Death of a Salesman

Question 1

Who is described as “carrying the wash basket”?

Answer 1

Linda

Question 2

Who is described as “mending his stockings”?

Answer 2

Linda

Question 3

Who’s opening stage direction is “she more than loves him, she admired him”?

Answer 3

Linda

Question 4

Who’s opening stage direction is “longings which she shares but lacks the temperament to utter and follow to their extent”?

Answer 4

Linda

Question 5

Who does willy describe as “like a young God - Hercules”?

Answer 5

Biff

Question 6

Who says “take this phony dream and burn it”?

Answer 6

Biff

Question 7

Who says “I’m like a boy”?

Answer 7

Happy

Question 8

Who’s is the “silver athletic trophy”?

Answer 8

Biffs

Question 9

Who says “the funeral will be massive”?

Answer 9

Willy

Question 10

Who says “be liked and you will never want”?

Answer 10

Willy

Question 11

Who says “what the hell are you offering me a job for?” and “I’ve got a job”

Answer 11

Willy to Charley- he is too proud to accept help

Question 12

Who calls Biff a “great football player”?

Answer 12

Happy, inherenting willys false sense of pride

Question 13

Who says “I’m not a dime a dozen, I am Willy Loman and you are Biff Loman”

Answer 13

Willy

Question 14

“we’ve been talking in a dream for fifteen years”

Answer 14

Biff

Question 15

“you cannot eat the orange and throw the peel away; a man is not a piece of fruit”

Answer 15

willy

Question 16

“I’m vital in New England”

Answer 16

willy

Question 17

“I still feel - kind of temporary about myself”

Answer 17

willy to ben

Question 18

“he had the wrong dreams, all - all wrong”

Answer 18

biff

Question 19

“take that phony dream and burn it”

Answer 19

biff

Question 20

“biff is one of the greatest football players in the country”

Answer 20

Willy

Question 21

“this is no time for false pride”

Answer 21

Howard shows willy the reality

Question 22

“Now Willy you never averaged”

Answer 22

Howard presents the reality to Willy

Question 23

“from the darkness is heard the laughter of a woman”

Answer 23

Imaginings become more frequent in Act 2 as Willy’s mental state deteriorates

Question 24

“there was a man started with the clothes on his back and ended up with diamond mines”

Answer 24

Ben represents the American Dream for Willy

Question 25

"Studebaker" "Hastings" "Simonize" "Chevorelet"

Answer 25

obsession with the American dream emphasised by brand names

Question 26

"Yes, outstanding with twenty thousand behind him"

Answer 26

Willy believes that there will be positivity in his death

Question 27

"I'm not a leader of men, Willy, and neither are you"

Answer 27

Biff breaks the cycle

Question 28

"we never told the truth for ten minutes in this house"

Answer 28

Biff

Question 29

"nothing’s planted. I don’t have a thing in the ground"

Answer 29

The seeds are a symbol of Willy Loman's failed efforts to achieve the tenets that he lived by, and which he considered essential to achieve his own American Dream

Question 30

"carrying a flashlight, a hoe and a handful of seed packets" juxtaposed with "The grass don’t grow any more, you can’t raise a carrot in the back yard"

Answer 30

Willy is described as planting seeds in Act 2, he wants life to be better for his sons, but this is futile as they are ultimately trapped

Question 31

"why didn't anybody come?" "I can't understand it"

Answer 31

Linda is a victim of Willy's death and doesn't understand it, there is no hope or positivity as she has no answers and is trapped in the tragedy whereas willy escaped in death

Question 32

"A salesman is got to dream boy, it comes with the territory"

Answer 32

Charley is also a victim of the American dream and cannot see the falsity of it

Question 33

"I'm gonna beat this racket [...] I'm gonna win it for him"

Answer 33

Happy speaks in declaratives he is completely disillusioned by the American Dream

Question 34

"He had a good dream. It's the only dream you can have"

Answer 34

Happy is still trapped at the end of the play

Question 35

"I'll start out in the morning. Maybe I'll feel better in the morning"

Answer 35

Willy is trapped by the American dream

Question 36

"I hate myself for it. Because I don't want the girl, and, still, I take it and — I love it!"

Answer 36

Happy is a direct parallel to willy, link to willy's relationship with the woman

Question 37

"I gotta show some of those pompous, self-important executives over there that Hap Loman can make the grade.[...] But take those two we had tonight. Now weren’t they gorgeous creatures?"

Answer 37

happy is just as trapped by the american dream as willy although for happy this extends to having a good time and using women

Question 38

"Wait a minute! I got an idea. I got a feasible idea. [...] I thought of a great idea to sell sporting goods"

Answer 38

Happy describes to Biff a fantasy scenario about their future. Their parents, Willy and Linda, are also part of the conversation. Happy’s enthusiasm is intended to motivate Biff and cheer up Willy, and Happy’s false optimism is so convincing that Willy eagerly gets caught up in the hype. Like Willy, Happy deceives himself with his own wishful thinking

Question 39

"the jungle is dark but full of diamonds"

Answer 39

Ben's lesson for willy, the promise of the American dream/success

Question 40

"Walked into a jungle and comes out, the age of 21, and he's rich!"

Answer 40

Ben represents the American Dream

Question 41

"he's liked but he's not well liked"

Answer 41

Biff about Bernard

Question 42

"A small man can be just as exhausted as a great man."

Answer 42

Linda about Willy, links to tragedy and the common man

Question 43

"I don't say he's a great man. Willy Loman never made a lot of money. His name was never in the paper. He's not the finest character that ever lived. But he's a human being, and a terrible thing is happening to him. So attention must be paid. He's not to be allowed to fall in his grave like an old dog. Attention, attention must finally be paid to such a person."

Answer 43

Linda act one, social and domestic tragedy

Question 44

"After all the highways, and the trains, and the appointments, and the years, you end up worth more dead than alive."

Answer 44

Willy act 2

Question 45

"I realized what a ridiculous lie my whole life has been."

Answer 45

biff act 2

Question 46

"When the hell are you going to grow up”

Answer 46

charley to willy, represents his delusion

Question 47

"Almighty God you’re both built like Adonises."

Answer 47

willy's false pride in his sons, Adonis connoting an extremely handsome young man, links to Greek mythology

Question 48

"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."

Answer 48

willy's own self deception

Question 49

"I’m gonna show you and everybody else that Willy Loman did not die in vain."

Answer 49

happy is trapped at the end of the play

Question 50

‘an air of the dream clings to the place’

Answer 50

american dream established in opening stage directions

Question 51

"telling of grass and trees and the horizon"

Answer 51

pastoral idyll in the opening stage directions

Question 52

"Sure, maybe we could buy a ranch. Raise cattle, use our muscles. Men built like we are should be working out in the open"

Answer 52

happy and biff's dreams are rooted in nature and the pastoral

Question 53

“the common man is as apt a subject for a tragedy in its highest sense as kings were”

Answer 53

Tragedy and the common man essay