Quote 4
LINDA: You’re doing well enough, Willy!
BEN [to Linda]: Enough for what, my dear?
LINDA [frightened of Ben and angry at him]: Don’t say those things to him! Enough to be happy right here, right now. [To Willy, while Ben laughs] Why must everybody conquer the world? You’re well liked and the boys love you and someday—[to Ben]—why, old man Wagner told him just the other day that if he keeps it up he’ll be a member of the firm, didn’t he, Willy? (Act 2)
Linda defends Willy by losing herself in an unrealistic characterization of their lives and of Willy's potential at the sales firm. Is she defending her husband here? Or is she trying to keep him from disappearing with Ben?
Quote 5
BEN: And good luck with your—what do you do?
WILLY: Selling.
BEN: Yes. Well… [He raises his hand in a farewell to all.]
WILLY: No, Ben. I don’t want you to think… [He takes Ben’s arm to show him.] It’s Brooklyn, I know, but we hunt too.
BEN: Really, now.
WILLY: Oh, sure, there’s snakes and rabbits and—that’s why I moved out here. Why, Biff can fell any one of these trees in no time! Boys! Go right over to where they’re building the apartment house and get some sand. We’re gonna rebuild the entire front stoop right now! Watch this, Ben! (Act 1)
Desperate to impress Ben, Willy lies through his teeth and begins to believe what he is saying. How often do people really go hunting in Brooklyn? Notice too, that he encourages his boys to steal from the construction site next door so that he can show how manly he and his sons are. By encouraging them to live dishonestly, Willy undermines the moral character of his sons.
Quote 6
BEN: The jungle is dark but full of diamonds, Willy.
[…]
BEN [with greater force]: One must go in to fetch a diamond out.
[…]
BEN: Not like an appointment at all. A diamond is rough and hard to the touch.
[…]
BEN: Best thing! (Act 2)
Ben's refrain, with words like "hard" and "touch," suggests the importance of concrete wealth. Willy is haunted by the fact that his life of work hasn't really amounted to anything tangible.