Quote 1
BEN [chuckling]: So this is Brooklyn, eh?
[…]
BEN: Opportunity is tremendous in Alaska, William. Surprised you’re not up there. (Act 1)
The American West is portrayed as a land of opportunity waiting to be tapped. Willy is haunted by the fact that he didn't accompany his brother to Alaska. It seems like sometimes he feels that this missed opportunity is the thing that robbed him of a chance at the American Dream.
Quote 2
BEN: You’ve got a new continent at your doorstep, William. Get out of these cities, they’re full of talk and time payments and courts of law. Screw on your fists and you can fight for a fortune up there. (Act 2)
The American West is depicted as rife with opportunity and prosperity, an ideal place to pursue the American Dream. In a way, it's a much more basic version of the same dream that Willy is following. In the West, however, the fight is man vs. man and man vs. nature.
Quote 3
LINDA: You’re doing well enough, Willy!
BEN [to Linda]: Enough for what, my dear?
LINDA [frightened of Ben and angry at him]: Don’t say those things to him! Enough to be happy right here, right now. [To Willy, while Ben laughs] Why must everybody conquer the world? You’re well liked and the boys love you and someday—[to Ben]—why, old man Wagner told him just the other day that if he keeps it up he’ll be a member of the firm, didn’t he, Willy? (Act 2)
Linda expresses concern that Willy's massive aspirations are getting the better of him. She seems afraid that if Willy latches on to his brother's big dreams of success, then she may never see her husband again.
Quote 4
LINDA: You’re doing well enough, Willy!
BEN [to Linda]: Enough for what, my dear?
LINDA [frightened of Ben and angry at him]: Don’t say those things to him! Enough to be happy right here, right now. [To Willy, while Ben laughs] Why must everybody conquer the world? You’re well liked and the boys love you and someday—[to Ben]—why, old man Wagner told him just the other day that if he keeps it up he’ll be a member of the firm, didn’t he, Willy? (Act 2)
Linda defends Willy by losing herself in an unrealistic characterization of their lives and of Willy's potential at the sales firm. Is she defending her husband here? Or is she trying to keep him from disappearing with Ben?
Quote 5
BEN: And good luck with your—what do you do?
WILLY: Selling.
BEN: Yes. Well… [He raises his hand in a farewell to all.]
WILLY: No, Ben. I don’t want you to think… [He takes Ben’s arm to show him.] It’s Brooklyn, I know, but we hunt too.
BEN: Really, now.
WILLY: Oh, sure, there’s snakes and rabbits and—that’s why I moved out here. Why, Biff can fell any one of these trees in no time! Boys! Go right over to where they’re building the apartment house and get some sand. We’re gonna rebuild the entire front stoop right now! Watch this, Ben! (Act 1)
Desperate to impress Ben, Willy lies through his teeth and begins to believe what he is saying. How often do people really go hunting in Brooklyn? Notice too, that he encourages his boys to steal from the construction site next door so that he can show how manly he and his sons are. By encouraging them to live dishonestly, Willy undermines the moral character of his sons.
Quote 6
BEN: The jungle is dark but full of diamonds, Willy.
[…]
BEN [with greater force]: One must go in to fetch a diamond out.
[…]
BEN: Not like an appointment at all. A diamond is rough and hard to the touch.
[…]
BEN: Best thing! (Act 2)
Ben's refrain, with words like "hard" and "touch," suggests the importance of concrete wealth. Willy is haunted by the fact that his life of work hasn't really amounted to anything tangible.
Quote 7
BEN: Principally diamond mines.
LINDA: Diamond mines!
BEN: Yes, my dear. But I‘ve only a few minutes—
WILLY: No! Boys! Boys! [Young Biff and Happy appear] Listen to this. This is your Uncle Ben, a great man! Tell my boys, Ben!
BEN: Why, boys, when I was seventeen I walked into jungle and when I was twenty-one I walked out. [He laughs] and by God I was rich!
WILLY [To the boys]: You see what I been talking about? The greatest things can happen! (Act 1)
Willy clings to Ben's material success as tangible evidence of his family's worth. He longs to measure up to the financial success of his brother. In many ways, Ben's success fuels Willy's misguided notion that riches are just around the corner.
Quote 8
BEN: At that age I had a very faulty view of geography, William. I discovered after a few days that I was heading due south, so instead of Alaska I ended up in Africa.
LINDA: Africa!
WILLY: The Gold Coast!
BEN: Principally diamond mines.
LINDA: Diamond mines!
BEN: Yes, my dear. But I’ve only a few minutes—
WILLY: No! Boys! Boys! [Young Biff and Happy appear] Listen to this. This is your Uncle Ben, a great man! Tell my boys, Ben! (Act 1)
Willy's and Linda's fascination with far-off lands is closely linked with their desire for escape and financial security. To Willy especially, Ben's exploits represent a lifestyle that is totally free, yet totally successful.
Quote 9
BEN: Now, look here, William. I’ve bought timberland in Alaska and I need a man to look after things for me.
WILLY: God, timberland! Me and my boys in those grand outdoors! (Act 2)
With the mere mention of timberland, Willy is lost in fantasies of freedom in the great outdoors, suggesting his desperation for escape. He sees life in the wilderness as a chance to really be his own man; however, he's too attached to the ways of city life to go through with such a dream.
Quote 10
BEN: You’ve got a new continent at your doorstep, William. Get out of these cities, they’re full of talk and time payments and courts of law. Screw on your fists and you can fight for a fortune up there.
WILLY: Yes, yes! Linda, Linda! (Act 2)
The American West is depicted as free of confinements and thus ripe with opportunity and prosperity. How realistic is this depiction? Is this reality, or just another dream?