CharactersIn Death of a Salesman, Act I, pages 11-41, the main characters, as well as most of the important secondary characters, are introduced into the story. The show opens with Willy returning home early after a business trip, very tired and irritable. Willy is 63 years old and has worked hard as a salesman all his life to provide for his family. Even though Willy has put so much effort into his work, he still hasn't made it in life, and still struggles to provide for his family. Quickly introduced into the story is Willy's wife, Linda, who still tries to love Willy, even after many years of hardship. She may actually be unhappy with their situation, but if she does she doesn't show it on the outside. Linda tries to comfort Willy as much as possible whenever he returns from a bad business trip, and it's clear that she has a lot of experience. The biggest problem for Willy is the fact that he is becoming less and less capable of doing his job. When he gets home, Linda turns to him and asks, "You didn't wreck the car, did you?" As we later find out, Willy had already crashed his car. Being a traveling salesman, if Willy can't drive his car, he can't earn money, and this seriously disturbs Willy. Despite this, Willy still insists on driving, even though he has admitted several times that he knows he can't drive a car, and even tells himself that he couldn't find a job that doesn't require a lot of travel. Even though Linda, in an attempt to comfort Willy, gives him the opportunity to blame the car, or his glasses, Willy still prefers not to deny the fact that he is getting older and more senile. Upstairs, awakened somewhere during Willy's outburst, are his two sons Biff and Happy, aged 34 and... halfway... way more money than he could make for the rest of his life. life, $20,000 life insurance. Money can also be seen as a seed, a seed for his family's future. Biff approaches Willy and tells him that he is leaving forever. Willy yells at him, and Biff goes on to explain that all that time while he was out west and Willy and Linda couldn't contact him, he was really in prison the whole time. Everyone goes upstairs except Willy, who continues talking to Ben. Soon Ben leaves too, Willy is alone. Willy gets into his car and drives away, while his family listens, knowing full well what he has just done. In the requiem a sort of final closure of the story is foreseen. Linda remarks to the late Willy: “Today I made the last payment on the house. Today, dear. And there will be no one home” (139). The family members each take their share of the insurance money and go their separate ways.