The central character Willy Loman is a troubled salesman who wrongly believes in the false propaganda of society. Willy’s victimization burdens the family with shame and debilitates Willy’s two sons in forming a purpose in their lives. This overbearing concept of failure creates a paradisiacal illusion for Willy in which his entire life has become a fantasy and he has lost touch with reality. The play movingly demonstrates how a victim of “The American Dream” can be shattered by false promises that obliterate the success of one’s business life and create trivial and conflicting personal relationships.

Willy Loman’s gluttonous perception of the American Dream eradicates his sense of integrity and compassion. Instead, Willy acquires an irritating and snobbish sense of pride and ego that leads to his ultimate psychological downfall (Kennedy 37). His new persona is evident in situations where Willy chooses to be immoral and make rash, illogical decisions. He condones Biff’s consistent thefts and unwillingness to achieve honorable grades in high school. Willy also repays those who help him most with a sharp ray of contempt (Kennedy 37). For example, Charley was always prepared to loan out a lump sum of money towards Willy, but Willy was never able to treat Charley in a kind and loving manner. This vulgar and harsh personality is constructed by society, who installed these unachievable dreams into Willy’s brain through false hope and propaganda. Our machine civilization deprives people of their real identities by putting more focus on societal status rather than on praiseworthy deeds (Martin). The villain of society uses advertising to drill the need for mundane and materialistic novelties into our cranium (Foster). Without a sense of direction from Willy’s deceased father, Willy has become utterly consumed in materialism. Thus, materialism is an addiction that makes Willy’s entire life a tragedy in which he can never “harmonize his dreams with responsibilities (Foster).”

This addiction reached out further than trinkets and vacuum cleaners, and into using women for their sexuality. Willy treated women in the same way he treated any new appliance or material good. He only seeks out “companionship” from women to satisfy his personal ego, not to satisfy sexual desires (Domina). This intense desire to illustrate a reality where Willy experiences loyalty and respect is fading away because of Willy’s incapacity to become a flourishing salesman. In Willy’s powerlessness to grow or change, he desperately seeks refuge in the propaganda of the media, which strips Willy of his individuality and sense of purpose (Martin). Willy’s lost sense of hope and individuality is most symbolized by the nearby construction of apartments that stand for the “crushing of freedom, of individuality, and most of all love (Lawrence 57).” Willy would rather give up his life than lose his false and trivial image (Bettina). His failure to achieve the American Dream did result in the break up of a man, but rather in the ideal of the American Dream (Bettina). Willy was trapped in by the expectations and status that do not correspond in the cruel realities of the harsh labor market (Murphy). Willy dug himself into an enormous hole from which he could not possibly climb out and discover that the “common man is liable to arouse only pity as a poor fool in terror for his life unless he is allowed an understanding that his revolt is towards ends which have a specific chance of attainment (Martin).” Willy represents the fool in all of us and what we can become if we succumb to the materialistic values of society.

Willy Loman’s unmistakable deficiency to accept his failure of the American Dream has put an overbearing burden of shame on the rest of his family. Shame is the consequence given by life when we fall short of our expected goals (Ribkoff). Willy’s “vision of success perpetuates crippling feelings of inferiority and inadequacy that drove to destroy himself” as well as the future of his sons. Biff, in particular, has suffered through the immense shame derived from his father’s failed dream (Ribkoff). Early in his life, Biff’s entire perception of self-worth was completely dependent on his father’s devotion towards him. Biff’s reliance for his father’s respect creates a huge backlash when Biff makes the surprise visit to his father in a Boston hotel (Ribkoff). In seeking out his father for answers to his problems, Biff uncovers his father’s inability to cope with failure, when he sees that his father is using a woman’s sexuality to cover up his shame. The woman was a desperate attempt to salvage Willy’s self-esteem and coat over Willy’s weakness and inadequacy of being a salesman (Ribkoff). His first reaction to the philandering characteristics of his father lets the audience come to the conclusion that “Biff inherits from his father an extreme sense of self-worth dependent on the perception of others (Ribkoff).” This “fragile sense of identity” galvanizes confusion and chaos propelling Biff to “steal his way out of every job since high school (Ribkoff).”

Both Willy and Biff are powerless “in the face of shame”, and shame distorted their sense of purpose and reality. Thus, developing an illusion constructed by the false propaganda of the media in society (Ribkoff). In Biff’s journey through jails and ranches in the West, he realizes his horrific revelation about his father creates a unique situation where Biff can build his character using addition by subtraction. Biff’s shocking discovery permits him to achieve a state of emotional balance by finally confronting shame (Ribkoff). In Dealing with shame, Biff acquires empathy. Empathy is the unconscious method of being put in someone else’s shoes and “feeling for them (Ribkoff).” Empathy is, more importantly, the ultimatum that gives Biff the skill and mental toughness to overthrow the tyrannical powers of shame. Unlike Biff’s past episodes of feeling he was superior to those were smaller or less fortunate, he now has humbled himself and has a vital sense of compassion for others (Ribkoff). The feeling of empathy is the resultant from the long adventures in the deep gallows underneath shame. Willy, unlike his son, has lost all sensation of any kind of empathy for others. Biff courageously tries to rekindle Willy’s cold heart by truthfully confronting his father about Willy’s problems (Ribkoff). Biff’s ultimate goal was to not be condemned by his father, but rather have his father acquire even the slightest bit of empathy for him. Instead, Willy’s burden of shame has blinded him to the truth and has left his family in deep emotional shambles, despite Biff’s heroic last ditch attempt to save his family from an utter collapse.

Willy Loman’s malfunction not to accept his collapse as a businessman and his inability to father his sons is influenced by several characters and scenarios that lead Willy down a stray path. Willy’s brother, Ben, was the father figure for Willy during his childhood. Ben experienced phenomenal wealth and riches through cut-throat and ruthless manners of obtaining highly sought after gold in Alaska and precious diamonds from Africa. These immoral methods of achieving financial success boiled over into Willy’s life. Willy condones Biff’s instinctive nature to steal and encourages Biff to cheat on tests instead of spending time studying, thus creating a lapse in Biff’s judgment that causes him to experience immense failure in his adulthood. Ben’s constant interventions throughout the play allocate the audience to depict Willy’s struggle with self-consciousness and Willy’s lack of confidence in himself to make rational choices in life (Bettina). Willy always turns to Ben when looking for answers to his problems. Ben symbolizes cheap and easy money that Willy longs for everyday of his pathetic, lonesome life (Bettina). Biff’s natural athletic ability to football falsely inspires Willy to become a role model for his star-studded son. Biff puts great confidence and faith in his father, which becomes a vital let down when Biff surprisingly joins his father in a Boston hotel. Upon his arrival, Biff instantaneously realizes that his father has cheated his entire family by being unfaithful to hi mother and that Willy provided false testimony about his fame and greatness as a northeastern salesman (Domina). The causation subsequently after the event knots Willy into an optical reality where integrity and morality have no place and Willy’s decisions are based solely on protecting the fantastical imaginations of Willy’s has high status in society.

Willy is completely stuck in this impossible “situation” and “that it has lost touch with values which should never be relegated only to the personal sphere or the family unit. (Lawrence 56)” Although Willy possesses no technique or innate capacity to rid himself of this delusion, he still possesses an intense sense of idealism (Martin). This powerful aptitude pushes Willy’s mind to the limit and he is able to believe that he can thrive against impossible odds (Martin). The tragedy is in that Willy used his Superman-like mental strength to hide his cracks and faults as an alternative to fighting the delusion and accepting his inept ability to become a salesman and to provide moral and financial wealth for his family. Even in death Willy is blind to the truth (Martin). “The nature of Willy Loman’s death” is one of immense tragedy where sacrifice has no value. In our current modern world Willy Loman represents lyrical and fantastic dreams as well as our darkest fears (Murphy). Death of a Salesman therefore “engages us directly in social, political, and moral questions (Murphy).” All the characters possess universal human traits and are reminiscent of someone we know and love (Martin). In Biff’s pursuit to run away from his problems he divulges that love and compassion are the secrets to success (Lawrence 58). Biff’s epiphany of the key to success allows him to sympathize with his father who lacks respect for his family and piers. Linda Loman conveys her take on her husband, Willy, which helps Biff fully understand the devotion and compassion his father needs so badly.

I don’t say he’s a great man. Willy Loman never made a lot of money. His name was never in the paper. He’s not the finest character that ever lived. But he’s a human being, and a terrible thing is happening to him. So attention must be paid. He’s not to be allowed to fall into his grave like an old dog. Attention, attention must be finally paid to such a person (Miller 40).

Willy acknowledges the fact that love does exist, but he and society fail to acknowledge its extraordinary demands (Lawrence 59). The reader’s natural instinct to pity Willy’s broken dreams is a direct correlation to our own fears (Martin). Collecting money through suicide is a social reality and is a final affirmation in a failed life (Martin). Willy Loman expresses our deepest and darkest horrors, because we would have made the same fatal decision as Willy in an attempt to salvage the small amount of pride left for our family (Martin).

In Death of a Salesman Arthur Miller develops a number of fundamental themes that are expanded with the intricate and skillful use of characterization, setting, and symbolism. The exploration of the theme of the failed “American Dream” in our success driven society had a major impact on those who believed in the “American Dream” at that time of the play’s release, and it still has a profound significance for contemporary society (Murphy). The resulting shame and disillusion permanently haunted and scarred the Loman family for eternity eventually leading to Willy’s futile suicide and two lost, hopeless sons. Death of a Salesman provides a “prime site for working out our deepest cultural conflicts and anxieties” and it encourages the reader to not be consumed in cultural iconography in order that we can discover a dream that we genuinely enjoy (Murphy).