In Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman," Willy Loman struggles to find success and be the role model that his sons look up to him as. Although he works every day and tries hard to provide for his family, Willy ultimately fails at being the perfect father. He feels trapped himself and feels like he trapped his own family, leading to his suicide at the end of the novel. Within Jonathan Witt's "Song of the Unsung Antihero: How Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman Flatters Us", he expresses that Willy is over exaggerated and should not be considered by the audience as an anti-hero. Although well thought out, Witt's claim about the over exaggeration of Willy neglects to see his true position as the failed hero of the story and, in actuality, shows the opposite of what Miller intended to portray.
Miller creates Willy to be a working man who, even with little job or pay, goes out every day and tries to succeed, disproving Witts point that Willy has no passion and fails to be the hero of the story. In order to show Willy's little significance, Jonathan Witt compares Willy to the refrigerator Willy bought by using his selection of the appliance due to the size of the advertisement for the product. Witt explains that "Miller himself has created a very big ad for the dysfunctional Willy Loman and its effect is not altogether unlike the effect of the Hastings refrigerator ad on Willy Loman " (Witt 213). Witt tells that Miller makes the audience feel unnecessary feelings towards Willy and "impresses [them] with the life of a relatively unimpressive man" ( Witt 213). Witt, though, misses Miller's purpose for Willy Loman. Miller had constructed Willy to be the failed father who becomes "heroic" for the wrong reasons. This concept can be seen through Willy's work life. To begin with, after getting home from work, Willy and Linda are discussing Willy's position within his company.