Ruined Dreams in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman is a play best summed up in its title , that's just that, the death of a salesman. This death is not necessarily the physical end of a human life, but the collapsed end of the dreams of Willie Loman, the main character of the play. The three main parts of Willie's world are his job, his family, and his image as seen by the rest of the world. Although these parts are intertwined and interdependent, it is best to divide and analyze them separately. The first part of Willie's world is his job. Willie is a salesman for a large company in New York. Willie's image and much of his self-worth is based on his work. In his mind he is still who he was, well known and respected among the clientele of the New England area. Things have changed though and the people Willie once knew in the business are no longer there and he no longer has the connections he once had. His inability to cope and adapt to this development in the sector led, among other things, to a loss of salary. Willie lost his competitive edge, and with it his sense of self-worth and identity. The second part of Willie's world is his family, specifically his son, Biff. Biff is Willie's eldest and favorite son. Willie has high expectations of Biff and transfers his dreams, as so many fathers do. Biff cannot live up to his father's expectations and has his own dreams that cause Willie to view him as a slacker, a bum with no change and no desire to succeed. Even if Willie's dreams don't come true at Biff's house, his son's respect is still important. This respect is lost when Biff catches his father having an affair with a young woman. Even though it's not talked about (Biff has never told anyone, not even his mother), it still creates tension and makes Biff lose the respect he once had for Willie. Willie's main life philosophy is "Be loved and you will never want again." and this is the cause of the problems in the third part of Willie's life, his image. Image is everything to Willie. In his past he was a well-liked, known and respected man who made his image his success, but his image has changed..