WILLY: You shoulda seen the lumber they brought home last week. At least a dozen six-by-tens worth all kinds a money.
CHARLEY: Listen, if that watchman…
WILLY: I gave them hell, understand. But I got a couple of fearless characters there.
CHARLEY: Willy, the jails are full of fearless characters.
– Arthur Miller
Death of a Salesman, Act 1. The kind of moral values Willy has instilled in his sons leaves a lot to be desired. Here Willy’s neighbor Charley has criticized him for sending his boys to a nearby construction site to get sand to rebuild the front porch and they return with stolen timber. Willy proudly boasts about his children’s fearlessness, actually praising and encouraging their stealing. But Charley retorts that the jails are full of fearless characters, foreshadowing that Biff will wind up going to jail for stealing a suit.