The ending of Death of a Salesman definitely wasn't the ideal happy ending, but it did serve to teach us a couple of Miller's opinions about the American society. To me, Willy's death was definitely tear-jerking, but also unsatisfying. I get it, he thought he was paying back for his failure with the insurance money. He failed to help Biff succeed, he failed to become a successful and "well-liked" salesman, he failed to become the perfect and loyal husband. $20,000 for his failure. But for me, that wasn't the sad part.
Willy finally decided to take his life when he realized that Biff loved him, an uncommon and extreme but reasoned choice. He committed suicide for Biff's happiness and it was ultimately well-intentioned. I think that decision definitely could have back-fired, with his family ending up sorrowful and drained at his funeral, but it was sad that Willy was confident that it wouldn't. He knew that his family would be more affected by the insurance money than the sadness of his death - in fact Biff called it betrayal. For me, that was the most upsetting apart - knowing that Biff called it cowardly and wouldn't truly appreciate Willy's decision. Willy did it out of love and it was unfortunately received the wrong way, ultimately causing his actions to be in vain. Willy intended for Biff to find success and happiness with the money, but I find that Biff's reaction seemed more indifferent to his father's death than anything.
As one of the major themes of Death of a Salesman, family is an important driving force for Willy's decisions and was also his biggest failure.
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