If there is one characteristic of tragedy that Willy has come to know well, it is arrogance. He even goes as far as to say "Go Filene's, go to the Hub, go to Slattery's, Boston. Call out the name Willy Loman and see what happens! Big shot!" (62). Upon advising his children what the key to success is, he tells them what others think of him when he says "You take me, for instance. I never have to wait in line to see a buyer. "Willy Loman is here!' That's all they have to know, and I go right through." (33). This is the admittance from Willy that proves his arrogance is a fault. Vanity is a flaw that has come to inhibit Willy Loman, often he forgets that he is just a common man, and that people like him are, in fact, "dime a dozen." Many people in his life realize this, yet they find it hard to tell him, often choosing to forego the consequences of disrupting what he believes is reality. As the disillusioned protagonist, Willy Loman is constantly struggling with himself to find answers for what he does not understand. He believes that the true key to happiness is money, and to obtain money one must be well-liked. His credo is ". the man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead. Be liked and you will never want." (33). As a husband, his distorted perception of what is real is another cause of his tragic downfall.
The very basis of most relationships work on the sole principle that both partners remains truthful. Often, when one is guilt-ridden it can lead to tragedy. In the case of Willy Loman, events transpire around his love life that cause his inevitable, tragic end. When Biff went to New York to seek advice from his father about fixing his grades in school and instead finds a woman with him, Willy sacrifices the good relationship with his son in order to preserve his dignity. Instead of admitting to Biff that the woman he saw was, in fact, a very bad choice made by him, Willy tries to convince him that she is merely an acquaintance by saying that "She's nothing to me, Biff.
