In the play Bernard comes over and Willy asks if he is "well liked". Bernard is Biff's smart friend. Bernard becomes a respected lawyer who appears in front of the Supreme Court, which Willy is jealous of. He only wishes he could be that successful as Bernard and his father Charlie. .
The characters Happy and Biff are foils to the character Biff. Happy is Biff's brother who no one takes serious. For example, he told his parents that he was getting married, but they ignored him (Miller 1011). Happy is always cheerful and doesn't take anything seriously. Bernard is Biff's neighbor and friend who he goes to school with. Bernard is smart and tries to help Biff with his schoolwork. Bernard ends up being a successful lawyer. Neither of the characters is like Biff. Biff is a confused thirty-four year old who doesn't know what he wants in life. Arthur Miller created the characters Biff and Bernard, so the audience could see that Biff didn't stand anywhere in life.
Arthur Miller uses many symbols throughout the play. Willy's brother Ben is a symbol. Ben is Willy's dead brother who shows up to Willy during his flashbacks, in times of trouble. Ben was a rich man who got rich in the diamond mines of Africa. In the play Ben is dressed in all white representing wealth and success. The jungle, where Ben found the diamonds is a symbol of competition in the business world, and the diamonds are a symbol of success. Arthur Miller used most of the cast's names as symbols. For example, the names Loman, Happy, and Bernard are all symbolic. Miller gave the name Loman to represent that the family was not high in society. The name Happy is given because he is a character that does not care about anything and is always happy. The name Bernard is a smart name, and it is given to the smart neighbor boy. The garden is also a symbol. In the beginning of the play Willy talks about planting a garden. At the end of the play Willy buys seeds to plant in his garden.
