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.
BIFF: Where’d you go this time, Dad?
WILLY: Well, I got on the road, and I went north to Providence. Met the Mayor.
BIFF: The Mayor of Providence!
WILLY: He was sitting in the hotel lobby.
BIFF: What’d he say?
WILLY: He said, »Morning!« And I said, »You got a fine city here, Mayor.« And then he had coffee with me. And then I went to Waterbury. Waterbury is a fine city. Big clock city, the famous Waterbury clock. Sold a nice bill there. And then Boston — Boston is the cradle of the Revolution. A fine city. And a couple of other towns in Mass., and on to Portland and Bangor and straight home!
BIFF: Gee, I’d love to go with you sometime, Dad.
WILLY: Soon as summer comes.
HAPPY: Promise?
WILLY: You and Hap and I, and I’ll show you all the towns.
America is full of beautiful towns and fine, upstanding people. And they know me, boys, they know me up and down New England. The finest people. And when I bring you fellas up, there’ll be open sesame for all of us, ‘cause one thing, boys: I have friends. I can park my car in any street in New England, and the cops protect it like their own. This summer, heh?
BIFF AND HAPPY (together): Yeah! You bet!
WILLY: We’ll take our bathing suits.
HAPPY: We’ll carry your bags, Pop!
WILLY: Oh, won’t that be something! Me comin’ into the Boston stores with you boys carryin’ my bags. What a sensation!
(Biff is prancing around, practicing passing the ball.)
WILLY: You nervous, Biff, about the game?
BIFF: Not if you’re gonna be there.
WILLY: What do they say about you in school, now that they made you captain?
HAPPY: There’s a crowd of girls behind him everytime the classes change.
BIFF (taking Willy’s hand): This Saturday, Pop, this Saturday — just for you, I’m going to break through for a touchdown.
HAPPY: You’re supposed to pass.
BIFF: I’m takin’ one play for Pop. You watch me, Pop, and when I take off my helmet, that means I’m breakin’ out. Then you watch me crash through that line!
WILLY (kisses Biff): Oh, wait’ll I tell this in Boston!
(Bernard enters in knickers. He is younger than Biff, earnest and loyal, a worried boy).
BERNARD: Biff, where are you? You’re supposed to study with me today.
WILLY: Hey, looka Bernard. What’re you lookin’ so anemic about, Bernard?
HAPPY (tauntingly, spinning Bernard around): Let’s box, Bernard!
BERNARD: Biff! (He gets away from Happy.) Listen, Biff, I heard Mr. Birnbaum say that if you don’t start studyin’ math he’s gonna flunk you, and you won’t graduate. I heard him!
WILLY: You better study with him, Biff. Go ahead now.
BERNARD: I heard him!
BIFF: Oh, Pop, you didn’t see my sneakers! (He holds up a foot for Willy to look at.)
WILLY: Hey, that’s a beautiful job of printing!
BERNARD (wiping his glasses): Just because he printed University of Virginia on his sneakers doesn’t mean they’ve got to graduate him. Uncle Willy!
WILLY (angrily): What’re you talking about? With scholarships to three universities they’re gonna flunk him?
BERNARD: But I heard Mr. Birnbaum say...
WILLY: Don’t be a pest, Bernard! (To his boys.) What an anemic!
BERNARD: Okay, I’m waiting for you in my house, Biff.
(Bernard goes off. The Lomans laugh.)
WILLY: Bernard is not well liked, is he?
BIFF: He’s liked, but he’s not well liked.
HAPPY: That’s right, Pop.
WILLY: That’s just what I mean. Bernard can get the best marks in school, y’understand, but when he gets out in the business world, y’understand, you are going to be five times ahead of him. That’s why I thank Almighty God you’re both built like Adonises. Because the man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead. Be liked and you will never want. You take me, for instance. I never have to wait in line to see a buyer. »Willy Loman is here!« That’s all they have to know, and I go right through.
How does the playwright’s use of flashbacks affect interpretations of Willy Loman’s actions in the play?
(1 point)
Responses
Flashbacks show what Willy believes it means to be successful.
Flashbacks show what Willy believes it means to be successful.
Flashbacks provide a window into Willy’s opinions of his own achievements.
Flashbacks provide a window into Willy’s opinions of his own achievements.
Flashbacks reveal the beliefs and values he has instilled in his sons.
Flashbacks reveal the beliefs and values he has instilled in his sons.
Flashbacks help develop Willy’s views of other people in the play.
1 answer
The correct response to how the playwright’s use of flashbacks affects interpretations of Willy Loman’s actions in the play is:
Flashbacks reveal the beliefs and values he has instilled in his sons.
This interpretation highlights how Willy's memories and the ideals he expresses in flashbacks shape his expectations for Biff and Happy, reflecting his own perspective on success, popularity, and the importance of appearances in achieving the American Dream. The flashbacks serve to illuminate not only Willy's aspirations but also the values he has passed on to his sons, further contextualizing their struggles and conflicts throughout the play.
3 answers