BIFF: Who ever said I was a salesman with Oliver?
WILLY: Well, you were.
BIFF: No, Dad, I was a shipping clerk.
WILLY: But you were practically…
BIFF (with determination): Dad, I don’t know who said it first, but I was never a salesman for Bill Oliver.
WILLY: What’re you talking about?
BIFF: Let’s hold on to the facts tonight, Pop.
– Arthur Miller
Death of a Salesman, Act 2. Biff tries very hard to be truthful with his father about the failed meeting with Oliver. He explains how after waiting six hours to see his former boss, Oliver didn’t even remember him. But a self-deceiving Willy doesn’t want to let go of his delusion that Biff is something other than he is. To Willy his son was a salesman for Oliver and not a lowly shipping clerk.