ARTHUR MILLER: Death of a Salesman Read the following extract, and then answer the question that follows it: [Happy runs on stage with a punching bag.] Biff: Gee, how'd you know we wanted a punching bag? Willy: Well, it's the finest thing for the timing. Happy: [lies down on his back and pedals with his feet] I'm losing weight, you notice, Pop? 5 Willy: [to Happy] Jumping rope is good too. Biff: Did you see the new football I got? Willy: [examining the ball] Where'd you get a new ball? Biff: The coach told me to practise my passing. Willy: That so? And he gave you the ball, heh? 10 Biff: Well, I borrowed it from the locker room. [He laughs confidentially.] Willy: [laughing with him at the theft] I want you to return that. Happy: I told you he wouldn't like it! [angrily] Well, I'm bringing it back! 15 Willy: [stopping the incipient argument, to HAPPY] Sure, he's gotta practise with a regulation ball, doesn't he? [To BIFF] Coach'll probably congratulate you on your initiative! Biff: Oh, he keeps congratulating my initiative all the time, Pop. 20 Willy: That's because he likes you. If somebody else took that ball there'd be an uproar. So what's the report, boys, what's the report? Biff: Where'd you go this time, Dad? Gee, we were lonesome for you. 25 Willy: [pleased, puts an arm around each boy and they come down to the apron] Lonesome, heh? Biff: Missed you every minute. Willy: Don't say? Tell you a secret, boys. Don't breathe it to a soul. Someday I'll have my own business, and I'll never have to leave home any more. 30 Happy: Like Uncle Charley, heh? Willy: Bigger than Uncle Charley! Because Charley is not - liked. He's liked, but he's not – well liked. Biff: Where'd you go this time, Dad? 35 Willy: Well, I got on the road, and I went north to Providence. Met the Mayor. Biff: The Mayor of Providence! Willy: He was sitting in the hotel lobby. Biff: What'd he say? 40 Willy: He said, 'Morning!' And I said, 'You got a fine city here, Mayor.' And then he had coffee with me. And then I went to Waterbury. Waterbury is a fine city. Big clock city, the famous Waterbury clock. Sold a nice bill there. And then Boston – Boston is the cradle of the Revolution. A fine city. And a couple of other towns in Mass., and on to Portland and Bangor and straight home! 45 Biff: Gee, I'd love to go with you sometime, Dad. Willy: Soon as summer comes. Happy: Promise? 50 Willy: You and Hap and I, and I'll show you all the towns. America is full of beautiful towns and fine, upstanding people. And they know me, boys, they know me up and down New England. The finest people. And when I bring you fellas up, there'll be open sesame for all of us, 'cause one thing, boys: I have friends. I can park my car in any street in New England, and the cops protect it like their own. This summer, heh? 55 Biff and Happy: [together] Yeah! You bet! Willy: We'll take your bathing-suits. Happy: We'll carry your bags, Pop! Willy: Oh, won't that be something! Me comin' into the Boston stores with you boys carryin' my bags. What a sensation! 60 How does Miller make this such a dramatic and revealing episode early in the play? Support your ideas with details from the writing.