Scene 3 is the first scene that takes place entirely in the past. This is important because the audience is observing the events as Willy remembers them.
This scene is one of Willy's cherished memories because, in it, his children idealize him. Everything that Willy says or does is perfect, and he is an authority figure within the scene, instructing the boys on the proper technique to polish the car. He also plans to trim the tree branch over the house. This job is a pleasure because Willy and the boys delight in manual labor. The punching bag is the ideal gift because it represents the physical strength and dominance that Willy and the boys achieve through physical labor.
Scene 3 presents the audience with the first example of tension between Biff and Happy. This is an example of disorder even in Willy's orderly memories. Happy reveals that Biff has stolen a football. Willy immediately disapproves; however, he defends Biff when Happy criticizes him. Biff's action reflects his own struggle for order within his life. He also got some grades by dishonest means. And it was Willy Loman who taught Biff think and behave like that.
He considered Bernard to be a dreadful swot and was laughing at him. I also remember the episode from the first act, when Willy wanted to rebuild the porch of their house. He just ordered his boys to go and steal some sand without any confusion: Boys! Go right over to where theyre building the apartment house and get some sand. And when his neighbour Charlie tries to warn him and bring him to reason by saying Listen, if they steal any more from that building the watchmanll put the cops on them!
Willy starts boasting that this is not the first time they commit such a crime: You shoulda seen the lumber they brought home last week. The head of the family doesnt utterly care about the consequences, emphasizing that he got a couple of fearless characters there. Throughout his life he got into a habit of stealing. By stealing things Biff demonstrates his protest against people who he thinks have succeeded in live better than he has.
It is also the way that gives him an excuse to be fired from any job he finds unpromising. Biff comes to terms with the reality of his situation and life. By the end of the play he refuses to live in a life of delusion and lie to himself and those around him. He realizes the fact that he is a deceitful thief and leaves home hoping to change his life for the better.
Willy is mentally collapsing at this point. He had difficulty distinguishing between the past and present earlier in the play, but the possibility of things getting better still existed. By Scene 9, Willy knows that all is lost — both his job and Biff's chance of success — so he resorts to the past to escape the present. Biff's failure with Oliver immediately moves Willy back to his son's failure in high school. As Biff tries to explain what happened with Oliver, Willy is caught in the past, still trying to understand what it is that caused Biff to "lay down" in high school and how that connects to his failure today.
Willy is desperately trying to regain order in the present by making sense of the past. Learning that Biff stole Oliver's pen temporarily brings Willy out of the past. Willy feels responsible for Biff's actions, and he immediately moves back into the past to find justification for the theft. Biff states, "I didn't exactly steal it [the pen]! Willy is partially to blame for Biff's actions simply because he sanctioned his behavior every time before by not making Biff face the consequences.
Therefore, because Willy taught Biff that he did not have to follow rules in high school, his behavior in the present is a reflection of his previous conditioning. As a result, Willy bears the primary responsibility for Biff's present failure. Willy loses his grip on reality as the the scene progresses and blends Young Bernard, the hotel operator, and the Woman into his conversation with Biff.
Once Biff realizes his father is hallucinating, he is compelled to lie to Willy in order to restore him to his senses.
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