Self-Identity Of Willy Loman Willy Loman, in Arthur Miller's Death Of A Salesman, is the typical hard-working American chasing a dream. He was a man who was "way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine" (1947) Yet he was a man who 'didn't know who he was'(1947). His lack of self-knowledge and inability to accept who he is results in his insanity and ultimate demise. Throughout the play, Willy tries chasing "…showed first 75 words of 770 total…

…showed last 75 words of 770 total…dream with a passionate intensity that makes him unique and gives him a heroic quality. While Willy is flawed in many ways, his tragic flaw, or hamartia, is not knowing himself. His inability to see and accept who he is leads to his final act. His suicide, an act in defiance of the system which until now had defeated him, is a tragic attempt to salvage in death the dream he couldn't attain while living.