Self-delusion in Death of a Salesman

In Arthur Miller’s drama “Death of a Salesman” the protagonist is a character by the name of Willy Loman. Willy suffers from self-delusion and is obsessed with a desire to succeed. Willy’s family is strongly influenced by his actions, which contributes to their own self-delusions. Willy has an extremely large ego and fabricates most if not all of his success. He brags about how much money he makes inflating his sales commissions to …

…takes his own life and dies never having realized his dreams. Biff accepts who he is, but has done little to change. Linda doesn’t understand why Willy took his life and why no one came to the funeral. Even after his death she is unable to realize that Willy’s entire life was a lie. Happy continues to believe Willy “had a good dream” and that he can succeed where his father didn’t.