Jobs old and new

Will Landschulz
Am Lit. Per. 2
Mrs. LaMagdeleine

Willy has just been fired by his boss, his old boss's son.  Never before has "out with the old, in with the new" had such dire consequences.  He descends into another flashback with Ben, where he points out that Willy has nothing more to point to in terms of success than the elusive big break just around the corner.  He says that it just isn't enough to get by if you only rely on dreams.  Ironic, since the person giving him this advice is nothing but a dream.  He wanders around New York for a while, and the dream changes.  Now he is in a flashback about Ebbets Field, the football game before it all went wrong.  In it, he sees Charley mocking him about his fanatical preparations for the game.  This sends him into a rage, and the "camera" refocuses itself upon the people in reality, specifically, Charley's receptionist Jenny and an older and wiser Bernard.  Bernard is everything the boys are not, and has been from the beginning.  In the earlier flashbacks, Bernard was geeky, unpopular, ridiculed by Willy and Ben.  In reality, however, Bernard is successful, (he's going to argue a case at the SUPREME COURT when we see him), he is liked, and Willy wouldn't even arm an insult now.  Bernard leaves to catch his plane, and Charley takes over the conversation.  Willy, with trepidation and "difficulty," increases the size of his loan (which Charley has been giving him) to a hundred dollars.  Charley, in a strange mixture of pity, exasperation, and resignation, offers Willy a job (presumably being a salesman) for a straight salary of 50 bucks a week.  Willy has insurance, a mortgage, and various repair costs to pay, almost none of which comes from his sons.  One would think that any job is better than no job at all.  So what does he do?  He turns down the job, out of a strange mixture of pride, regret, and jealousy.  I'm thinking, "You idiot."  This could be that "big break" he's always dreaming of, the chance for him to get back to the good ol' days, and he tosses it out the window through his own arrogance.  Unemployment doesn't leave much room for a big head, you dummy.