Read this extract, and then answer the question that follows it: Willy: I could build two guest houses, so they'd both come. Did he decide how much he's going to ask Oliver for? Linda: [getting him into the jacket] He didn't mention it, but I imagine ten or fifteen thousand. You going to talk to Howard today? Willy: Yeah. I'll put it to him straight and simple. He'll just have to take me off the road. Linda: And Willy, don't forget to ask for a little advance, because we've got the insurance premium. It's the grace period now. Willy: That's a hundred...? Linda: A hundred and eight, sixty-eight. Because we're a little short again. Willy: Why are we short? Linda: Well, you had the motor job on the car... Willy: That goddam Studebaker! Linda: And you got one more payment on the refrigerator... Willy: But it just broke again! Linda: Well, it's old, dear. Willy: I told you we should've bought a well-advertised machine. Charley bought a General Electric and it's twenty years old and it's still good, that son-of-a-bitch. Linda: But, Willy Willy: Whoever heard of a Hastings refrigerator? Once in my life I would like to own something outright before it's broken! I'm always in a race with the junkyard! I just finished paying for the car and it's on its last legs. The refrigerator consumes belts like a goddam maniac. They time those things. They time them so when you finally paid for them, they're used up. Linda: [buttoning up his jacket as he unbuttons it] All told, about two hundred dollars would carry us, dear. But that includes the last payment on the mortgage. After this payment, Willy, the house belongs to us. Willy: It's twenty-five years! Linda: Biff was nine years old when we bought it. Willy: Well, that's a great thing. To weather a twenty-five-year mortgage is Linda: It's an accomplishment. Willy: All the cement, the lumber, the reconstruction I put in this house! There ain't a crack to be found in it any more. Linda: Well, it served its purpose. Willy: What purpose? Some stranger'll come along, move in, and that's that. If only Biff would take this house, and raise a family... [He starts to go.] Goodbye, I'm late. Linda: [suddenly remembering] Oh, I forgot! You're supposed to meet them for dinner. Willy: Me? Linda: At Frank's Chop House on Forty-eighth near Sixth Avenue. Willy: Is that so? How about you? Linda: No, just the three of you. They're gonna blow you to a big meal! Willy: Don't say! Who thought of that? Linda: Biff came to me this morning, Willy, and he said, 'Tell Dad, we want to blow him to a big meal. Be there six o'clock. You and your two boys are going to have dinner. Willy: Gee whiz! That's really somethin'. I'm gonna knock Howard for a loop, kid. I'll get an advance, and I'll come home with a New York job. Goddammit, now I'm gonna do it! What does Miller make you think about Willy's optimism at this moment in the play?

1. Read this extract, and then answer the question that follows it: Willy: I could build two guest houses, so they'd both come. Did he decide how much he's going to ask Oliver for? Linda: [getting him into the jacket] He didn't mention it, but I imagine ten or fifteen thousand. You going to talk to Howard today? Willy: Yeah. I'll put it to him straight and simple. He'll just have to take me off the road. Linda: And Willy, don't forget to ask for a little advance, because we've got the insurance premium. It's the grace period now. Willy: That's a hundred...? Linda: A hundred and eight, sixty-eight. Because we're a little short again. Willy: Why are we short? Linda: Well, you had the motor job on the car... Willy: That goddam Studebaker! Linda: And you got one more payment on the refrigerator... Willy: But it just broke again! Linda: Well, it's old, dear. Willy: I told you we should've bought a well-advertised machine. Charley bought a General Electric and it's twenty years old and it's still good, that son-of-a-bitch. Linda: But, Willy Willy: Whoever heard of a Hastings refrigerator? Once in my life I would like to own something outright before it's broken! I'm always in a race with the junkyard! I just finished paying for the car and it's on its last legs. The refrigerator consumes belts like a goddam maniac. They time those things. They time them so when you finally paid for them, they're used up. Linda: [buttoning up his jacket as he unbuttons it] All told, about two hundred dollars would carry us, dear. But that includes the last payment on the mortgage. After this payment, Willy, the house belongs to us. Willy: It's twenty-five years! Linda: Biff was nine years old when we bought it. Willy: Well, that's a great thing. To weather a twenty-five-year mortgage is Linda: It's an accomplishment. Willy: All the cement, the lumber, the reconstruction I put in this house! There ain't a crack to be found in it any more. Linda: Well, it served its purpose. Willy: What purpose? Some stranger'll come along, move in, and that's that. If only Biff would take this house, and raise a family... [He starts to go.] Goodbye, I'm late. Linda: [suddenly remembering] Oh, I forgot! You're supposed to meet them for dinner. Willy: Me? Linda: At Frank's Chop House on Forty-eighth near Sixth Avenue. Willy: Is that so? How about you? Linda: No, just the three of you. They're gonna blow you to a big meal! Willy: Don't say! Who thought of that? Linda: Biff came to me this morning, Willy, and he said, 'Tell Dad, we want to blow him to a big meal. Be there six o'clock. You and your two boys are going to have dinner. Willy: Gee whiz! That's really somethin'. I'm gonna knock Howard for a loop, kid. I'll get an advance, and I'll come home with a New York job. Goddammit, now I'm gonna do it! What does Miller make you think about Willy's optimism at this moment in the play?[25]