Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

"BIFF: No! Nobody’s hanging himself, Willy! I ran down eleven flights with a pen in my hand today. And suddenly I stopped, you hear me? And in the middle of that office building, do you hear this? I stopped in the middle of that building and I saw – the sky. I saw the things that I love in this world. The work and the food and time to sit and smoke. And I looked at the pen and said to myself, what the hell am I grabbing this for? Why am I doing in an office, making a contemptuous, begging fool of myself, when all I want is out there waiting for me the minute I say I know who I am! Why can’t I say that Willy?

WILLY: The door of your life is wide open!

BIFF: Pop! I’m a dime a dozen and so are you!" - Page 132, Act 2, Death of a Salesman (Miller)

This piece of conversation between Biff and Willy seems very much like the turning point of the book to me.  It is fair to say that Willy Loman has been chasing the American Dream his whole life and he himself tries to be a typically "well-liked" personality to achieve that. It is also fair to say that Willy has failed to achieve his goal but he has been in denial about it throughout the whole play. Even though he does not admit his failures, he desperately wants his sons, especially Biff, to succeed in life and fulfill his personal dream. However, that did not come true for him either as his sons are nothing spectcular but only mediocre. Biff especially has failed miserably in the business world as he has been making money through plantation and farming. Willy could not accept that fact either as he keeps on encouraging himself wrongly that Biff would eventually succeed and achieve the American Dream. Basically he has been out of touch with reality the whole play. Approaching the end of the play, Willy and Biff have an argument and the conversation above is part of it. This piece of the play is ever so important because it brought Willy right back down to earth and back in touch with reality. It was made clear that he has achieved nothing in his life and contrary to his hope neither has BIff and nor will he ever. In a way, the argument also freed Biff from his father's unrealistic hopes because he has been tied down by the targets his father set out for him to achieve. Dramatic turning points like this often lead to even more striking conclusions and in this case it certainly did. 

I picked this part of the play because it stands out. The rage, anger, fury and drama are all at its highest point by this stage- even higher than the scene when BIff caught Willy with the Woman in boston. The author's use of language is fitting to the scene- such as biff calling his father by the name. Biff's tone is almost of desperation begging Willy to let him free. This definitely is the high point of the book because all the actions, daydreamings, mutterings, and conversations prior to the argument have lead the play there- to the fight. After the fight, it was all downhill and left with very little to be exited about. The argument does get me thinking because Willy never seemed to recover from his denial process even though Willy could not have made his feelings clear in a more foreward manner. What got me thinking is the reason behind Willy's suicide. Did he crash the car because of all the emotion that Biff expressed such as crying that made Willy feel the love. Or is it a way to plead for forgiveness to his son who was the only one to find out about his affair? Or is he still in denial thinking that Biff can invest the insurance money in business and succeed?