Happy tries to get Biff to lie to their father. Happy, Biff, and Willy meet for dinner at a restaurant, but Willy refuses to hear the bad news from Biff. Charley then reluctantly gives the now-unemployed Willy money to pay off his life-insurance premium, and Willy shocks Charley by remarking that ultimately, a man is “worth more dead than alive.” Charley then offers Willy a do-nothing job, but Willy repeatedly refuses. Bernard tells him that Biff originally wanted to go to summer school to make up for failing math, but something happened in Boston when Biff went to visit his father that changed his mind. Willy then goes to the office of his neighbor Charley, where he runs into Charley’s son Bernard, who is now a successful lawyer. Willy then loses his temper and ends up getting fired when Howard tells him he needs a long rest and is now no longer allowed to represent the Wagner Company, while Biff waits hours to see a former employer who does not remember him and turns him down.
Howard boldly refuses to give Willy a New York job, despite Willy’s desperate pleas. The next day, Willy goes to ask Howard for a job in town while Biff goes to make a business proposition, but they both fail.
