In fact, he believes that it is an act of selflessness stating that "[Biff] will worship me for it!" (Miller 2173) and "he'll be ahead of Bernard" (Miller 2173). through killing himself, Willy dies as a slave to money. In this way, Willy seems to serve a warning of the dangers of his desire. His preoccupation with financial success drove him to a point of insanity, something that is likely to happen when a person becomes overtly intent on a goal. His avarice was his downfall, and this is the fault of Willy and many Americans alike; with the main issue arising at our financial expectations of the dream. This, however, is just one flawed view of the American Dream.
Along with money, the desire for popularity is another misconstrued aspect of the American Dream. Recently, this has played a larger role than ever, with many people often identifying famous people as "living the life" or "being on top of the world". This idea, however, does date back some time, as well, which can be told through both Willy and his sons. For instance, during one of Willy's memory lapses he recalls himself stressing to his sons the importance of being well liked compared to the importance of having a quality education. As Willy talks to Biff and Happy he tells them "Bernard can get the best marks in school y'understand, but when he gets out in the business world, y'understand you are going to be five times ahead of him.because the man who makes an appearance gets ahead. Be liked and you will never want"(Miller 2121).He teaches them that popularity is the way to success, yet unfortunately he was wrong as we can see through his lack of success. Ironically, he uses himself as an example despite being a struggling businessman, stating that he will "knock 'em dead next week. I'll go to Hartford. I'm very well liked in Hartford"(Miller 2122).