Miller portrays his main character, Willy Loman, not as an evil, selfish person, but as a well meaning yet misguided person. Willy is a common man, who is not anything special, nor ever was he. He chose to follow the American dream, and that was the cause of his demise. .
I asked a few people as to what they believed was the American dream. One person said that the American dream was to be wealthy. Another person told me that the American dream was to have a perfect, successful family. Willy not only agreed with these beliefs, but he also lived by them. One flaw with the American dream is that it tends to produce selfish individuals who will do anything for personal gain.
Willy focuses all his attention on Biff, as he believes that he has the best qualities in order to become successful. Biff originally believed in the American dream until he went to Boston and witnessed Willy's affair. This discovery crushed Biff and he realized that his father was a phony. Biff's emotions exploded in a fit of anger as he began to yell, "You fake! You phony little fake! You fake!" at his father (act 2, page 121). Biff rejects the American dream and only cares that he enjoys his work. Willy believes in the American dream so much that when he discovers Biff's own beliefs, his personal failures become more apparent. Willy will not let anyone intrude on his "rightness" as it shows in his conversation with Charles on page 42. "Yeah, but there's no bones in a heartburn" -Charley. "What are you talking about? Do you know the first thing about it?" -Willy. This quote demonstrates that after Willy suggests that Charles takes more vitamins and Charles questions him, that Willy cannot withstand criticism on his beliefs.
Willy thinks that in order to reach the American dream, he must be successful in his job performance, wealthy and have prestige. In the beginning he comments on how he was "vital to New England". This is a great example of how Willy's distortion compromised his obtainment of success.
