error of judgement

• a melody is heard, played upon a flute. it is small and fine, telling of grass and trees and the horizon'


  opening sd- showing the call of the wild and life outside of the city, immediately contradicts the city setting visible to audience
• on a shelf over the bed a silver athletic trophy stands'


  opening sd- shows willy still holding onto past, prospect of biff's success + stuck in the past, foreshadows mental state
• it's so beautiful up there, linda. the trees are so thick and the sun is warm"


  willy(5) shows immense desire to be surrounded by nature, contradicts home in city, error regarding place of residence
• in the greatest country in the world a young man with such- personal attractiveness gets lost. and such a hard worker'


  willy(7) error of judgement relating to the attitudes of people in the city, want someone to bring them money not someone interesting or likeable
• i'll get him a job selling. he could be big in no time'


  willy(8) yet to realise biff desires life outdoors in a pastoral setting, error relating to his ideals/morals toward his son and his potential success
• remember those days? the way biff used to simonise the car?'


  willy(10) remains stuck in the past, machines used to show how he desires to live in simpler times, can't catch up to newer technology
• biff... bears a worn air and seems less self-assured. he has succeeded less, and his dreams are stronger and less acceptable than happy's. happy... like his brother, is lost, but in a different way, for he has never allowed himself to turn his face toward defeat and is thus more confused and hard-skinned'


  sd describing B+H, shows willy's errors in raising them- lack of acceptance for what they want, only what he deems successful, also error in staying in the city as they're clearly better suited to manual labour
• to suffer fifty weeks of the year from the sake of a two-week vacation, when all you really desire is to be outdoors, with your shirt off'


  biff(13) explains desires, can't understand why someone would work an office job, showing happy the allure of the outdoors too
• there's nothing more inspiring or- more beautiful than the sight of a mare and a new colt... and every time i come back here i know that all i've done is waste my life'


  biff(13) error lies in continuing to return to city, still desires his fathers approval and the idea of succeeding in this world, willy's error when parenting them to have the mentality of money measuring your success
• coach'll probably congratulate you on your initiative!... that's because he likes you'


  willy(20) mobile concurrence, doesn't scold biff or explain stealing is wrong(lead to later problems), reasons everything is fine because biff is liked, instils this false idea in his sons
• he's liked, but not well-liked'


  willy(21) about charley in mobile concurrence, sticks to idea that success is being better than the next man, instils belief in sons that he's some sort of great success (has further to fall in their regard when discovered to be opposite of what's said)
• that's why i thank almighty god you're both built like adonises. because the man who makes and appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead. be liked and you will never want'


  willy(23) mobile concurrence, idea that physical characteristics (something important in pastoral world, not city) will help bring them far as they're attractive, never mentions anything about being smart etc, error in ways of thinking and passing on to sons
• willy, i picked you'

  '(pleased) you picked me'

  'i love a lot of stockings'


  willy + the woman(28), decides feeding own ego is worth adultery, wants validation, transactional nature of the relationship- he gets to meet buyers quickly and she gets stockings
• i wont have you mending stockings in this house! no throw them out!'


  willy(29) shame at the memories floating through head of woman and stockings he gave her, pride toward idea they could be poor as if they can't afford more stockings, error in betraying linda
• why didn't i go to alaska with my brother that time!... what a mistake! he begged me to go'


  willy(30) over-exaggerates ben asking him to come, wants to seem important, realises past error in judgement, stubborn and prideful
• walked into a jungle, and comes out, the age of twenty-one, and he's rich!'


  willy(31) error in believing that financial success is all you could want, being rich is something he can only dream of because he decided to stay in the city, admiration for ben
• there's just one opportunity i had with that man'

  'sure, sure! if i'd gone with him to alaska that time, everything would've been different'


  willy(34) about ben, deludes himself into believing he could've been rich, error in staying wrapped up in past events
• that's just the way i'm bringing them up, ben- rugged, well-liked, all-around'


  willy(38) mobile concurrence, ben's visit, error in the way the boys are being brought up, trying to brag to ben
• ...was rich! that's just the spirit i want to imbue them with! to walk into the jungle! i was right! i was right! i was right!'


  willy(41) error in the way he wants his sons to be raised, extreme desire for their success, believes it'll come by chance
• because i know he's a fake and he doesn't like anybody around who knows'


  biff(46), reason biff left, error in willy's continued hubris and desire to keep up an illusion
• we should be mixing cement on some open plain, or - carpenters. a carpenter is allowed to whistle'

  'even your grandfather was better than a carpenter'


  biff and willy(49), biff tries to show his father that they belong away from the city in a place where they can work freely, willy stubbornly sticks to his belief and pride as he turns his nose up at the suggestions
• god... remember that ebbets field game? the championship of the city?'


  willy(55) remaining stuck in the past, fixated on point of biff's greatest success
• and i was almost decided to go when i met a salesman in the parker house. his name was dave singleman. and he was 84 years old, and he'd drummed up merchandise in 31 states... and when i saw that, i realised that selling was the greatest career a man could want. 'case what could be more satisfying... to be remembered and loved and helped by so many different people... when he died - and by the way he died the death of a salesman... hundreds of salesmen and buyers were at his funeral'


  willy(66) fixation on this man who didn't have a life outside of selling, dedicated it all just to never really achieve much, willy believes he's special enough to mirror this when in reality no one would ever attend his funeral (other than family + charley)
• you know why i had no address for three months? i stole a suit in kansas city and i was in jail'


  biff(113), error in willy's parenting as he never stopped biff from stealing, biff's lack of maturity despite his age
• and i never got anywhere because you blew me so full of hot air i could never stand taking orders from anybody! that's whose fault it is'


  biff(113) showing willy how he failed to parent them properly, how he never stopped his delusions and transferred them onto the boys
• i ran down eleven flights with a pen in my hand... i stopped in the middle of that building and i saw the sky. i saw the things that i love in this world... and i looked at the pen and said to myself, what the hell and i grabbing this for? why am i trying to become what i don't want to be?...when all i want is out there, waiting for me the minute i say i know who i am'


  biff(113) realisation of his desires, understanding his dream is unlike his dad's and knows who he wants to be
• i'm not bringing home any prizes any more, and you're going to stop waiting for me to bring them home!'


  biff(114) telling willy money isn't everything, showing he'll never live up to his standards because of this and to stop waiting for that to happen
• isn't that - isn't that remarkable? biff - he likes me! oh, biff! (staring wildly) he cried! cried to me! (he is choking with his love, and now cries out his promise) that boy, that boy is going to be magnificent'


  willy(114) fails to see the point behind biff's speech, only hears what he wants- that biff loves him, not that he's frustrated and won't be trying to live up to willy's impossible standards
• loves me. (wonderingly) always loved me. isn't that a remarkable thing? ben, he's worship me for it!'


  willy(116) continues spiral of delusion- sees ben despite him being dead, exaggerates biff's reaction and imagines all the things he said
• oh, ben, i always knew one way or another we were gonna make it, biff and i!'


  willy(117) by deciding to kill himself feels that he's ensuring biff's success with the money that he'll be receiving, still hallucinating ben