His defenses down and very emotional, Willy falls into a conversation with Bernard, who has achieved success in life as a respected attorney with a growing family. Willy asks Bernard about the "secret" for his success and asks why Biff did not succeed, as well. This opens the door for Bernard to speak "candidly" about Biff; he wants to know why Biff didn't go to summer school in order to graduate from high school and go on to college. Bernard remembers that Biff was all set to go to summer school, but then he dropped out of sight for several weeks. Bernard believed that Biff had gone to Boston to see his father. Innocently, Bernard is leading Willy to the painful truth of Biff's discovery of his father's adultery in the Boston hotel room. Bernard tells Willy how Biff reacted when he showed up again:
And he came back after that month and took his sneakers--remember those sneakers with "University of Virginia" printed on them? He was so proud of those, wore them every day. And he took them down in the cellar, and burned them up in the furnace . . . . I knew he'd given up his life. What happened in Boston, Willy?
This is no doubt the first time Willy has heard this story about Biff burning his college sneakers, clearly an indicator of how deeply angry and disillusioned he was after the incident in Boston. Bernard, without realizing it, has made it clear to Willy that if Biff had not caught his father in that hotel room, he most likely would have gone to summer school, graduated, and attended college. Willy becomes infuriated:
What are you trying to do, blame it on me? If a boy lays down is that my fault . . . . don't talk to me that way! What does that mean, "What happened?"
Willy becomes defensive and angry with Bernard out of his own deep feelings of guilt and shame--and his pain in realizing the role he had played in destroying his son's future.
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