see this in Willy's daydreaming, which is so vivid. In an alternate world, he is a different person, liked, and accepted. His escapism can be seen as another manifestation of his fear of abandonment.

Third, when Howard fires Willy, Willy takes it harder than is normal. The reason for this is because one of his greatest fears has been actualized - abandonment.

Fourth, the final straw is when Happy and Biff reject Willy. When this happens, Willy commits suicide. When he is abandoned, he has no recourse but to leave. Abandonment leads to further abandonment.

As Death of a Salesman unfolds, we see the unravelling of Willy Loman's life and mind. As his current life falls apart around him, Willy retreats more and more into the past, always revising history as he goes. He has created a family history that fulfills his American Dream but which is far from the truth. There is a deep need in Willy to be a hero to his sons and a stalwart husband to his wife, and it could be argued that this need has its roots in the traumas of Willy's early life. Increasingly, during the course of the play, we see the shadow remembrance of Ben, Willy's older brother who went into the jungles of Africa and came out a rich man. Ben has become an icon in Willy's pantheon of heroes, but is Ben real? The abandonment of his younger brother to a much lesser life has certainly scarred Willy in ways from which he can never recover. He is unable to blame Ben for abandoning him, seeing him instead as a hero of mythic proportions. To shore up his own self-esteem, he borrows from Ben's story to raise his own sons: still overlooking reality, he destroys their lives as well as his own, never recognizing how he enables the lies, cheating, and stealing that eventually bring them down. With the play's final scenes of the tragic truth, the lives are now ripped apart, and Willy can no longer continue the charade that has been his whole life.

Although the fear of abandonment is not the most obvious theme in Death of a Salesman like success, money and class, it is definitely a part of Willy and his struggles. It seems that Willy connects the loss of people to their rate of success. Such as with Ben, Willy's brother. Ben is rich and successful, and therefore gets to see many different places (leaving Willy behind) and still has a connection to the father that Willy doesn't have that connection with. Willy identifies that loss, abandonment, with success. Willy is also gone much of the time from his family, because of his work as a salesman, and part of taking a mistress may stem back from that feeling of being alone and not really having someone. Willy also seems to think the more successful he is, the more people will want to stay. He makes sure to give his mistress presents, things he does not give his wife. This could be just selfishness, however, it could also relate back to his needing someone there when he has no one else. His wife waits for him at home, while the mistress is there to possibly fill a hole he has when away from his family.

In Death of a Salesman, Willy expresses fears of professional, familial, and social abandonment.

In act 1, he laments the loss of his past success as a salesman. Even worse, he cannot stand that the younger generation does not even know the history of his early feats in business. His old boss, Wagner, appreciated Willy’s skill, but Wagner’s own son does not acknowledge it. When Linda tells Willy that he should be given the New York sales territory, Willy replies, “If old man Wagner was alive I’da been in charge of New York now! That man was a prince, he was a masterful man. But that boy of his, that Howard, he don’t appreciate.”

During a flashback, Willy tells Biff that his popularity will get him farther in life than Bernard’s high grades. To illustrate, he regales how clients welcomed him because he was well liked:“I never have to wait in line to see a buyer. ‘Willy Loman is here!’” Yet soon afterwards, Willy admits to Linda, “[people] don’t seem to take to me” and “I don’t know the reason for it, but they just pass me by. I’m not noticed.” To Willy, connection and renown as a salesman are very important to his professional success; the worst thing to a travelling salesman is anonymity and lack of recognition by customers.

Willy also fears abandonment by his family. Although he is the person who cheated on Linda (who remained faithful to him), he cites loneliness as an excuse to commit dalliances while travelling on business trips. He confides to Linda,

I get so lonely—especially when business is bad and there’s nobody to talk to. I get the feeling that I’ll never sell anything again, that I won’t make a living for you, or a business, a business for the boys.

This quote illustrates multiple fears of abandonment by and loss of his selling prowess, his buyers, and his ability to support his family, his wife, and his sons.

The loss of his older brother Ben is another source of his fear of abandonment. During his imagined encounter with Ben, Willy describes a memory of when he was a young boy: “I remember I was sitting under the wagon in—was it Nebraska?” Ben corrects Willy and notes that they were in South Dakota. Ben gave little Willy a handful of flowers, but Willy recalls only, “I remember you walking away down some open road.” Repeatedly, Willy ponders why he did not follow Ben to Alaska or anywhere to find his fortune. Even though Ben supposedly asked Willy to accompany him on ventures (or did Willy only image this?), Willy feels left behind by his older brother.

Willy’s fear of abandonment reflects the pain of the loss of respect by others, whether in the worlds of sales, sports, or society in general. In act 2, during in a flashback, he gloats to Charley about his son Biff over Charley’s son Bernard. When Charley is not impressed by Biff’s athletic victory, Willy is angry that he does not grant Willy the admiration he thinks he deserves. Willy shouts, “What are you walking away for? Don’t walk away!” Ironically, this flashback occurs right before the play’s action returns to the present and Willy witnesses how successful Bernard is (in contrast to Biff) before asking Charley for a loan.

Finally, Willy reminisces to Howard about another old salesman whose funeral was attended by “hundreds of salesmen and buyers.” Ironically, this salesman was named David Singleton, but he certainly was not abandoned or left alone. Willy tells Howard that years ago in business,

There was respect, and comradeship, and gratitude in it. Today, it’s all cut and dried, and there’s no chance for bringing friendship to bear—or personality. You see what I mean? They don’t know me anymore.

He then admonishes Howard, “You can’t eat the orange and throw the peel away—a man is not a piece of fruit!”

Yet unlike David Singleton’s funeral, Willy’s funeral is attended by only a few people: Linda, Biff, Happy, and Charley. He has been abandoned by society. To Willy, being ignored is the worst fate, and, as Linda tells her sons, “Attention must be paid.”

Late in act 2 of Miller's Death of a Salesman, Happy and Biff, the sons of protagonist Willy Loman, are waiting for him to arrive at a restaurant where they are to meet for dinner. Before he arrives, Happy sets up a later assignation with an attractive prostitute, who promises to bring a "friend" for Biff. But his brother his no interest and is deeply despondent after a failed attempt to get a job with a former employer that day. He knows his failure will be a blow to his already dejected father.

Willy arrives, having just been fired. The loss has the effect of further loosening his demonstrably tenuous grip on reality. As he enters the restaurant, his mind is unpredictably switching between reality and fantasy, past and present. When he reveals his termination to his sons, Biff is even more upset. Yet, he is forced to reveal to his now desperate father his own bad news.

Willy lashes out at Biff, irrationally dredging up a failed high school math test. That memory, in flashback, is augmented by the reality of Biff's recent theft of his potential employer's pen. Both of these events torment the old man. In the midst of this, Happy begins chatting up the two prostitutes, who have just arrived. Willy, half in a dream and mumbling to himself, is directed to the bathroom by Biff.

Happy suggests to Biff that he and the women leave the restaurant. Anguished, Biff begs his brother to do something for Willy. He is wondering whether Happy cares about him at all. He pulls out the piece of hose with which they both know Willy contemplates killing himself, and asks whether he cares whether Willy commits suicide. Happy callously confirms his awareness and implied indifference.

BIFF: Don't you understand what I'm talking about? He's going to kill himself, don't you know that?
HAPPY: Don't I know it! Me!
On the verge of tears, Biff runs out of the restaurant. When one of the prostitutes wonders why Biff ran off, Happy replies:
HAPPY: Come on, girls. We'll catch up to him.

With these words they leave the restaurant, abandoning Willy.

Meanwhile, Willy's mind is immersed in the painful memory of the teenaged Biff's accidental discovery of him with a prostitute in a Boston hotel. The incident caused Biff to lose faith in his father, and apparently, his serious ambition for a career.

In this sequence, we see Willy's fear of abandonment become reality when he's abandoned by his sons. There is no evidence that this abandonment is the main factor in Willy's suicide, although it may have contributed to it. It's clear that suicidal thoughts have been a part of his life for some time before the play begins.