Once I finished reading this play, my immediate response was to award this play a one star and grumble a lot about eccentricity and entitlement attitude of the protagonist and the absolute absurdity of his actions. His sons are no less redundant than their father. His wife, however, seem to be the only redeeming character. 
 Only when the story sinks in, Willy, the protagonist's anguish becomes apparent. All his life he has worked hard and diligently, providing his family with necessities. He finds himself bound to consumerism, biting more than he can chew. He instills the very same ideology in his sons that backfires during their adulthood. He sincerely believes that for everything he has gone through in his life, there is a reward in the end. Disappointingly so, he struggles to pay the final mortgage installment. 
 Willy and his ideology is reflective of a middle class struggling family that believes they can persevere in the world of opportunities by simply wanting it. He doesn't understand the changing world where opportunities are not equally distributed. 
 It's a heartbreaking story of a man who simply believed he would have a better life, his sons would have a wonderful life and life will workout in itself. 
 Miller harshly and tragically proves him wrong.