This play is nearly devoid of action. Death of a Salesman is sad. A father lives his life without ever striving for his own dreams. He's a salesman, but he's the one being sold to. He believes himself to be anointed with the status of deservingness. He believes, or believed, the same of his sons. At the end of the first act, the sons decide to generate a business deal to gain favor with their father. He isn't persuaded by their actions because he doubts their intentions. The pervasive doubt of the father is responsible for the damage to this family. The elder son encounters his initial, major doubt when discovering his father in a hotel room with an unknown woman. If the son's optimism was ever propped up by his father's flimsy outlook on life, it would be in this moment that the structure collapses. Asking his father to plead with his teacher for a passing grade becomes irrelevant. Is it a father's responsibility to believe in his sons, or at least pretend? Is the tragedy in that the mediocre nature of the father deemed him incapable of creating inspiration for his sons, or is the tragedy in that he was ultimately unable to create that inspiration for himself? Can we ever fix those who are unable to fix themselves? As a side note, my request to all future authors - Everyone's name should start with a different letter. If there are 27 characters, stop introducing more characters after 26. I know that it's my responsibility to pay attention, but also, this was boring to read. I read it yesterday and couldn't tell you which B-named character was which.