Death of a Salesman

Alongside the scene at the restaurant, a memory of Linda appears. Willy hears a young Bernard inform Linda that Biff failed math and won’t graduate. Present-day Biff explains why he took Oliver’s pen and lies that he has another meeting with Oliver. Willy hears an operator ringing his hotel room in the past, and he responds to it in the present. His irrational behavior upsets Biff. Slipping between the past and present, Willy is angry that Biff refuses to meet with Oliver because he stole the pen, telling him that he is “no good for anything” (87). When Biff finally admits that he doesn’t have an appointment with Oliver and that he went only for Willy, Willy slips entirely into a memory of the Woman at a hotel in Boston. The Woman asks Willy if he plans to open the door, prompting the present-day Willy to stumble for a door in the restaurant. Distraught, Biff shows Happy the rubber hose and asks him to help Willy. Happy is distracted by the girls, and although they at first are impressed that he is out with his father, he later tells them that Willy is not his father before leaving with them.