by Arthur Miller
BIFF: Where’d you go this time, Dad? Gee we were lonesome for you.
WILLY (pleased, puts an arm around each boy and they come down to the apron): Lonesome, heh?
BIFF: Missed you every minute.
WILLY: Don’t say? Tell you a secret, boys. Don’t breathe it to a soul. Someday I’ll have my own business, and I’ll never have to leave home any more.
HAPPY: Like Uncle Charley, heh?
WILLY: Bigger than Uncle Charley! Because Charley is not — liked. He’s liked, but he’s not — well liked.
Excerpt(s) from DEATH OF A SALESMAN by Arthur Miller, copyright © 1949, renewed copyright © 1977 by Arthur Miller. Used by permission of Viking Books, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved.
Question
Use the passage to answer the question.
What does the playwright suggest about the differences between Uncle Charley and Willy?
(1 point)
Responses
Willy is more likable than Uncle Charley and will therefore be better at business.
Willy is more likable than Uncle Charley and will therefore be better at business.
Willy does not have the resolve to start his own business, while Uncle Charley does.
Willy does not have the resolve to start his own business, while Uncle Charley does.
Willy is not as happy as Uncle Charley because his job keeps him away from his family.
Willy is not as happy as Uncle Charley because his job keeps him away from his family.
Willy has never been as successful as Uncle Charley because he is jealous and spiteful.
Willy has never been as successful as Uncle Charley because he is jealous and spiteful.
1 answer
The correct response is:
Willy is more likable than Uncle Charley and will therefore be better at business.
This is suggested by Willy's assertion that he aims to have his own business and be well-liked, contrasting his perception of Uncle Charley, who is liked but not "well liked." Willy believes that being well-liked is essential for success in business, which he associates with his own ambitions.
