HOWARD: Where are your sons? Why don’t your sons give you a hand?
WILLY: They’re working on a very big deal.
HOWARD: This is no time for false pride, Willy. You go to your sons and tell them that you’re tired. You’ve got two great boys, haven’t you?
WILLY: Oh, no question, no question, but in the mean time…
– Arthur Miller
Death of a Salesman, Act 2. In this sad scene Howard tells Willy that he no longer has a job and suggests that he take it easy. His statement that he forget false pride and let his "two great boys" take care of him is ironic. For Willy does not have two great sons he can rely on. In raising them, he has taught them his own defective formula for success, which is a formula for failure in life.