Willy actually sold nothing, and is depending on a friend of his to lend him money so that he can lie to his family and still have his boys look up to him. It is one of his greatest fears that Biff and Happy will not respect him, even though they love him no matter what happens. Willy just fails to see this.
Willy also shows denial and loses his temper. "When the hell did I lose my temper? I simply asked him if he was making any money," (Miller 15). Later seen in act one is where Willy is complaining about his car. "That goddam Chevrolet, they ought to prohibit the manufacture of that car!" (Miller 36) Meanwhile, two pages earlier in the play, Willy said, "Chevrolet, Linda, is the greatest car ever built," (Miller 34). Depending on what his mood is determines his opinion on certain things. Willy thinks that everything should be perfect, and routine fixes on certain items make him mad, causing him to think poorly of them. The motive for him saying that Chevrolet was a bad car is the fact he owed Frank money for a carburetor. In Willy's opinion, he feels that the carburetor should not have gone bad and he does not want to pay for it.
Willy is delusional as well. He imagines his dead brother Ben a lot. Ben pops in occasionally and tells Willy how great Alaska is and is always how successful he has been. This again fires Willy's desire to succeed and not fail.
As was stated earlier, Willy believes that if he fails, his family will lose respect for him. This is not true, Biff, Happy, and Linda would love Willy no matter what happens even though he never comes to realize this throughout the entire play. Willy's friend Charley even offers him a job. What seems a bit odd is that he refused the job offer. Willy would be making the same amount that Charley was lending him, plus he would not have to work as a salesman making zero sales. It must be his pride and the fact that he can not take back all those lies that he has been feeding his family the past years.