has admirable character traits that Biff does not possess and is depicted as a humble, intelligent man. Overall, Charley and Bernard's characters act as foils to Willy and Biff and epitomize everything that the Lomans are not.

Charley and Bernard act as a foil for Willy and Biff. The first pair is a father and son dyad whose relationship is fortified by the daily nuisances of life that bring people together: Working through issues, supporting one another, accepting mistakes, and bringing each other up when the going gets tough. Charley does not demand anything from his son, Bernard. He has no expectations for him except that hoping that his son is happy and does the best that he can to succeed in school. 

Like Willy, Charley is a hardworking man. His son helps Biff with math and also tells Biff over and over that he (Biff) should get serious about school, and that college is right around the corner. 

In a similar fashion, Charley helps Willy by lending him a couple of dollars when the check comes home low, and encourages him to get a better job.

Ironically, Charley and Bernard are both treated by Willy and Biff as unpopular and boring, even though they have been nothing but kind to the Lomans. Keep in mind that these two families are neighbors and friends, regardless. They also share together, support one another and even root for each other, as well. Their differences have never put a damper on their relationship.

Willy and Biff

The second pair, Willy and Biff, are a symptom of Willy's view of life and how it should be lived: shortcuts, loopholes, and shallow competition.

Willy is a traveling salesman who wants to get rich quick. He claims to be a great salesman, but in reality he has not achieved very much. His idea of succeeding is that of being "well-liked" and popular. Likewise, he encourages his son to continue to focus on football, not school, since a football scholarship will get him to college, and perhaps even into professional sports.

Biff, who adores his father and follows his example, has blindly accepted Willy's vision of who Biff really is, and what he will become. Yet, Biff will discover later on that he has lived a fantasy his entire life. This fantasy, propelled by Willy, places Biff at a really high place where Biff is great, and is meant to achieve amazing things.  Far from wishful thinking, these constructs are very real to Willy Loman. So real, indeed, that he goes through his entire life believing all of this to be true, and so does Biff, for a while.

All this being said, here is a shortcut of differences between the two relationships"

1. Charley raised Bernard without expecting anything in particular from his son, and both (father and son) are entirely down to earth.  Willy raised his sons calling them "Adonises", allowing them to be bullies, and encouraging Biff to feel superior to the rest.

2. Charley was supportive of Bernard's academic achievements. Willy was obsessed with Biff's prowess in football, by his son's good looks, and by his slick and cheeky attitude towards teachers.

3. Charley did not intervene in trying to make his son look or appear to look in a specific way. Willy was an enabler since very early in Biff's life. Anything from bullying, to theft, was always forgiven with a good excuse to justify Biff.

The consequences

The result of each of the parenting skills says a lot of how influential parents are in the lives of their kids.

Bernard went on to college, finished school, then went to law school and became a litigating attorney. When Willy sees him for the last time, Bernard is on his way to argue a case in the Supreme Court. Willy is shocked at everything. How was Bernard able to figure out his life, when neither Willy, nor Biff, nor Happy have been able to do that very thing?

Bernard explains to Willy that the summer when Biff failed math, he (Biff)had gone to visit Willy on the road.

Rather than finding succor and support,  Biff finds a woman in his father's hotel room. This is to Biff more than enough evidence that uncovers his father as a liar and a cheat. What else could Willy have lied about? About Biff's greatness? About Biff's sure-to-be successful life? That seems to be exactly what went through Biff's mind. After returning to New York, Biff no longer cared for anything or anyone. His life, as he knew it, was over.

One last thing to consider is the cohesive factor. Willy and Biff are in a consistent quarrel. Biff always ends up gravitating toward Willy, not because he likes his father that much, but because his image and self-awareness depended so much on what Willy made of it, that Biff is essentially crippled by psychological co-dependence. He goes and returns. Toward the end, however, he will want to leave for good.

Bernard, on the other hand, is found at his father's workplace before going to the Supreme Court to litigate a case. This shows that, in contrast to the Lomans, Charley and Bernard remain well-bonded, the way it should be.

In not so many words, while both parents have done the best they can to help their children, the personal issues of Willy superseded any want to make his kids become successful the right way. Charley had no views, nor dreams, nor expectations. As a result, he allowed his child to grow and discover who he is, with much better results than those of the controlling Willy.

Charley and Willy are next door neighbors and antagonists, but at the same time, they are friends or, more precisely, frenemies. They play cards together, and Willy is dependent on Charley for a flow of "loans" that keep him financially afloat. Charley, who owns a successful business, offers Willy a job when he is laid off, even though, as Charley puts it:

I know you don’t like me, and nobody can say I’m in love with you

The play makes clear that Willy is the problem in this relationship. Charley is a kind, humble, helpful, down-to-earth person, but rather than appreciate those traits, Willy is eaten with jealousy at his friend's success. Rather than being grateful for the lifeline Charley offers him, Willy bitterly resents him.

Because we are so much in Willy's head throughout the play and see life largely through Willy's eyes, Charley is a crucial corrective to Willy's delusions, which makes their relationship important. Willy constantly looks down on Charley for lacking the flash and personality that Willy respects, but what we see is that Charley has the traits that actually make for a successful businessman: kindness, insight, commonsense, and humility. In fact, through the fraught relationship, we can see exactly how Willy alienates the people around him. Willy always has to win, always has to be on top, is always bragging and glad-handling people and being aggressive. All of these are behaviors that alienate others; despite Willy's delusions, the way he behaves is not conducive to a successful sales career. If Willy can't even get along with Charley, it is unlikely he is going to make many friends.

Charley is one of the very few people who shows up at Willy's funeral. He shows generosity and empathy towards his neighbor, traits that Willy would have done well to emulate. Charley models the lack of competitiveness that Willy would have benefitted from learning:

Willy was a salesman. And for a salesman, there is no rock bottom to the life. He don’t put a bolt to a nut, he don’t tell you the law or give you medicine. He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start now smiling back—that’s an earthquake. And then you get spots on your hat, and you’re finished. Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream, boy.

Charley is very well aware of the signs of Willy Loman's decline. Willy confides in Charley about his money situation and accepts financial help from Charley, who is concerned for Willy and who offers compassion as well as offering Willy a job.

The two men have been competitors over the years, with Charley always finding more success than Willy. Charley enjoys giving Willy a hard time, but ultimately wants to see Willy and his family do well.

We can see Charley's concern for Willy first in the fact that he makes a midnight visit to Willy's house when he hears Willy shouting, alone in the kitchen. We see this concern again in the advice that Charley gives as well as in the offer of a job. Charley knows that Willy is not entirely honest, yet he offers him a job anyway.

Willy's pride won't let him accept the job. It would be too much like admitting defeat, something he only does in his most private and desolate moments.

Charley is a friendly, generous man, and his son Bernard seems sensitive and sincere. Bernard in his youth was what young people call a "nerd" or a "geek." He was obviously not athletic. He was a "drudge" or a "grind," or a "drone," a weakling, "not well liked." He not only becomes a successful lawyer, but he is the kind of lawyer who is permitted to argue cases in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. And he hob-nobs with important people who have their own tennis courts, which means big homes and manicured acreage. It is a case of "He who laughs last, laughs best." There has always been a mixture of friendship and competition between Charley and Willy. That is why Willy won't work for Charley and why he insists he is keeping a strict record of every penny he borrows and insists he will definitely pay Charley back. That may even help to explain why Willy decides to commit suicide. He tells his brother Ben, in one of his hallucinations, he is doing it for Biff.

When the mail comes he'll be ahead of Bernard again!....Oh, Ben. I always knew one way or another we were gonna make it, Biff and I!

Willy and Charley are contemporaries, growing up at the same time and in the same place, and even working in the same profession. Though they share this history, they grow into very different people. Charley is a hard-working realist who raises a son who becomes a success. Willy is an entitled dreamer who raises two sons to share his own specific mode of failure - a compulsion to fantasize and a willingness to supplant reality with fantasy. 

Looking strictly at the facts, Willy has worked as a salesman for as many years as Charley, and has managed to pay off his house. However, Willy has no capital - moral or financial - to draw upon in his old age. Charley, conversely, has built up his own business and his son has achieved success. Bernard will be in a position to help Charley, should a time come when he needs help. 

Willy professes to know about success and about the qualities that lead to success, while Charley chooses not to talk about these big ideas. Instead, he acts. Charley works hard and sees the rewards of that labor, while Willy attempts to find ways to be "well-liked" and fails. Though Willy often berates and belittles Charley, Charley extends a helping hand to Willy. 

Charley tries in vain to dispel Willy's delusions and attempts to save him from financial ruin by offering him a job...

Willy's faith in his deluded vision is unshakable. Though Charley attempts to wake Willy up to reality, Willy continues to insist that he is owed something. He claims that his former relationship with his boss, who has been replaced by a son, qualifies him for financial consideration. 

Charley attempts to counter this opinion:

"Willy, when're you gonna realize that them things don't mean anything? You named him Howard, but you can't sell that. The only thing you got in this world is what you can sell."

This statement presents a neat summation of the philosophical and personal differences between these two men. Despite the fact that they live in the same neighborhood and have pursued the same profession and watched their children play together, these men exist on opposite sides of an invisible line.

On one side, a dream has failed to come to fruition while a man refused to alter his vision or to compromise. On the other side, a man has grown into a success because he didn't dream, but dealt with reality on its own terms. 

Willy insults Charley largely out of pride. It's his way of protecting his dignity. Charley's much more successful than Willy, and Willy resents him for it. Charley acts as a constant reminder to Willy of what he could have had if only he'd adapted himself to the real world instead of living in a fantasy. Willy's insults are an expression of frustration at how his life has turned out; Charley knows this, which is why he doesn't respond in kind. He may be exasperated at Willy's insults, his stubbornness and unwillingness to reach out, but he doesn't bear any hostility towards him. On the contrary, he wants to help Willy, but Willy's too proud, too deluded, too stuck in his ways to accept his generous offer of assistance.

When Charley is introduced in the play the stage directions are as follows:

In all he says, despite what he says, there is pity, and, now trepidation.   

It seems that Charley understands and pities Willy.   In their initial conversations in the play, it is Willy who insults Charley.  Charley does not trade insults with Willy. 

But Willy exaperates Charley; and Charley becomes quite frustrated when Willy asks to borrow money from him but will not accept Charley's offer of a job. 

When the hell are  you going to grow up?

But if you look carefully at his lines, Charley's advice to Willy, though actually harsh is really quite sound.  He understands Willy better than Willy understands himself. 

The only thing you got in this world is what you can sell.

At the end of the play, Charley seems to have nothing but empathy for Willy:

Nobody dast blame this man.

Charley is a good friend to Willy.  He would have been an even better friend had Willy let him. 

Death of a Salesman chronicles Willy Loman's final descent into a mad unreality. During one of these episodes of unreality, as he conducts a vociferous conversation with Ben, his long-dead brother, his next door neighbor, Charley, enters. They begin to play cards, both men trading insults, until Charley gives up and returns home. In this crucial encounter, one friend is a foil for the other in Miller's dramatic exposition of the meaning of a successful life. Charley's is real, while Willy's is a sham. Both men know this, but are unwilling to admit it to eachother. Thus, out of envy, Willy insists that a real man is one who knows how to handle tools. Thus, out of pity, which he knows he can't reveal to Willy, Charley offers his friend a job, aware even as he says it, that it is doomed to be refused.

Willy is deeply jealous of Charlie, his next-door neighbor. Charlie is everything that Willy is not: Where Willy is a braggart, Charlie is a modest man of few words; Where Willy is a dreamer, Charlie is practical and real. Worst of all, for Willy, Charlie knows that Willy is losing touch with reality and that he can't pay his bills. Charlie lends Willy money every week, just so that Willy can break even and look, to his family, like he can still make it as a salesman. The guilt Willy feels for coming to Charlie is almost unbearable; he will never be able to repay Charlie and he knows it. Willy tells Charlie, "I’m keeping an account of everything, remember. I’ll pay every penny back." They both know that will never happen. Charlie even offers Willy a job, but Willy is so proud and guilty that he turns Charlie down.

Even worse for Willy, is Charlie's son Bernard. When his sons were young, Willy used to make fun of Bernard. "What an anemic!" he'd say, comparing Bernard to his sons, the "Adonises." How awful then, for Willy, when he meets Bernard later in life. Bernard has become a successful lawyer who has friends with their own tennis courts, who has a wife with two kids, and who goes to Washington to argue cases in front of the Supreme Court. Willy knows all too well what his sons, the Adonises, have become, relative to Bernard.

Both Charlie and Bernard are great sources of jealousy, guilt and despair for worn-out Willy Loman. They serve as living reminders of how he has failed as a businessman, as well as a father. And it will be Bernard who will remind him how he has failed, too, as a husband.

You might consider some of the following to get you started:

(1) Their treatment of their wives.  Both men have loyal wives who love them dearly.  Both men misjudge and underestimate their wives.

(2) Their influences.  Willy's dreams of success are influenced by his brother Ben;  Othello is influenced by Iago.  For each, these influences lead to poor decisions.

(3) Their pride.  Willy's pride keeps him from accepting a job from Charley. Thoughts of Desdemona cheating on him wound Othello's pride in his manhoood.

(4) Their sense of alienation.  Willy fears being ridiculed and underappreciated; Othello is acutely aware that he is black, "declined into the vale of years," and has "not those soft parts of conversation that chamberers have."

(5) Reminders of infidelity.  For Willy it is Linda mending her stockings.  This sight makes him aware of his own unfaithfulness.  For Othello, it is his lost handkerchief which makes him believe that Desdemona is unfaithful.

(6) Their illusions.  Willy's illusions concern his ideas of the American dream and how to attain it.  Othello's illusions concern Desdemona's unfaithfulness.

(7) Their mental instability.  Willy's disappointment in Biff, the pressures of his job, and the guilt from the past cause him to talk to himself or to others who are not truly present.  Iago's words cause Othello to be "perplexed in the extreme," almost to madness.  Indeed, Othello goes into a seizure-like fit when Iago gives him the "ocular proof."

(7) Their deaths.  Both commit suicide.  Willy commits suicide to give his son another chance with the insurance money; Othello commits suicide when he becomes fully aware of Desdemona's innocence.  The difference here lies, though, in that Willy dies without ever becoming disabused of his dreams or beliefs.  He thinks his death is one last business venture that will make Biff a financial success;  Othello dies without any illusions, with full realization of the crime he committed and of the "dearerst pearl" that he threw away.