Why? Why! Bernard, that question has been trailing me like a ghost for the last fifteen years. He flunked the subject, and laid down and died like a hammer hit him!
– Arthur Miller
Death of a Salesman, Act 2. Willy responds to Bernard’s question as to why Biff failed math in high school and dropped out of summer school. Personification is used by Miller to describe how the question trailed Willy like a ghost, emphasizing his anguish and puzzlement over his son’s behavior. In a simile Willy compares Biff’s depression and giving up on everything to a hammer hitting him.