Throughout Arthur Millers , Death of a Salesman , the Loman family cannot discern between reality and illusion, particularly the father, Willy. This theme is evident throughout the whole of the play and eventually leads to the downfall of the main character, Willy. Willy has many illusions throughout the play. He believes that being well-liked and personally attractive will put you ahead in the business world. This is an illusion in which Willy believes in with all his heart and cannot get away from it.
Another illusion that Willy has concerns Biff and Happy. He believes that his sons are very successful, well-liked, and personally attractive young men, when, in reality, they are two failures who have done nothing in their life. Biff also starts to believe these falsehoods. He believes the illusion that he was a salesman for Bill Oliver when, in reality he was just a shipping clerk. His father had been putting these lies into his head for so long that he himself started believing them.
Biff sees the truth and realizes that he is a dime a dozen. Willy still believes in this lie and replies, I am not a dime a dozen! I am Willy Loman and you are Biff Loman!. Willy is unable to escape from his mountain of lies and eventually kills himself because of it. Literally, Willy often lapses into a flashback and appears to be reliving conversations and events that occurred years ago. This, in itself, is the inability to see reality. A big portion of the story is presented though the use of flashback.
This is key to the structure and understanding of the play. Willy is constantly lapsing in and out of reality. Each flashback is somehow related to the present. Most of the time, the details of the flashbacks include crucial knowledge to understand why the present-day problems are occurring. For example, when Willy is thinking about Biffs problems, Willy is taken to the summer of Biffs senior year. The events that took place in the past show the reader the events that have lead up to the present-day conflicts in the Loman family.