Arthur Miller, in his play "The Death of a Salesman," depicts the protagonist, Willy Loman, as living in his own world. Willy Loman is basically a character with good intentions, remarkable ambition, and strong resolve. However, because of his flawed values, Willy dies at the hands of his own tragic flaw. Willy Loman is indeed a pathetic and tragic character in "Death of a Salesman" who fails to succeed because he overprizes popularity and leads a superficial life.
Willy Loman is driven to be an important character who is popular and well liked. Miller portrays him as a "great" character whose ambition is overwhelming. Willy tells Biff "I am not a dime a dozen! I am Willy Loman and you are Biff Loman!" He will not admit that he's a dime a dozen and that makes Willy a great character. He will not accept that he is just a common man. He also believes in the philosophy that if a person is well liked and good-looking he will be successful. He makes the comment "I always felt that if a man was impressive, and well liked, that nothing-" Therefore Willy strives to build up his popularity among the people around him. He will not give up until he possesses popularity. Linda also refers to Willy's greatness when she tells her sons "Instead of walking he talks now. He drives seven hundred miles, and when he gets there no even knows him anymore. The man who never worked a day but for your benefit". Willy Loman intends well especially for his sons. He eventually commits suicide so that his sons can get twenty thousand dollars. Loman proves that he potentially is a great character no matter how ambitious he was.
However Willy's tragic flaw destroys him. Willy is "fake" and has flawed values. Willy overprizes popularity and builds his whole life around the philosophy that if a person is popular and good looking he will be successful. Willy makes the comment, "Be liked and you will never want." He is a pretender and assumes that he is already popular.
