Death of a Salesman

In the restaurant, how does Happy reflect Willy's values? Why does Miller have the girls come in?

Act Two

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Willy has a secret that he seems to have kept from himself for a very long time. Or at least it's a secret that he hasn't taken out and looked at very often in the years since he kicked Biff out of the house. Willy was having an affair with a woman up in Boston, and Biff discovered it when he went to the hotel to get his father to help him with his math teacher who had flunked him. This discovery was a singular turning point in the relationship between Willy and Biff and a major turning point in Biff's life as well.

The two women Happy arranges for in Frank's Chop House that last night of Willy's life are a foreshadowing and a deadly trigger for Willy's memory of that night long ago (but oh, so present) in Boston.

And what values of Willy's does Happy exhibit in the restaurant? Happy, like Willy, is a salesman, and he snows the first woman into believing that he sells Champagne and that his brother Biff is a big football star. He's con man, a joker, and a womanizer just like his old man. Nothing serious, I suppose, but more than serious enough for that particular evening.

And don't forget, Biff runs out of the restaurant, and Happy, along with the two women, follows him, leaving Willy, with his past and his regrets, alone on the bathroom floor. Happy, who Willy always favored less than Biff, pays his father back with his own thoughtless disregard.

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