BIFF: Let’s talk quietly and get down to the facts, huh?
WILLY (as though Biff had been interrupting): Well, what’s happened? It’s great news, Biff. Did he take you into his office or’d you talk in the waiting room?
BIFF: Well he came in, see, and – .
WILLY (with a big smile): What’d he say? Betcha he threw his arm around you.
BIFF: Well, he kinda – .
WILLY: He’s a fine man. (To Happy) Very hard man to see, y’know.
HAPPY (agreeing): Oh, I know.
WILLY (to Biff): Is that where you had the drinks?
BIFF: Yeah, he gave me a couple of – no, no!
HAPPY (cutting in): He told him my Florida idea.
– Arthur Miller
Death of a Salesman, Act 2. In this exchange in the restaurant between Willy and Biff and Happy, we see how Willy’s sons are unable to escape the perpetual cycle of lying and deception their father has created. Willy puts words into Biff’s mouth because he only wants to hear a successful outcome from his interview with businessman Bill Oliver. The reality is that Biff’s meeting to secure finance for a business venture was a disaster. But fearful of disappointing their father or bursting his bubble, they lie and say that the encounter went well. Willy’s relationship with his sons, and the way he tries to live his dreams of success through them, is a very unhealthy one.