He has also gone to visit Howard to speak to him about his job and the fact that he is unable to travel around anymore. He asks Howard if he could possibly get transferred to the city.
In this scene Howard treats Willy with disrespect. Howard is not sympathetic towards Willy when the salesman asks for a New York job, telling him there’s no place for him in New York. Howard is also patronising towards Willy; this is because he keeps on using the word kid referring to Willy, “No, but it’s a business, kid, and everybody’s gotta pull his own weight”. I think Howard is using the word kid to describe Willy literally although, he does not look like a kid he is acting like one in a number of ways. Howard has many comments on how Willy is as a salesman; firstly Howard does not want Willy to represent the company anymore, therefore Howard is saying that Willy is not really that good a salesman. Howard also says that Willy has never averaged, and Willy replied, “I averaged in a hundred and seventy dollars a week in the year of 1928!” This is not very impressive because that was a very long time ago, and he has not averaged that again.
When Willy asks Howard for $65 and Howard refuses, Willy becomes extremely weak, as he keeps on lowering how much money he wants. When Willy realises that his request has been turned down, he begins to loose his bearings and suddenly launches into telling Howard about his green slipper fantasy. Willy explains his green slipper illusion by telling Howard the reason he became a salesman in the first place: he thought that he would die the death of a salesman, namely that he would die after living a life of luxury, having been a famous, loved and respected salesman who didn’t even have to leave his hotel room to make his deals. Willy elaborates on the business world he knew as an eager, young salesman, lamenting to Howard, “There was respect, and comradeship, and gratitude in it. Today, it’s all cut and dried, and there’s no chance for bringing friendship to bear—or personality.” Here, it’s obvious that Willy no longer has a place in the commercial marketplace. Willy soon grows angry, telling Howard, “You can’t eat the orange and throw the peel away—a man is not a piece of fruit.” Here, Willy feels that Howard, the son of the father who had formerly promised Willy that he would be rewarded for his service to the company has gone back on his father’s word by forgetting the salesman in his golden years, throwing away the peel after eating the orange, so to speak. Howard ends the meeting by firing Willy.
At the beginning of this scene when Willy is in Howard’s office, Howard is preoccupied with his new purchase, a wire-recorder, he continues to play it and ignores Willy. This shows that Howard is more interested in the future than the past, as he ignores Willy to consider his new machine. Willy did not know what it was, and Howard was shocked that Willy did not know what it was. Willy says to Howard that he may get a wire recorder himself and Howard replies, “Sure, they’re only a hundred and a half. You can’t do without it.” Howard said that its only a hundred and a half, as if money falls out of the sky and that everyone can afford this amount-except Willy. When Howard goes out of the room for a bit, by accident Willy turns on the machine, this shocked Willy and he eventually had to call Howard in to help him turn it off. The recorder frightens Willy because it is a symbol of Willy's obsolescence within a modern business world; he cannot deal with innovation and has no place in the modern business world. Most of the belongings in Howard’s office emphasise the technological innovation and novelty, from his well-appointed, modern office to the recording machine that fascinates Howard.
This scene reflects Willy, and when Howard tells him to ask his sons for help however the relationship with Willy and his sons is not working. When Biff was younger, him and Willy both got on very well. Willy had shaped Biff to be the best, encouraging him and congratulating him on every little thing he did. Willy also rarely punished Biff. For example, Biff stole a ball from school, to practice his sport skills with, and instead of Willy punishing Biff, Willy replied, “coach’ll probably congratulate you on you initiative”. However as Biff grew older he thought less of his father, especially when he caught his father with another woman. Biff did not idolise his father anymore and called him a “fake” and a “phoney”.
Happy is the youngest son he is of low moral character; constantly with another woman, trying to find his way in life, even though he is confident he's on the right track. He always tries to be noticed by his parents by showing off. When he was young he always told Willly, "I'm losin' weight pop, you notice?" And, now he is always saying, "I'm going to get married, just you wait and see," in an attempt to redeem himself in his mother's eyes.
Willy's sons, Biff and Happy, are also failures, but Willy doesn't want to believe this. He wants his sons, especially Biff, to succeed where he has not. He believes his boys are great and cannot understand why they are not successful.
Death of a Salesman, is a play, which arouses sympathy in the audience. It shows a man who has tried hard to make something out of his life, but failed greatly to reveal a man who has tried to peruse a false dream, and who has suffered immensely, which resulted in suicide. Willy’s surname Lowman, says a lot about him. If you put it into perspective Lowman indicates that you are a low man. So Willy Lowman literally is a low man meaning he is a failure, unsuccessful and a fake. Willy’s idol Dave Singleman is a single man. Also this literally means that he is a single man. He is one of a kind and is extremely successful unlike Willy Lowman- the low man.
By Louisa Brackley