For Willy, his adventurer explorer brother, Ben, and his salesman hero, Dave Singleman, are images of success, but the character of Ben is fantastical and the achievements of Dave are idealised and exaggerated. Using these as his benchmarks, Willy can never achieve the success he so desperately craves. Through a series of flashbacks in the play, where we witness Willy's persistent efforts to make the American Dream a reality for himself and his family, Miller launches a scathing attack on the very notion of the dream. He questions the values upon which American society is based and the way in which these contribute to the destruction of a man such as Loman.
Willy is a dreamer, an idealist and an escapist obsession and lack of insight thwart all his relationships and cause him to betray his own set of values. His loyal and loving wife, Linda, supports him in both his fantasies and failures and her life seems to be entirely absorbed into his. There are other flaws in Willy Loman that lead to his demise. His problems are only made worse by Linda and Happy who shield Willy from facing the truth (that Willy is not great; he is merely average). Biff tries to get Willy to see his son and himself and face the truth, but by this time, it is too late. One of Willy's last words to Ben is "that boy is going to be magnificent!" He hadn't heard a word Biff just said!.
He always harps on the glorious past as a popular, impressive and successful salesman. He also reminds everyone of his son's successes on the football field, living off the exploits of his son. He relives the past most of the time by recalling the golden days of autumn when he had the old "Chevy." He daydreams about his brother Ben, his symbol of the American Pioneer and Quick Success, until he can not adjust and adapt to his present life. As a result, Willy takes his life in a car crash to escape all of the frustrations, unhappiness and unpleasantness in the real world of modern society.