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   afi80fl Teacher
   High School - 10th Grade

   eNotes Editor

   You can see the play as a tragedy based on the fact that the main character, Willy, dies in the end.  Rather than sticking it out through the difficult times in the end, Willy submits to the pressure to die so that he can provide for his family through his life insurance policy.  He even tells Charlie at one point, "a man is worth more dead than alive", hinting that suicide might make a good choice for providing for his family after losing his job. 

   Additionally, it's important to realize that Miller seeks to have readers sympathize with Willy in order to relate to him; we are all workers and all of can relate to a boss who is unappreciative of all that we do, or doesn't see us as a basic human being at times. 

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   Posted by afi80fl on Monday March 9, 2009 at 10:46 AM