Discussion on death-of-a-salesman-p-41-50

[Lexis]

Describe Willy's encounter with Charlie.What d we learn?

Willy's encounter with Charlie gave us some information about
Charlie,he's a large man,slow of speech,laconic and immovable.For some
reason Charlie reminds Willy of a guy named Ben ,who was his
brother.The flashback Willy remembered told us a little bit more about
Willy and Ben.

[Matthew Ez]

Question 21:
Write a character sketch for Ben and what is Ben's philosophy of life?

Ben is introduced to us carrying a valise which is a small piece of
luggage and an umbrella. He is a man in his sixties with a mustache
(pg. 44). Ben's philosophy on life is being successful and he has
accomplished that, also Willy uses Ben as a symbol of success that he
desperately craves for himself and his sons Biff and Happy.

[Sharlene]

Hoping this works.

Question: What evidence is there in this scene that Willy is
deteriorating?

Well, the evidence that I seem to notice is that Willy is have
flashbacks of Ben, his brother, while playing cards with Charley. When
Willy says, "I'm getting awfully tired, Ben" (pg. 44), Charley notices
that Willy just called him Ben. At this moment, Willy is seeing Ben,
who had died, and is also seeing the past. This shows that Willy is
deteriorating because he sees and talks to Ben, but Charley doesn't
see Ben. Willy is having a conversation with Ben, and Charley gets
confused.

[Ms. Mauricio]

More on Satyn's answer - remember that Charley offers Willy work
(Miller 43) which indicates that Charley is doing well with his line
of work. In this case, that means that Charley is more successful than
Willy - causing Willy to feel insulted whenever Charley offers Willy
work.

It is not that Charley reminds Willy of Ben - but more that Willy is
trying to cover up that he was just speaking to Ben - which is just a
vision that he has.