A journal by one of the characters in the text reflecting his or her personal dilemma.

Dear: Journal,

It’s Biff here, I need your help. I have this major dilemma; I don’t know what to do. I really need your help. My father is trying to kill himself and I don’t know how to stop him. My mother told me one night that my pop was dying, but I didn’t really understand. Then she eventually told me that there was a rubber pipe in the basement where there is gas, he tries to kill himself with that. There is also those car accidents that I’ve told you about, well, the insurance people are saying that their not really ‘accidents’, they are saying my pal is doing it on purpose, and that he is suicidal. I didn’t believe it at first until I saw the rubber pipe for myself. I took it away immediately; I can’t just leave it there and watch him die. I love him, I really do.

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I remember the time I went to Boston and I caught him cheating on my mom, I didn’t want to disappoint him because I flunked math, so I went down there, but I only set myself up for a big fall. At this point I realized that my father was a phoney. I couldn’t stand him, I hated him, and I don’t think I would have cared if he died because he betrayed his family, but he was my hero. Journal, I don’t know what I should do. Should I confront him and talk to him about it or should I just leave it alone. I don’t want him to die, I really don’t. Please journal, help me, send me some sort of sign. I don’t want it to be too late, I have to tell him, but he just tried avoiding the subject. Have you noticed every time I tried to tell him about Bill Oliver he just makes things up so that I can agree and he can hear what he wants to hear, well, not this time, I’m going to lay it on the line, I’m going to tell him the truth. He’s going mental, mental I tell you. Now I’m going to confront him, and I’m going to help him. I’m not going to let him kill himself. He has a family, a family who loves him no matter what. We stick by him no matter what, especially ma, what a great pal she is. She really loves him, but she can also be very naive. I’m going to help him journal, I’m going to tell him that I know what he is trying to do and I’m going to make him stop because he has a family, I’m going to lay it on the line, yeah, lay it on the line. I just hope I can help; after all I am crushing his dream once I leave. But, my plan is going to work; I will tell him that I love him, which will make him proud. It’s Biff, he loves Biff, and so he has to listen to me.

Oh Journal, I think I got the confidence I need to go out and help my pop, but please send me a sign to let me now that I am doing the right thing.

I’ll be back and let you know how things go,

Biff Loman.