Charley

Will Landschulz
Am. lit per. 2
Mrs. LaMagdeleine

Charley seems at first to be a contemporary of Willy - although with Willy's adulterous memory it can be a little strange to make that out.  Charley comes into the house via the door, placing him in the present day, and starts to play cards with Willy.  During this conversation, we also get to see one of Willy's greatest influences, his brother Ben.  Ben comes from outside the wall, placing him in the past, which brings together the present and the past.  Charley can't hear Ben, but Willy can.  By trying to carry on two divergent conversations, he gets strained and eventually drives off Charley by accusing him of cheating.  And thus we see that, more and more, Willy is choosing to physically live in the past, in the "good old days," rather than those around him who are grounded in reality.  A further interesting tidbit about their relationship is the fact that Charley shows up in bermuda shorts (called "knickers") for the flashback, tying him more closely to Bernard.  It is heavily implied that Bernard is to Biff and Happy as Charley is to Willy and Ben.  This implication gains even more weight when it is revealed that Bernard is Charley's son.  Charley (and by extension, Bernard) seem to have their feet firmly planted on the ground, and are just short enough to see under the clouds.