Throughout Death of a Salesman time switches are used continuously typically to present the audience with the Loman familys background and show deterioration In act one we see the first flashback at the beginning of the play As the play starts to go into flashback the backdrop changes from the present Apartment houses and the surroundings become covered in leaves This is the first sign of the Lomans happy past Willy is talking sense and telling Biff to watch his schooling giving him good advice