re nothing "but a hard-working drummer who landed in the ash can like all of them (Miller, p. 132)." This confrontation between father and son serves to convince Willy that he has failed as a father - failed to inspire his son to greatness or even ambition, and failed to provide for that son the model of a successful father. Willy, says Linda, "was so wonderful with his hands (Miller, p. 138)." His death will, in her mind, become just another sales road trip. She will continue to expect him to return to the "free and clear home" that she will occupy alone, perpetually waiting for him. Linda's fate, which is to be a widow always listening for the sound of her traveling husband's voice as he return from another trip, is not of her making. It is solely the result of Willy's inability to face a future devoid of the possibility of one more big sale, one more grand and successful score in the world of the traveling salesman. Because he cannot face his future (or the knowledge that his future was preordained by his life), Linda is left alone to endure her own. Thus, because Willy cannot confront his "failure" as a husband and provider, Linda Loman's life is irrevocably shattered.Nevertheless, Miller allows Willy one triumph also in keeping with his staunch belief in the American - financial - dream. His suicide does provide economically for his wife by ensuring her a roof over hr head. Although Willy's attempt to rescue Biff with his insurance money is generally regarded as an act of self-deception, Willy is not entirely deluded in his death (Perkins, p. 710). He has learned that Biff was aware of his marital infidelities on the road, and that despite this knowledge his son has not stopped loving him. This realization reflects Willy's tentative grasp if a special reality - that his son has not judged him a failure because he never made that final "big score" and Biff had continued to love him regardless of his self-imposed sense of ...
