Analysis of Conflict and Revelation in Death of a Salesman Act Two Scene 6
In this scene from Death of a Salesman Act Two, Biff experiences a moment of revelation about his life and wants to be honest with his father, Willy. However, Willy struggles with facing the truth and clings to his illusions. The conflict between Biff's newfound clarity and Willy's denial is portrayed vividly through their interactions. As tensions rise and past events are revisited, the characters grapple with their respective realities, leading to a poignant portrayal of familial dynamics and the effects of self-delusion.
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Death of A Salesman Act Two Scene 6
Previous to Willys arrival-Biff Biff tries to tell Happy about the moment of revelation he had. How the hell did I ever get the idea that I was a salesman there?........I realized what a ridiculous lie my whole life has been. We ve been talking in a dream for fifteen years. I was a shipping clerk He wants to tell his father: Hap he s got to understand that I m not the kind of man He thinks I ve been spiting him all these years and its eating him up. He wants to reassure Willy that he has not deliberately been making a mess of his life
Happy He is like Linda- he wants to do anything ( tell lies) rather than upset Willy: You just tell him something nice. Biff is reluctant to lie because it will just lead to more and more lies and will go on forever
Willy and Biff-conflict Now that Biff has had his realisation, he wants to be truthful with Willy: Biff: Yeah Oliver. All day as a matter of cold fact. And a lot of instances- facts Pop, facts about my life came back to me. Who was it Pop? Who ever said I was a salesman with Oliver? Willy: Well you were Willy: But you were practically.. Very important dialogue. It shows that Willy has encouraged the fantasy about Biff s position, and he is not going to let go of it now. Biff is really determined.
Willy Is at the end of his tether now after the day he has had, and he cannot take this from Biff: I m not interested in stories about the past or any crap of that kind because the woods are burning, boys, you understand? There s a big blaze going on all around. I was fired today. He cannot retreat into his usual fantasy world, and put a spin on things- he has run out of stories . He now wants Biff to provide some good news for Linda. As soon as Biff starts to talk ( he is now trying desperately to appease Willy) we see the old pattern of behaviour re-emerging ( similar to when Biff first put forward the idea of going to see Oliver.) Willy will just not listen- he has a vision in his head of what happened. What d he say? Betcha he threw his arm around you.
Biff He cannot bring himself to go along with the fantasy that Willy, and Happy are creating. He tries to speak honestly, but Willy will just not listen. He immediately assumes that Biff made a disaster of the meeting. You insulted him didn t you? Biff is distraught Listen, will you let me out of it, will you just let me out of it?
Willy His mind is now fragmenting further and he recreates the scene - obviously imagined, as he was in Boston, of Bernard breaking the news about Biff flunking math. To him, at the moment, that was the turning point for Biff- when it all started to go wrong. He begins shouting, as he hears the voice of the hotel operator in Boston trying to contact his room ( on the night he was caught out by Biff). The past is now fully intruding on the present in Willy s mind.
Biff and Willy-conflict Willy is now shouting almost hysterically and Biff tries to calm him down by lying to him and reassuring him that everything will be all right. Pop listen to me. I m telling you something good .. but he cannot fully continue with it. He wants Willy to know he will make good somewhere , just not with Bill Oliver. Willy gives Biff no credit for being sympathetic to him and this angers Biff. You think it was easy.. He is furious when Willy asks Why did you go? because he only did it for Willy s sake, because he was so worried about him. Why did I go?......Look at what s become of you. Willy refuses to listen, claims that Biff is spiting him, calls him a rotten little louse and then hits him.
Biff and Willy The audience feels great sympathy for Biff at this point: He is trying his best to be a good son- he only wants to make Willy happy, but Willy is too deep in denial of the truth to see that. He feels guilt, and therefore can only believe that Biff is trying to spite him. Biff is suffering internal conflict too- he wants to be truthful and stop living a lie, but he also feels he has to appease Willy. He cannot fully do either. Happy, as always, tries to be the peacemaker ( mainly because he wants an easy life, and because he is embarrassed by Willy- not because he cares.)We can see this when he goes off with the girls saying No , that s not my father. He s just a guy.
The past-the truth is revealed When Willy goes into the washroom, he immerses himself fully in the past, finally remembering or allowing himself to admit to, what happened in Boston. Biff has turned up at the hotel room when Willy has the woman there. Willy is terrified of being found out and makes her hide in the bathroom. Biff is looking for comfort from his father, and for help. He wants him to speak to the maths teacher Because if he saw the kind of man you are ..he d come through for me. At this point he still looks up to and believes in Willy. However, after the woman comes out of the bathroom, and will not leave until she is given the stockings Willy promised her, Biff sees his father very differently.
Biffs attitude to Willy-change Willy says he will speak to Biff s teacher ( after trying to lie about the woman being in his room) Biff: Never mind . He wouldn t listen to you Biff is distraught. He sees his father now for what he is. He breaks down in tears. The biggest betrayal as he sees it is the stockings You gave her mama s stockings ( The stockings throughout the play are a motif for guilt, betrayal and Willy s inability to provide for his family.) Then: You fake. You phoney little fake! You fake. ( This is what he said to Linda in Act One to explain the conflict- Because I know he s a fake and he doesn t like anyone around who knows Why is he calling Willy this?
How Biff was affected by this Once Biff discovers that his father is not perfect, and even worse, that he is a traitor to his mother, Biff loses all respect for Willy. He realizes that everything Willy said to him means nothing. The affair negates all of Willy's tales of greatness that have motivated Biff up to this point. Why should he attend summer school or hold a steady job? Need for his father's approval no longer guides his actions. As a result, Willy is responsible for Biff's downward spiral. Biff did not attend summer school or graduate because of Willy's perfidy. Now he is incapable of achieving success because he possesses no faith in his father or himself.
Willy-After the breakdown Biff leaves in disgust at Happy Happy leaves with the girls Willy is left alone, shouting and disorientated in the washroom Stanley the waiter has to come in and get him Willy goes off to buy seeds I ve got to get some seeds right away. Nothing s planted. I don t have a thing in the ground. Significance of this? He does not have anything laid down for the future of his family.
Why this is a key scene in the play It begins the build up to the climax (so is important to plot structure) It is the moment when we discover the truth The truth holds the key to Biff s character The truth holds the key to the conflict at the heart of the play
The build up to the climax Biff and Happy make their way home, where a furious Linda is waiting for them. Why is she so angry? What does she accuse them of? She thinks they have been cruel to Willy, that they do not care about him as their father. Don t you care whether he lives or dies? You invite him to dinner .stranger you d do that to. You re a pair of animals restaurant. Biff s response is unexpected. He agrees with Linda. The scum of the earth and you re looking at him. He wants to have a conversation with Willy ( to tell him and make him face the truth that he, Biff has realised about himself- that his wasting of his life in the past fifteen years has NOT been Willy s fault, but his own.)
Willy Willy is in the garden planting seeds, but at the same time having a conversation with Ben. He is considering whether to commit suicide- his life insurance policy would pay out 20,000 dollars. Why does he want to do this? For Linda, to leave her something, because she has suffered . Because it takes more guts than spending the rest of his life amounting to zero Because the money is a real solid thing I see it like a diamond, shining in the dark .not like an appointment. Because he wants to show Biff that he is something : Because he thinks I m nothing, see and so he spites me. But the funeral ..He ll see what I am Ben
Willys internal conflict This is represented in his conversation with Ben. He has all the reasons that he has outlined for wanting to die, but then the doubts surface: He ll call you a coward Yes. And a damned fool. He ll hate you William All that Willie wants is to go back to the time when his relationship with Biff was simple and good: full of light and comradeship Why, why can t I give him something and not have him hate me? What is our response to/ feelings about Willy now?
The Climax-Biff The scene provides the final break between Willy and Biff. Both men struggle with their emotions and their inability to reconcile. Biff has realized in Scene 6 that he has been reinventing facts just like Willy. His realization is significant because once he verbalizes it to Willy, Linda, and Happy during this scene he separates himself from them. Biff refuses to participate in the charade any longer. He chooses to accept himself on his own terms, not the way Willy imagines or desires him to be. His choice alienates him from Linda and Happy who are committed to maintaining Willy's fantasies at all costs. Biff is able to see beyond their short sightedness and to understand that he is just an ordinary man, and he is happy with that, but Willy will not accept that notion.
Willy For Willy to admit that he is "a dime a dozen" is too painful. Such an admission would force him to openly contradict every grand story he has ever told or is planning to tell. Willy cannot deprive himself of his dreams by admitting he is only average. Even though he knows that he has failed his family, he cannot acknowledge such failure openly; instead, only Ben can share in this revelation. As a result, it is not surprising that Willy responds so dramatically to Biff's claim that their lives have been based on deception. To condemn Willy's fantasies is to threaten Willy's existence.
Willy-continued Biff levels the final blow when he confronts Willy with the rubber hose. Not only does Biff force Willy to recognize the hose and his suicidal intention, but in so doing, Biff destroys Willy's dream that his suicide will redeem him. Biff finally breaks down, sobbing and crying, and somehow for Willy, this translates into the idea that Biff likes him Unfortunately he has not listened to or accepted a word of the truth that Biff has spoken and he is now determined to get the insurance money so that Biff can be magnificent . Ben appears, and encourages him, with talk of diamonds , but having to go into the jungle to get them. Willy is still manipulating reality. The scene ends with Willy s family preparing to go to his funeral.
Requiem The funeral is a cruel and pathetic end to Willy s life- no one apart from his family, and Charley, have come to the funeral. He did not , even in death, achieve his dream of showing Biff that he , Willy, was known Biff thinks he understands Willy- He had the wrong dreams He never knew who he was Charley disagrees Willy was a salesman A salesman is got to dream boy. It comes with the territory Ironically, Happy is determined to carry on his father s dream. I m gonna show you and everybody else that Willy Loman did not die in vain .I m gonna win it for him. (Willy was only ever really interested in Biff s success, but Happy was in the end the most like him.) Biff at least has learned something. He is escaping the city, away from what he thinks ruined his father s life, and at least now has a chance of finding happiness.
Requiem It is for Linda that we feel the most sympathy- ironically for the first time in 35 years she and Willy would have been free of debt. Willy evidently could not see past his own internal struggle to realise that. The play ends with Linda sobbing. There is no mention of the twenty thousand dollars.
