Willy and Charley

While Willy was sitting in the kitchen, talking crazy, Charley walks in to check up on Willy. They start to play a card game, and began talking about random things. Death of a Salesman describes Charley as a “large man, slow of speech, laconic, immovable. In all he says, despite what he says, there is pity, and now trepidation.” (pg. 41)
These two men don’t have a good relationship. Willy and Charley seem to always be going back and forth. Willy takes offense to what Charley says a lot and always responds, “Don’t insult me.” They are always sarcastic with each other and seem to never get along. Plus, they always argue about stupid things, like how to put up a ceiling, vitamins, heartburn, when Charley offered Willy a job, and when Willy suspected Charley of cheating in the car game they were playing.
Earlier, Willy was complaining to Linda about how he is jealous of Charley. Willy tells Linda his insecurities, and how he talks to much. Willy says, “One thing about Charley. He’s a man of few words, and they respect him.” His jealousy is pretty clear, and I think this is why Willy got so insulted when Charley offered him a job. The argument about the ceiling showed that Willy felt superior in a masculine aspect because he said that a man who couldn’t handle tools wasn’t really a man, and Charley was acting like he wouldn’t know how to put up a ceiling. This made Willy feel a little better because of his jealousy of Charley.