The first time Ben appears is in a flashback within Willy's mind. This flashback is used as an interruption of Willy's feelings of inadequacy about his present situation. Willy has returned home from a selling trip, unable to concentrate and unable to keep his mind in the present. Ben appears as an archetype for Willy's inability to face the truth, a way for him to

Miller uses Ben again in Willy's mind as an archetype. He has just been fired, and Willy cannot deal with the truth. He "remembers" a flashback that never actually happened and, is in fact, talking to Ben as he might if Ben were actually there in the present. When Willy says "Oh Ben, how did you do it? What is the answer?" the reader can see that Willy is looking towards his brother for help and for advice on how to make it in life (1267). He is feeling desperate with his current situation. The conversation is supposed to be a flashback of the past; yet, it makes sense that this conversation with Ben actually takes place in the present as things he would have wanted to say to Ben. Somehow, Linda enters the scene. She provides positive comforting, telling Willy that his life is okay, that he's well liked by his sons and that, "someday . . . he'll be a member of the firm" (1262). She provides this as a description of what can happen after honest work, unlike Ben's own. Willy realizes and, in fact, begins to demonstrate that he did once believe in himself and actually did think he could make it. A further demonstration of Willy being sure of himself is illustrated in a scene that has Willy completely sure of himself and of his boys. This is the day of Biff's big football game. Miller seems to use Ben as a device to further the action and to move the play forward. Miller uses him as a way to re-direct the play, to get Willy out of a situation and into another. After the entire flashback sequence, the plot then shifts to Willy in Charlie's office. Charley represents everything that Ben is not. He is a decent, hard working family man who has worked hard all of his life and has achieved relative success in his older age. He became the opposite of Ben; yet, Willy still idolizes Ben, the man who achieved immediate wealth. This can be tied to Willy's profession as a salesman. A salesman is someone who one specific day could achieve successes, while other days he cannot. Willy believes that this is the better way to do it, as evidenced by his belief in Ben's method.

The third time Miller shows Ben influencing Willy is in a complete hallucination of Willy's. He appears completely within Willy's mind, as someone Willy is talking to about his decision of suicide. Ben is used to provide support for his decision. Willy becomes Ben in the last scene. The reader is able to view through him the final internal struggle that Willy goes through in his own mind, leading up to his suicide. Ben provides

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Approximate Word count = 1699
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)