“Don’t talk about something you don’t know anything about” (26). Trying to hold a conversation with someone as though you’ve been everywhere and learned everything will end up making you look like a fool, and a rude fool at that. After all, events and past experiences play a major role in one’s understanding and character. In “Death of a Salesman,” past experiences have a strong presence in Willy’s current actions. His words throughout the work bring forth irony and elicit pity from the reader as the line between his past and present is blurred significantly. Willy’s relationship to his past develops his character and attitudes, even if the topic happens to be about the chemistry of heartburn. Willy’s mind, weaker than an average, healthy
