BEN: I was going to find Father in Alaska…At that age I had a very faulty view of geography, William. I discovered after a few days that I was heading due south, so instead of Alaska, I ended up in Africa.
LINDA: Africa!
WILLY: The Gold Coast!
BEN: Principally diamond mines.
– Arthur Miller
Death of a Salesman, Act 1. Willy’s brother Ben is already dead as the play begins and only appears as memory flashbacks or hallucinations, or maybe a mixture of both. In this exchange we learn how Willy’s father abandoned them to go to Alaska. The adventurer Ben went to find him but took a wrong turn and ended up in Africa, where he discovered diamond mines. The story sounds so wild and far-fetched that one wonders if there ever was a Ben, or what parts of his character is Willy just inventing.