Between a rock and a hard place

One of the major themes in Death of a Salesman is reality vs. illusion. “Be liked and you will never want.” (pg.33) is a common belief and a flaw of Willy’s throughout this play. The reality is that being liked will not materialize into success. Hard work must also be a factor to success. Illusion was that Willy believed he and his children were successful in the business world but in realty they were not. After many years as a salesperson, he still struggled to make sales. He would not let go of his dream even though all the signs were there that this was not the job for him. Biff was well liked as an athlete but without the grades he was unable to materialize his dream. When Biff failed math, Willy’s commented “You mean to say Bernard wouldn’t give you the answers?”, or the teacher wouldn’t give you the points needed, rather than helping Biff find a solution to the situation, like summer school. Willy is flawed in his beliefs. Towards the end Willy believes “you end up worth more dead than alive (Pg99). He took the easy way out in hopes to give his kids the capital needed to keep his dreams for them alive.