Death of a Salesman

In Arthur Miller’s, Death of a Salesman, the character of Ben is used as a catalyst to fuel the development of the main character, Willy. Ben appears in three major flashbacks throughout the story. In the first flashback, Ben makes his appearance to give Willy happiness because to Willy, money means happiness. The second time Ben appears, he is used as a scapegoat to show that Willy has a hard time dealing with the …

…a hero. He believes that his boys should be like Ben, which proves that he believes in Ben’s own self-centered morals about how to get ahead. Ben has such a significant presence in the novel because Willy is constantly chasing him; he is constantly running to catch up to his brother. Even when Ben is just a hallucination in Willy’s mind, Willy believes in him fully. Ben permits Willy’s character to develop.