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Ben's Wealth Analysis

Decent Essays

Ben’s wealth is part of his mythic quality. In both of the episodes that Willy remembers, Ben’s final word is “Rich” (miller 52, 87). The source of his wealth is vague, two completely stories are shared. First, there is the repeated tale of walking into the jungle at seventeen and walking out at twenty-one having made a fortune. But this is not an explanation, it is “an incantatory formula” (Jacobsen 251). Key to this formula is the reference to God. “And by God I was rich” (Miller, 50, 52). This places the responsibility for success in other than human hands, thereby rending any advice Willy might ask for as pointless. In contrast, there is a suggestion of a more common truth behind Ben’s success in the practical advice he gives Biff. “Never

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