Glengarry Glen Ross

Act II takes place the next morning in the real estate office, where a window is broken and boarded up from the robbery the night before. The office has been ransacked, and there is broken glass on the floor. Unlike Act I, Act II occurs in one uninterrupted scene. Aaronow and Williamson smoke and stand around. Aaronow fills the silence by chattering anxiously. Baylen, a police detective, is there. Then Roma enters, booming questions about whether the robbers stole his contracts, shouting that they owe him a Cadillac. Williamson hedges, stating that they didn’t get Roma’s contract—singular—because he filed it last night. Baylen interjects, questioning how Roma knew about the robbery. Dismissively, Roma says that Moss told him, and he doesn’t know how Moss knew, but it was obvious when he walked in. Williamson explains that they stole some of the contracts, but the contract he closed last night with Lingk is safe and already filed. Roma crows that this wins the contest for him, and he wants his Cadillac. When Aaronow speaks, he stammers quietly that the contracts were probably insured, and Williamson agrees. Roma asks how Aaronow is doing, and Aaronow says “fine” before realizing that Roma was asking how he is doing in the contest.

Aaronow admits that he’s doing terribly because he can’t close anything. Roma reassures him that it’s no wonder, considering the terrible leads he’s been getting. Roma says, “Fuck that shit, George. You’re a, hey, you had a bad month. You’re a good man, George,” to which Aaronow replies, “I am?” (57). Roma discovers that although Williamson filed his biggest contract, the thieves took all his smaller sales, meaning that he’ll have to take on the embarrassing and tedious task of going out and reclosing them all. He notes that they also took the phones. Roma starts to leave to go to the restaurant, since there’s nothing for him to do at the moment, but Williamson goes to fetch some older and less desirable leads. Aaronow comments that Baylen will want to talk to all of them, which Roma calls “Another waste of time” (60), but Aaronow admits that speaking to the police makes him nervous. Roma replies that nervousness is normal and a good thing, because only thieves are so used to speaking to police that they are unaffected. He suggests, “Always tell the truth. It’s the easiest thing to remember” (61).

Williamson returns, and Roma looks at the leads, spotting the name “Patel” and launching into an angry, racist rant about how Indian people never buy. Finally, he agrees to take the three leads, grumbling.

Suddenly, Levene rushes in and announces that he has closed contracts on eight units in Mountain View, an $82,000 sale that will bring him $12,000 in commission. He adds that he made the sale despite having terrible leads, and Roma is impressed. Aaronow calls him by his nickname from better sales days, “Shelly, the Machine, Levene” (64). After a moment, Levene notices that the office is a mess and asks what happened. He too is concerned about whether the leads were stolen, because now that he’s broken his bad luck streak, he expects to receive some from the top tier. Moss enters from Baylen’s ad hoc interrogation room, cursing and in a foul mood. Aaronow goes in. Moss is surprised to hear about Levene’s sale, but he isn’t interested in hearing him talk about it. The couple who bought the eight Mountain View units are apparently notorious for talking to salesmen but never buying, and Moss calls them “fuckin’ deadbeats” (67). Levene tries to tell the story of his sale, but everyone is talking over and interrupting him. Moss asks the others whether the thief took the contracts for their closed sales, and Roma asks him crossly why he cares, revealing that Moss hasn’t closed a substantial sale in a month.

The two men argue heatedly about Roma acting superior because he’s on a winning streak, and how Moss acts the same way when he’s on top. Moss leaves, announcing angrily that’s he’s going to Wisconsin. Roma prods Levene to tell his story about the sale, egging him on as he brags about the sales techniques he used to cow the couple into buying on the spot. When Levene finishes, he yells for Williamson to give him his leads, as he is itching to go back out. Williamson tells him to be patient, as he, Mitch, and Murray are preoccupied with the robbery. Levene is excited for Mitch and Murray to hear about his amazing sale, but Williamson reminds him that he couldn’t tell them because the phones were stolen. Williamson remarks that the only amazing thing about the sale will be if it “sticks” (75), considering who the customers are. Levene becomes irate, insulting Williamson for lacking sales experience or even “the balls” (76) to sell. Williamson warns him to back down, insinuating that Levene could be fired, but Levene, bolstered by Roma’s supportive interjections, feels invincible on the day he made a huge sale. In fact, Levene implies that he might go and get a job working for Jerry Graff if Williamson doesn’t learn to treat him like the asset he is.

Levene demands three prime leads located near enough to one another that he can visit them all today. Without a word, Williamson exits into an office. Suddenly, and with alarm, Roma sees something outside through the window. With no time to explain, he solicits Levene to play along, which Levene does without reservation. Lingk enters the office and tells Roma that his wife has told him to cancel the deal and get their check back. They have even spoken to the Attorney General’s office and learned that they have three days to change their mind. Roma pretends to be extremely busy with an important client—Levene, whom he calls D. Ray Morton. Roma claims he must take Morton to the airport immediately, reassuring Lingk that they can deal with it on Monday, because the three days are three business days. Additionally, they don’t start counting until the check is cashed, which Roma happens to know it hasn’t been. Aaronow enters, outraged and insulted by the way Baylen treated him, and then Baylen enters, calling Levene to come for questioning.

Levene, trying to avoid letting Baylen reveal his real identity to Lingk, goes off with him while offering to help. Hearing Aaronow’s persistent indignance, Williamson orders him to go to lunch, which he eventually does, hoping to find Moss at the Chinese restaurant. Lingk won’t be persuaded to ignore his wife and reconsider, so Roma tries to stall him until the three-day window is closed. Meanwhile, Baylen enters and tries to call Roma in for questioning, but Roma resists, arguing that he’s busy doing his job, and Baylen will have to wait. Roma works on Lingk and nearly succeeds in persuading him to leave, but Lingk suddenly becomes concerned after noticing the police presence. Williamson interjects, reassuring Lingk that it was just a minor burglary, and Lingk has nothing to worry about as his check was already deposited beforehand. Furious, Lingk realizes that Roma lied and storms out, ordering Roma not to follow. Roma berates Williamson, who has not only caused him to lose the commission but also the contest and the Cadillac. Roma insults his manhood, his intelligence, and threatens to get him fired or frame him for the robbery.

After Roma exits to the interrogation room, Levene continues to attack Williamson for speaking up and entering Roma’s charade, even inserting a lie when he didn’t know what he was doing. Williamson is unperturbed as Levene pushes harder to try and get a rise out of him. Finally, Williamson questions how Levene knew that what Williamson said was a lie. Levene is baffled, but Williamson reveals that although he normally brings contracts to the bank, last night was an odd exception, and the contract was sitting on Williamson’s desk. The only way Levene could know that is if he was the burglar. Levene denies it and laughs, but Williamson persists, wanting to know what he did with the leads and wondering whether Levene has an alibi lined up. After he’s threatened with jail, Levene admits that they were sold to Jerry Graff. He was working with Moss, who was the brains behind the scheme and who took away more money than Levene did. Levene starts to beg. He tells Williamson that he had been ready to commit suicide, and therefore decided he had nothing to lose.

Levene swears that now he has his “balls back” (102) and can really earn for the firm. Desperate, he offers Williamson the money from the leads. Then he promises 20% and then 50% of all his sales. But Williamson twists the knife by informing him that his big sale was a sham. The couple who “bought” the units doesn’t have the money. Their check isn’t even good. Levene pleads with Williamson, wanting to know why he won’t negotiate. Williamson replies, “Because I don’t like you” (104). Levene pleads for the sake of his daughter, but Williamson answers, “Fuck you” (104). As Roma exits from the interrogation room, Williamson goes in. Roma continues to vent his anger about Williamson ruining his deal. Roma notes that even though he’s been on top lately, he still can learn a lot from an experienced guy like Levene.

Roma asks Levene to go to lunch with him, but Levene is in a daze, intoning that he should stay in the office. Baylen comes out and beckons Levene, first calmly and then more insistently. Unable to articulate anything, Levene goes with him, and Roma says he’ll wait for him at the restaurant. To Williamson, Roma asserts that he and Levene are going to work together from now on. That means that Roma still gets the two best leads, but he also gets half of whatever Levene makes. Williamson suggests that Roma shouldn’t be concerned about Levene. Aaronow enters, wondering if they caught the burglar, but Roma doesn’t know. Aaronow asks if the leads have come in, and they haven’t. He moans, “Oh, God, I hate this job” (108) as Roma announces that he’ll be waiting at the restaurant and exits.