Many themes were presented throughout The Death of a Salesman. The first being about Willy's warped sense of the American Dream and his continual belief that being well liked was the most important path to being successful. His unrealistic thoughts and dreams for him and his family made it impossible for them to hold a normal place in society. His constant lies throughout his life about how successful he was and other parts led to the eventual downfall of not only him but his family too. The central conflict of the story was between Willy and his eldest son Biff, who was very popular and successful in his young years but because of the values Willy instilled in him failed in life. By flashing back in Willy's life through memories, the author shows us how Willy taught his sons that things such as luck, likability, and high dreams are more important than things such as hard work and expertise. Another theme throughout the book is abandonment, as Willy was abandoned as a child by his father and older brother and in the end ironically Willy abandons his family inspired by love. The tragedy of his death is because of his inability to distinguish between how other people see him as an economic resource or as a human being. He abandons his family because he believes that wealth is more important than having a father or husband and that contributes to the fact that Willy had the wrong values.

In the last parts of The Death of a Salesman, Willy has just lost his job but still is excited about the fact he gets to go out for a fancy dinner with his sons who he believes have been successful and everything will be alright. When Mr. Wagner leaves, Willy slips into another memory in which Ben offered him a job to come to Alaska with him but Linda tells him Willy is on track to become a member of the firm so he can't take it. Ben also asks him whats important and Willy says it's not about what you do, but how well liked you are by people. This reiterates Willy's character and personality in the fact that you get success from being well liked while in contrast Ben is all about the fact that success is about wealth and physical things you can touch like money. In a new memory, Bernard enters as the Loman family is about to go to the football game and Willy has very excessive expectations in the game. This memory in the plot shows that Willy and his priorities are mixed up because he believes that Biff's success on the football field is more important than anything he does in the classroom. Now in the present, Willy goes to Charley's office and there stands Bernard all grown up. Bernard is highly successful and going to Washington to argue a case in the Supreme Court but Willy, through all is memories, is unable to understand why Bernard became successful while Biff has never lived up to his potential. I believe the reason Biff failed was because of the values Willy instilled in him while Bernard is successful because of the values Charley instilled in him, those of being a careful and hard worker. Willy asks Bernard why Biff was never successful and both agree that Biff's life derailed after he failed math which is because Willy told him that football and popularity was important while school was not.  Bernard recalls that Biff was determined to go to summer school because he wanted to rededicate himself and really work for success but after going to visit his father in Boston he comes up and has given up so whatever happened in Boston was crucial. Willy refuses to discuss what happened, so whatever did happened was important and was a huge factor in the failure of Biff. Bernard leaves and Willy goes in Charley's office, Charley starts to count the usual fifty dollars that Willy usually asks for. Willy selfishly asks for a hundred and ten dollars because of all of his payments due and Charley asks Willy why he won't take his job offer, in which he would earn fifty dollars a week. Because of Willy's excessive pride and his inability to give up his identity as a salesman he refuses to take the job, insisting on being a hero by refusing all help. Now at the restaurant, Happy starts to flirt with an attractive girl, Miss Forsythe who claims to be a cover model. Happy idolizes Willy in part because he has always paid more attention to Biff and shares the characteristic of having little respect for women. Biff tells Happy that he waited in Mr. Oliver's waiting room for six hours and when he finally came out, he gave Biff one look then walked away. Apparently he did not remember Biff at all and Biff remembers that he was not even a salesman, he was just a shipping clerk but somehow Willy's constant exaggerations convinced him and everyone else in the family that Biff was more important than he really was. Humiliated, Biff snuck into Mr. Oliver's office and stole his fountain pen, fleeing the building. Biff tells Happy that he wants to confess this to Willy, wanting to break his cycle of self destruction by forcing Willy to see the truth for once. Happy tells him it would be better to lie, so Willy will have something to look forward to instead of more bad news. Biff begins to tell Willy what has happened when he arrives but before he can say anything, Willy tells him he has been fired. At this point Biff has kind of an epiphany in which he realizes that all the inflated dreams the Loman's have shared are extremely destructive and wishes to share this with his father. Willy tries to hide from the truth that Biff is telling him but instead focuses that Biff's failing of math was the source of his troubles because Willy refuses to take any responsibility for Biff's failure. While Willy is still in the bathroom, Biff puts the rubber hose on the table and exposes the ugly truth  that they know about his attempts to take his life and they can no longer afford to ignore it. Biff rushes out of the restaurant embarrassed and Happy follows him, abandoning their father in the restroom. In the restroom, Willy relives the memory of being surprised by Biff in Boston while he was with the women he had an affair with. Biff enters ashamed that he failed math and begs Willy to convince the teacher to let him pass, again showing that Biff doesn't believe in hard work and instead wants his father to save him. Wanting to rush him out of the room before he sees the woman, Willy agrees to help Biff pass math but this leads to Biff mocking the teacher which leads to the woman revealing herself. This part in the plot is one of the most important parts in the book, it reveals that in the face of lies reality will ultimately reveal itself. Biff realizes that the man he admired is just a lie and a phony and the falseness of the values Willy instilled in him. After the memory,
Willy leaves the restroom begging Stanley, a waiter at the restaurant, for a place to buy pea seeds which I believe is because he knows the end of his life is coming and he wants to leave something behind. Biff and Happy return home later that night and their mom reveals that she sees the truth behind her sons even though Willy can't. She sees the boys for what they really are, accusing Happy spending time with all of his "rotten lousy whores" and asks Biff if he cares whether Willy is alive or dead. She also yells at them for abandoning Willy at the restaurant and demands that they both pack immediately and leave the house. Happy continues to live in a constant lie, telling his mother he had no part in abandoning Willy while Biff in contrast has began to confront the negative aspects of his personality and finally realizing his whole life has been a lie. Linda tells Biff that Willy is in the garden now, obsessively planting seeds. In the garden, Willy is talking with Ben and he mentions the fact that he has a twenty thousand dollar life insurance policy his family gets when he is dead. He also adds that at the funeral, his family and Biff will see how many important he is from the number of the people there. This shows that he continues to think that being well liked is the most important thing and his continual belief in the American capitalist system even though it has failed him. Ben counters that it would be cowardly and knows the truth behind it. Biff enters and tells Willy that he is leaving, even though Willy believes he is meeting again with Mr. Oliver tomorrow and Biff tells him that he is not in fact meeting with him. Biff believes the fact that he is leaving and not going to stay in touch is an act of love but Willy believes it is abandonment and responds that Biff is throwing his life away in spite. Biff brings out the rubber hose in front of Willy and tells him that committing suicide won't make him a hero and accuses everyone in his whole family of making delusions. He charges Happy with making his job title seem more important than it really is and tells his father that the three months he was out of touch was for being in jail in Kansas City for stealing a suit. He reveals that his father's unrealistic goals for him have made it impossible for him to be a functioning part of society  and he ruined his life by feeding him continual lies. Biff continues to explain how he really wants to just work outdoors and that is his true love, and these revelations throughout the play have caused him to value more important things. Sobbing, Biff goes upstairs and finally realizes that Biff has loved him this whole time and Happy and Linda assure that to him. Happy goes upstairs and Linda follows him; now alone Willy tells the ghost of Ben that Biff will be highly successful one day, once he has twenty thousand dollars. Willy says goodbye to the house and as Linda is telling him to come to bed, the Loman family hears the car growl to life and drive away as Linda, Happy, and Biff rush downstairs. This last part symbolizes that Willy thought that abandoning his family in order to make them wealthy was more important than being a loving father or husband, and his unrealistic sense of the American Dream.

In Part 2 of The Death of a Salesman, Willy wakes up to Happy has left and Biff has gone to meet with Mr. Oliver about the job. Linda then reminds Willy that he needs to ask Mr. Wagner for a non-traveling position in New York, Linda also reminds him that he needs to cover their last payment on their home mortgage, refrigerator, and Willy's life insurance which I believe symbolizes he will never be out debt and finally be free from worries about money. Right as he is about to leave, Linda tells him that his boys want to take him to dinner at Frank's Chop House, a fancy steak restaurant. He is excited and elated because it represents his dream, a sign that his sons are finally successful. He also yells at her for mending stockings because Willy had an affair on one of his traveling trips with another woman who every time he visits he brings her stockings. I feel that this shows Willy has still not dealt with his consequences of the infidelity that has occurred. Willy arrives at Wagner's office and as he enters Mr. Wagner doesn't pay much attention to him, instead playing with his wire recorder he bought for dictation, but has been using it to record his family. He forces Willy to listen to all the recordings and everytime Willy tries to praise the device, Mr. Wagner just shushes him which I feel shows he cares about this device more than about Willy. It shows that Willy is just a pawn that doesn't mean anything and it shows that Mr. Wagner is selfish. Willy tells Mr. Wagner a story about a salesman who inspired him, this salesman sold until he was eighty-four years old and died "the death of a salesman," alone in a train compartment. First of all I believe that the fact that Willy considers this man his role model shows he believes in the wrong values and selling to him is more important than anything else in his life. The role model salesman was mourned by hundreds of salesman and buyers, which shows that he is the epitome of Willy's mad desire to be well-liked. Willy begs Mr. Wagner for a job and continues to mention Mr. Wagner's father and how close they were, Mr. Wagner then leaves the office and tells Willy to compose himself. In his absence, Willy begins to speak with Mr. Wagner's father but accidentally turn on the recording device and is unable to turn it off. I believe this is a very important part in the book because it symbolizes that the world and his work have passed his time. Mr. Wagner comes back in and tells Willy he is no longer welcome to represent the company and tells him to rest and let his sons support him. This is also very important because it symbolizes that Willy's exaggerations about his sons success have come to haunt him because Mr. Wagner believes they are much more successful than they really are and believes they can support their father.

After the daydream of Willy; Charley, the neighbor, is introduced and described as a large man, slow of speech, laconic and immovable. In everything he says there are signs of pity, and now trepidation. Charley adds another element of pity to the story and frustrates Willy by trying to be helpful and offering him a job to work for him because he knows the troubles he is having at his own work. Because of Willy's overconfidence and his sense of pride, he angrily rejects the offer and says he already has a job why would he need another one. Willy has clouded his mind in countless lies he tells himself to make him feel better such as his job is enough and he can keep working like this to support his family. In a kind of a daydream, Willy's rugged and dignified older brother, Ben, appears. We learn that Ben died just a few weeks ago, in Africa, during a conversation between Willy and Charley but Charley leaves because he is disturbed that Willy is talking to his dead brother as if he was in the room. Willy flashes back to when Ben visited the house telling the story of how he left when Willy was four  for Alaska to look for their father who abandoned them but with a poor sense of geography he ended up in Africa. However he ended up making a fortune in the diamond mines in Africa and now is very successful. The fact that both his brother and his father abandoned him at such a young age could be important and possibly foreshadow something. Willy also boasts about his sons and how rugged they are which I feel shows how he seeks the approval of Ben because he sees how successful he is and wants to impress his brother. After the daydream of Ben, Willy goes to ask Linda what happened to the diamond watch fob Ben had given him, Linda goes on to tell him he sold it for Biff's radio correspondence course which shows he cared more about giving his sons money and easy success than the meaning of the fob from his now dead brother. After Willy leaves Linda goes on to scold her sons about being ungrateful to their father and even though he may not be the greatest man, he is still a human being and deserved to be paid attention to. I believe this shows that Linda is the only realistic and clear eyed member of the Loman family, not so caught up in success and money but more about family values and love. We then learn that Linda has discovered that Willy has been trying to commit suicide, his car accidents weren't really accidents and mentions a woman who witnessed the last accident and said he just ran into the side bar on purpose. She also tells the boys she found a robber hose behind the fuse box and she thinks that Willy has been trying to kill himself that way too. I think that this opens Biff's eyes to how serious the situation is and that ultimately controls his decision to stay and try to find a job to try to fulfill his father's dreams. Biff decides he is going to visit an old boss, Mr. Oliver to try to get a job and Happy comes up with an idea to both start a sporting goods company in which they hold exhibitions and such that they both will participate in. I feel that Happy and Willy are similar characters because they both were the more neglected son with an older brother who was in the spotlight. That night Linda asks Willy to ask his boss, Howard, for a sales position in New York so he doesn't have to travel anymore but he tells her he is too tired to talk, this shows that he is still caught up in ignoring the failure of his career. At the end of act 1 Biff finds the rubber hose behind the heater and is horrified which I feel symbolizes that he is the only one that can save his father.

The Death of a Salesman begins with Willy Loman having just returned from a business trip to Brooklyn. Willy is a salesman and travels for his company much to the discontent of his wife Linda. Willy is reaching the later years of his life at 60 years of age and complains to his wife about how he has been having trouble driving because of a constant loss of concentration. His two sons, Biff and Happy, Biff being the older, are also back into town after Biff going out west looking for work. Willy then goes into a daydream about the old days when Biff was the popular, athletic star quarterback for his high school with big dreams to go on and play football and make a lot of money. The conversation shows that both kids idolize their dad and he is very important to them. Biff is introduced as the good looking, popular, very likeable high school student who many people look up to but he is also described as lazy and has a very bad work ethic. This is highlighted when the neighbors son, Bernard comes in telling Biff he needs to study for his math exam if he does not want to flunk the class. Biff disregards his advice and goes on practicing about football. The youngest brother, Happy, looks up to his brother and dad but is more hard working than Biff, although Biff seems to be the one in the spotlight most of the time. The first important theme is presented in Willy's daydream which was that Willy believed Biff could get anywhere he wanted in life purely because he was a well liked and good looking, being smart or hard working had nothing to do with it. This was what Willy convinced himself was the American Dream, that looks and personality could get you anywhere you wanted in life. When the daydream ends Willy is left sitting there wondering what happened, still caught up with the successes of the past and not recognizing the current failure. He has convinced himself that everything is okay, even though they are going through troubled times. Linda tries her best to be the voice of reason, telling Willy that they are greatly in debt and need money but he does not listen to her at all.