After all the highways, and the trains, and the appointments, and the years, you end up worth more dead than alive.
– Arthur Miller
Death of a Salesman, Act 2. Willy is speaking to his friend Charley after losing his job and having had to borrow money from Charley to pay his bills. After a lifetime of working Willy is hit with the realization that he is a failure, being unable to earn enough money to sustain himself and his wife Linda. Seeing no way out of his financial difficulties, he vocalizes the idea of killing himself so that his family can collect the life insurance money. Willy’s suicide is foreshadowed here.