Howard, still obsessing over the machine then turns it on to let Willy hear his children. In this kind of situation we would expect Willy to find this extremely annoying and say how awful he thought it was, but not here. Willy does his best to remain calm as he is desperate for Howard to hear him out. After the recoding stops, we see that Howard is panicking slightly at not knowing what else he could do to stop Willy asking him the dreaded question, he even starts to interrupt Willy mid-sentence.
Howard is a very self-indulgent man who is very materialistic. He patronises Willy slightly, “Don’t you have a radio in the car?” He says this in a sense that everyone must have a radio. Willy finally gets his say, but only when he mentions the Christmas party where Howard had promised to give Willy an in-town job if there were any ever available. “Oh, yeah, yeah. I remember. Well, I couldn’t think of anything for you Willy.” After Willy hears this he panics, the tables now turn and Willy interrupts Howard mid-sentence. Willy starts to show emotion, “God knows Howard; I never asked a favour of any man. But I was with the firm when your father used to carry you here in his arms.” Willy is asking for some kind of respect for that.
Willy shows how desperate he is, picking Howard’s lighter up for him. Willy’s anger is also starts to show. Howard is being patronising again, he calls Willy “kid,” feeling sorry for him.
In complete desperation to convince Howard to change his mind, Willy resorts to old memories of his successful days working for Howard’s father. Willy attempts to explain why he became a salesman. He describes Dave Singleman, a well respected salesman who made a lasting impression on society when he died.
Willy emphasises his story to Howard, he describes Dave Singleman to be a man who was “remembered and loved and helped by so many different people.” When Willy describes Dave Singlemans death, when he died, “he died the death of a salesman.”
Why did Arthur Miller put the title and plot of the play in this particular place? There is certainly a connection between Dave Singleman and Willy Loman. Willy told Howard that “hundreds of salesman and buyers were at his funeral.” This of course was a lie, no one came, and Dave Singleman was to always be a single man.
Howard, now feeling he has heard enough, tries to end their meeting however Willy is now angry, Howard possibly was scarred what Willy might do now knowing he cannot change Howard’s mind. “You can’t eat the orange and throw the peel away- a man is not a piece of fruit!” By saying this Willy is telling Howard that he should have respect for him.
Willy is now angry with himself for getting angry at Howard; he speaks to Howard’s father, Frank. Willy is devastated; he collapses and accidentally turns on the screaming noise of Howard’s children on the recorder which drives Willy crazy. When Howard comes back in to see what the fuss is about. He then lets Willy know that he no longer wants him for the firm.
Howard realises Willy’s false pride, as he is still lying, saying how great his sons are, “There working on a very bid deal.” Howard is so fed up by the end, he wants Willy gone and continues to patronise him, “pull yourself together.”
In this second act, Arthur Miller uses Howard as a symbol of the future. Howard’s office emphasises the technology of the future. Howard is more interested in the future, not the past.
In contrast, Willy speaks not of his future with the company but with his history and past promises. The recorder symbolises how Willy is not right for the modern business world. Even his values belong in the past.
If Willy had chosen to speak of his future career, maybe Howard could have seen more in him and Willy would still have his job.