Rows… one-foot rows… to be sure you’re not making a fool of yourself.”

Willy is contemplating suicide at this point, and he is asking Ben for advice. He says that Biff will see him as important once he witnesses all the people that come to his funeral, which is sadly ironic considering very few people do go, but Willy is determined that this final act will make him a martyr, and that his family will be given everything they deserve. What he fails to realize is that all his family ever needed was his true love and compassion and not some mythical direction devised by him as a route to material success. Ben tells him that Biff will think he’s a coward for taking his life, and that the insurance company probably won’t honor the $20,000, but Willy doesn’t care because he’s so convinced that it’s something tangible that he can see and touch, “like a diamond shining in the dark.”

21. p.103 [near middle-bottom] “Spite, spite, is the word don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing!”

Willy cannot accept the fact that he has failed, he simply feels that Biff is doing everything in spite of him. He does not confront the truth of the matter, which is that Biff is sick and tired of Willy’s delirious desire to cultivate him into someone who seeks manifest destiny. In a sad way, Willy wants Biff to feel guilty for what he’s about to do, which is commit suicide, because he wants to be remembered as a great man who did everything for his sons but was blamed against unfairly. Willy thinks that everyone is either trying to spite him or blame him for all the problems in his life.

22. p.104 [top]-p.105 [near middle] “Leave it there! Don’t move it… Then hand yourself! For spite, hand yourself!”

Biff sets things straight in this passage by being so brutally honest with Willy that his delusions are completely ripped apart. Biff sees everything as a carefully constructed lie, and he feels everything is fake, so he has lied and stolen his way through life out of anger. His main anger lies in the fact that Willy put so much encouragement and faith in him to be the best that he could never take orders from anybody because he felt above everything else. Ironically, Willy blames Biff for all of this, rather than putting to appropriate blame on himself for which he’s responsible because Willy can’t accept failure on his behalf.

23. p.105 [middle]-p.106 [near top] “No! Nobody’s hanging himself… waiting for me to bring them home!”

Biff confronts Willy with the fact that he hates the business world. Willy refuses to accept this from his own son, claiming that he’s special and he has all this potential, but Biff just wants Willy to view him as an ordinary man and respect that. Biff doesn’t want Willy to always expect him to bring prizes home and be the best at everything, because that expectation has always haunted him, but that’s all Willy’s ever believed in for achieving the American dream, so he can never accept that as wrong.

24. p.106 [near middle]-p.107 [top] “Pop, I’m nothing... And it does take a great kind of a man to crack the jungle.”

Even though Biff is revealing all his inner turmoil and anguish, Willy interprets it all wrong. He thinks that Biff just likes him, since all Willy cares about as a salesman is being well liked, which means that he feels he’s succeeded in selling Biff his idea of the American dream in a way. This goes to show how convoluted his thinking really is, and when Ben steps in it only encourages him to kill himself because he believes that Biff will be magnificent with the money. He relates everything to material acquisition, and never understands the true love of his family.

25. p.111 [top; approx. 10 line] “Nobody dast blame… It comes with the territory.”

Charley’s speech epitomizes the ideology of a salesman, who values his own dreams and material success above anything else. He’s saying that Willy can’t be blamed, because the unfair demands placed on him by his job forced him to care only about defending his own beliefs. In order to justify his existence Willy had to construct an elaborate delusion to distract him from the downward spiral of his life and the lives of those around him, and instead of fixing he just kept dreaming. The relation to him being a good handyman ties in with this because he was excellent at building things with his hands, he was a creator, and he had to create a dream filled existence to legitimize his occupation because he felt that selling was the only way to the American dream, which explains why in the end he sold himself.