When a man spends all his time working to support his family, he actually ends up neglecting them. Just as Willy has been working decades as a salesman, he has missed decades of his family’s evolution. As the years have passed, Willy Loman has put no effort into his marriage with his wife, Linda. The two avoid talking to one another about important matters and seem as though they have very little to make conversation about anymore. Also, Willy’s relationship with his sons has stayed mostly the same since Biff caught him cheating. The anger between them could have been worked out a long time ago if Willy had been around to discuss it with. Willy believed that by working so hard, he was fighting to achieve the American Dream.
The American Dream has a clear component of building things up from nothing. This is displayed many times throughout the play of Willy’s life. For example, when Willy’s stoop was falling apart when Ben came to visit, Willy wanted to rebuild it with his sons. This is trying to show how, one, Willy wants to recreate the bond that should be tween him and Ben as brothers, and two, he is trying to rebuild his family since he came from a home where he lived with just his mom. Willy had nothing to base his family values on, but found some that worked for him and that was his way of building something from nothing.
A final theme of Death Of A Salesman is that people have always wanted more than what they have because they believe that their life is never as perfect as they want it to be. Willy has a loving family and good friends, but he stays at a job he hates so that he can try to get more money to improve his family’s life. He does not like to see his wife mending her stockings because it makes him feel like he has not gotten that better life. He tries to pass on his desire to his sons as well because he wants them to find the success in business that he never had.
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