Throughout the early stages of the play Arthur Miller presents the Loman family as a dysfunctional family constantly living in the past. They are portrayed as a family filled with high yet impossible aspirations planted by the plays protagonist Willy Loman. As the play progresses the characters refer to the past on a regular basis making comparisons between the life they live now and the life they used to have. Throughout the play Miller uses the `two time zone' device, this is very effective because it allows the audience to gather more information about the characters and learn why they are the way they are.

At the beginning of the scene, Miller presents the Loman house and its surroundings to the audience. The settings have a symbolic meaning. The house is described to be surrounded by "large, towering angular shapes." This suggests that the house is overpowered by...