Willy's "Death" before he Died

In class, we discussed briefly the meaning of the title Death of a Salesman and how it relates to the play while containing two completely different meanings. I found myself wondering about the actual death of Willy (ie. at the end of the play when he is no longer living) in addition to his death as in his ultimate demise as a person in life, and what that does to his character.

I think that a title reveals a lot about a play or piece of writing, and Death of a Salesman is no exception. There are many causes of Willy's "death" as a person throughout the play that contribute to his true, physical death. Willy is slowly dying throughout the play because of his failure to accomplish what he set for himself as goals and standards.

Contributors to Willy's mental death (as apposed to and actually leading up to his physical one) include his many missed opportunities, regrets for himself and his family, and his jealousy of other's successes. It is apparent that he takes his job very seriously, or at least the idea of his job seriously. When he finds out that not only is Howard not granting his location request but also firing him altogether, a part of him dies.

Willy also counts on his sons to become the successful men he is not. When Biff tells him that he has failed math, Willy is not willing to accept the truth. This is in part because he has other mistakes of his own on his mind, like the fact that his son knows he is cheating on his mother with another woman, and part because he trys everything possible to make sure Biff and Happy are successful, including telling Biff to cheat off of Bernard.

Willy is so desperate for approval that his own desperation actually backfires on him and pushes him further and further away from family and friends until he can no longer find happiness within himself, his job, and the life he is living.