Chapter Summary of Death of a Salesman - Study Guide by Arthur Miller

makes Willy feel he is all the things that he hopes he might be: rich, funny, well liked. The fact that he is cheating on the devoted Linda is incidental to Willy’s need to be seen to be a success.

Act 1 Part 6 (c.1928)

When the woman leaves, Willy returns to his dreams of happy times with Linda and the boys. He tells Linda that she mustn’t mend her silk stockings, that he will buy her a new pair. Again, Willy based the future on promises and not on present action. Bernard returns to look for Biff. Willy threatens to whip Bernard when the child refuses to let Biff cheat from him. Willy is descending further into a state of delusion when the lights come up to signify a return to the present.

Act 1 Part 7 (c.1942)

Happy comes downstairs to make sure that Willy is well. Willy seems more rational, commiserating with himself over missed opportunities:

‘Why didn’t I go to Alaska with my brother Ben that time! Ben! That man was a genius, that man was success incarnate!’

Willy once again descends into madness after Happy offers to help him financially in his retirement. Charley comes in to see Willy. He is a large, solid man - the antithesis of the bent and weak Willy Loman. Willy and Charley play cards together. Willy will not accept Charley’s offer of a job. As they converse, Ben appears to Willy in a vision. Charley does not understand Willy’s apparent lunacy and, after Willy abuses him about the card game, he leaves.

Act 1 Part 8 (c.1928)

Willy and Ben talk. Ben has been turned into a mythical figure by Willy - representing everything that he is not. Willy questions Ben about his success and their parents. Happy and Biff come downstairs and Willy is desperate to show Ben that the boys have grown well. Ben describes the way he made his fortune:

"Why boys, when I was seventeen I walked out into the jungle, and when I was twenty-one I walked out. And by God I was rich"

Willy persuades his brother that he is raising his children in the correct fashion:

"That’s just the way I’m bringing them up, Ben - rugged, well-liked, all-around"

Charley comes in wearing his underwear and talks in a stream-of-consciousness style about the crime rate in the area. The scene descends into farce, with each character soliloquizing on their own personal hobbyhorse.

Act 1 Part 9 (c.1942)

Linda finds Willy still delirious in the yard. Biff asks what is wrong with his father. Linda replies that it was the arrival of Biff which precipitated Willy’s latest turn. Willy cannot learn to accept that one of his children has not been a success in the traditional sense of the word. In a moving scene between mother and son, Linda tells Biff that he can no longer come home to visit her. Biff resents the fact that his father has created a rift between himself and Linda. Linda tells Biff that she fears that Willy is trying to kill himself. She has found a rubber tubing attached to the gas pipe.

Act 1 Part 10 (c.1942)

Biff and Willy argue over Biff’s lack of success. Happy tells Willy that Biff is going to contact Bill Oliver, the owner of a sports shop from which Biff was fired after stealing a crate of basketballs. Willy becomes