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In Death of a Salesman, the central character, Willy Loman, suffers great misfortune due to his denial of reality. His denial of reality leads to the absence of concreteness in his life. For example, he advises his son, Biff to be serious when going to talk to Bill Oliver, not to use boy's words like 'Gee', be modest or look worried. Instead he should begin with a few jokes to lighten things up, for personality always wins the day. "And if anything falls off the desk while you're talking to him - like a package or something - don't you pick it up. They have office boys for that." (Miller 64-67) The contradiction between advice to be serious and to tell jokes shows that Willy does not follow his own guidance. He starts his final speech in Act I with 'Gee', which he repeats soon after Act II begins and uses again when he enters the restaurant. Willy is worried and modest if not subservient when he sees Howard, his employer. At one point, Howard 'looks for his lighter. Willy has picked it up and gives it to him.' (Siebold 119) With nothing concrete in his life to hold on to, Willy has little choice but to cast all his hopes on his sons. Willy had always viewed his children as his future life. (Siebold 100) His own social failure w