Act Two - Part 4
Just then, the image of young Bernard talking to Linda appears to Willy
– Bernard is relaying to Linda that Biff has just flunked math and gone to
Boston to find Willy. Back in the
present time, Biff does not know why Willy is muttering about flunking math.
When Willy comes out of his reverie, he finally hears that Biff has
stolen the pen from Bill Oliver which upsets him even more.
Biff promises to find something and begs his father to talk to him.
He even tries to switch tactics and allude to having cut a deal with Bill
Oliver, which momentarily calms Willy down. However, when the subject of the pen comes up again, Biff
erupts, saying that Bill Oliver will not believe that he did not steal the pen,
especially since he stole the carton of basketballs long ago.
Willy
starts to hear an operator’s voice paging him, in his reverie.
When Biff finally bursts out that he does not have an appointment with
Bill Oliver and that he will not be going back tomorrow, Willy accuses Biff of
spiting him. To this, Biff says
that he is no good and cannot understand why Willy cannot see this.
At
that moment, the girls whom Happy had been flirting with before return, Miss
Forsythe and Letta. Willy is still
caught up in his reverie with his mistress, and confusedly makes his way to the
washroom. Biff tears up at the
state of his aging father and accuses Happy of neglecting Willy, and then Biff
rushes out of the restaurant, almost in tears.
Happy and the girls follow him, with Happy saying to the ladies that
Willy is not his father, only “a guy.”
Willy
is now caught up in a memory with the other woman in a hotel room, and there is
loud knocking at the door, but Willy is not expecting anyone.
Willy seems panic-stricken at the knocking and tells the woman to stay in
the bathroom. Then he goes to open
the door, to find young Biff with a suitcase.
Young
Biff comes into hotel room, looking sad, and he tells Willy that he has let him
down. Biff has flunked math and
does not have enough credits to graduate, so Willy says that he will go speak
with Mr. Birnbaum, the math teacher, and Biff gets very excited.
He tries to rationalize his grade by saying that the class came right
after football practice and that once, he was caught making fun of Mr. Birnbaum.
Biff is very hopeful that Willy will be able to get his grade changed.
Biff
then hears the woman laughing and starts to ask who that is.
She emerges from the bathroom, telling Willy that there is something
moving in there, and Willy immediately tries to cover up her presence. He tells Biff that she is a buyer who just had to stay with
him temporarily since her room was being painted, but the woman does not leave
easily. She demands the stockings
that Willy promised her, even though Willy tells her that he has no stockings.
When she leaves, Willy still tries to pretend that he is not having an
affair, but then he finally admits that he is just lonely.
Biff accuses Willy of giving the woman stockings intended for Linda and
calls Willy a fake and a liar. Willy
shouts after Biff to come back.
