Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman is a bittersweet work about the Loman family and their life with a salesman for a father. The majority of the show takes place at the Loman house and revolves around a series of conversations and flashbacks from Willy's past. Through these flashbacks, we discover that Willy has been having an affair, has a strained relationship with his eldest son, and lies to his entire family about how he's doing at work. Miller paints a fascinating picture of how the misconceptions of succeeding in business not only prevented Willy from becoming a great salesman, but also led to failure in his family's life. This failure includes Biff wandering from job to job and Hap talking about his role in his job. Elderly traveling salesman, Willy Loman, has a misperception of what it takes to succeed in business, resulting in lies, infidelity, and disconnection. Miller's perception that the typical American salesman, given the opportunity, would cheat and lie is a valid idea. Midway through the first act, Willy begins to remember his time with a character known only as "The Woman." During one part of the conversation, Willy expresses that he plans to see this woman again when he says, "Well, I will." I'll see you next time I'm in Boston,” the Woman replies, “I'll put you in touch with the buyers directly” (Miller 1.787-788). These lines make it seem like he is only with the woman to further help this career, which has been suffering for some time. By this I mean that the woman's response leads the reader to think that Willy only cheated on his wife to help her get a foot in the door with buyers and not because he was unhappy in his marriage. Later, we find out that in addition to trying to get a...... middle of paper......rt. Willy's last good idea to make it is to sacrifice his life so that his family can finally succeed. Years and years of travel and ill-conceived ideas to succeed put a strain on the life of WillyLoman and his family. 21Works CitedEisinger, Chester E. "Critical Readings: Focus on Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman: The Wrong Dreams." Critical Insights: Death of a Salesman (2010): 93-105. Literary reference center. EBSCO Web. November 4, 2010.Miller, Arthur. Death of a salesman. Literature: artisanal and vocal editions. Nicholas Delbanco and Alan Cheuse. vol. 3. New York: McGraw-Hill 2010. 288-339. Print.Ribkoff, Fred. “Critical Readings: Shame, Guilt, Empathy, and the Search for Identity in ArthurMiller's Death of a Salesman.” Critical Insights: Death of a Salesman (2010): 183-192. Literary reference center. EBSCO. Network. November 4. 2010.