I wonder..

It's difficult to determine what's past and what's happening in the present. How old is everyone now? I wonder what Linda really thinks of her husband. Is she aware of his affair?

Denial

In the later scenes, the audience might get the idea that Willy cared too much of his pride, popularity, and being well-respected. That goes for his children too. Willy stressed being "well-liked" rather than accepting the possibility of failure to Biff. This being in the past could be a foreshadowing of their current unhappiness. Also, the audience sees Willy's manipulation of reality. He attempts to deny it and exaggerates the truth. He is simply unable to accept the truth about himself and the reality of the world he lives in. He denies his own failure because it is easier to invent a reality in which he is successful which explains his current disorder.

Death of a Salesman

Today I started reading Death of a Salesman. To my surprise, it was quite intriguing. I read up to Act 1-Scene 3. As the story progresses, the protagonist, Willy Loman appears to be a struggling character. In the first scene, Willy acknowledges something is wrong with him; he struggles to reconcile memories from the past with the events of the present. Linda, his wife puts up with him even though it's clear Willy takes her for granted. In Scene 2, Willy's two sons, Biff and Happy, are introduced. Both are dissatisfied with their current lifestyles. As the story shifts back in time, the audience can see the past events that will lead up to why everything is as it is now in the present. For example, in the past, Happy rats on Biff to Willy saying how Biff stole a football. At first Willy reprimands him, but then praises him for stealing it. This miniscule even in the past could have lead to the disorder later in Biff's life. After reading these three scenes, I got the idea that in the past, the two boys used to highly respect their father and wanted nothing more than to make him proud; however, since the story is set in the present and the audience sees the current opinion of their father the two sons have, it's clear that there was an event that lead up to this current position.