He walked away. I saw him for one minute. I got so mad I could’ve torn the walls down! How the hell did I ever get the idea that I was a salesman there? I even believed myself that I’d been a salesman for him! And then he gave me one look and – I realized what a ridiculous lie my whole life has been. We’ve been talking in a dream for fifteen years. I was a shipping clerk.
– Arthur Miller
Death of a Salesman, Act 2. This is a deflated Biff’s moment of realization that his whole life has been a lie, having been influenced by his father’s illusions about success. Biff is meeting Happy and Willy for a dinner to celebrate Biff’s getting a loan from former boss Bill Oliver. The loan was so that the Loman brothers could realize their dream of starting a sporting goods business. Except that the plan fell through when Oliver didn’t even remember Biff ever working for him. Biff had convinced himself that he had been a salesman for Oliver, whereas he was only a lowly shipping clerk. Having lived his life around the ideals of his deluded father, Biff’s American Dream bubble has burst and he is angry at having deceived himself.