Willy Loman has been a businessman his whole life and has never known anything else in his life. Willy does not have Alzheimer’s disease or any other health related problem, but we know there

Happy, on the other hand, is seen as second best throughout the play. So much attention is paid to Biff that he will do anything to get back into favor with his father. As a kid, he always tried to impress his father by losing weight and later by saying he will get married. Happy buys into his fathers’ dreams of financial success and believes that his father was a good man with a good dream. Unlike Biff, he thought of Willy as a hard working individual and looked up to him in every way.

The treatment of time throughout the story develops two main themes. The first is reality vs. illusion. Because Willy is always reflecting on the past and what could’ve been, his whole family thinks that way as well. Willy’s perception of his life is so far off that he really doesn’t realize how bad his situation is. Eventually, he believes that killing himself is the answer because he can be worth more dead than alive to his family. This is characteristic of Willy’s one true motive, money. He believes that his family will not miss him and because they will inherit insurance money, everything will be okay. The second theme developed by the treatment of time is the American dream. Willy never once gave up the dream that he would achieve financial success like his brother. Though he was a 60year-old man at the end of the play still didn’t discourage him from the fact that his wishes would come true.

One of Willy’s recurring flashbacks is that of his dead brother, Ben. He had been a very successful man by investing / discovering diamond mines in Africa and Willy is mesmerized by tales of ‘striking it rich’. Ben offered Willy a chance to come with him. However, Willy refused due to the fact that he felt he could be as successful. Therefore he stayed in the states to start a family. Willy lives in the shadow of his brother and doesn’t know why he hasn’t accumulated a fortune yet. He tries so hard to live up to his accomplishments that he talks about him all the time to his family. “When I was seventeen I walked into the jungle, and when I was twenty-one I walked out. And by God I was rich” (Miller 1333). This is Willy’s dream and he tells it to Biff and Happy throughout the play. This also contributes to his expectations of his sons because he knows th

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