![]() ![]() Panicked, Willy telephones Charley for an appointment. Willy's hopes are dashed, however, when his young boss tells him that at sixty, he should retire and promptly fires him. When Linda reminds him about an outstanding payment on the refrigerator and their last mortgage payment, Willy decides to see his boss, Howard Wagner, and demand a sales position in town at the company store. The next morning, Willy enthusiastically informs Linda that Biff has asked him to dinner that night with Happy. When Biff finds rubber tubing by the gas furnace, confirming Linda's suicide story, he promises Willy that he will speak with his old boss the next day. In desperation, Linda confides that Willy has attempted suicide and that any hope of a better life rests with his sons. Biff refuses, claiming he knows his father is a fake, but grudgingly promises to stay at home and find work. She berates her sons and pleads with Biff to make up with his father. Linda secretly discovered that Willy borrows money from Charley to make ends meet. ![]() Both Biff and Happy are dismayed to learn from Linda that for some time Willy has worked solely on commission, having been cut from his full salary. Later, Biff expresses his concern about Willy to his mother, who angrily resents Biff's disrespect and distance from his father. Charley leaves, disgusted by his friend's foolish obstinacy. ![]() Charley, who is about to take a trip west, offers Willy a job overseeing his office in his absence, but Willy angrily refuses and continues discussing Ben reverently. Willy tells Charley that he has always regretted not taking his brother Ben's offer to go to Alaska, where Ben struck it rich. His ranting reminiscences are cut short when Charley comes by to see if everything is all right. Willy's musings take a darker turn as he frets about his lack of prosperity and the loneliness inherent in a life of constant travel. Willy reflects on how he brushed aside Biff's low grades in school, because he had earned a football scholarship, and that father and son enjoyed scoffing at Charley's whining, clingy son Bernard. Alone in the kitchen, Willy recalls his sons's enthusiasm whenever he returned from the road, and his promises of one day being more successful than his neighbor Charley and staying home for good. Happy explains to Biff that Willy's mind often wanders this way and worries that their father is losing his mind. He reminisces about Biff and his younger brother Happy as cheerful, energetic teenagers while Biff listens upstairs, deeply disturbed. Willy's pleasure at seeing Biff fades quickly and he bemoans his son's drifting, irresponsible life as a migrant farm worker. His wife Linda consoles him, while his eldest son Biff, who is home after a long absence, is suspicious about his father's early return. One evening on his normal New York route, traveling salesman Willy Loman turns back home, fearful of his inability to keep his car on the road. ![]()
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