The Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller tells the story of a man who tries, but fails, to achieve success for himself and his family . Willy Loman, a traveling salesman, has been trying to "make it" most of his life. Miller's work explores the themes of abandonment and betrayal and their effects on life success. Willy considers himself abandoned by his older brother, Ben, and constantly sees his brother's betrayal as something that has changed his outlook forever. Willy, in turn, is guilty of a different kind of abandonment and betrayal towards his children, particularly Biff. Willy first experiences abandonment through the actions of his brother, Ben Loman. In the first act, Willy sees Ben in his dream, “walking away along an open road; I would have found my father in Alaska…” (Miller 1575). Willy continues an argument with his brother in which Ben lies and jokingly admits that he went to Africa. Willy regrets not going with Ben to Africa, because that's where Ben became rich. Because he was not as successful as his brother, Willy sees Ben's trip to Africa as a betrayal. Willy's problems with abandonment began at a young age. He suffered a lot emotionally and tried to find a role model to follow. This emotional instability and lack of a role model continued to affect Willy physically later in life, Centola makes the comment "something that often comes out in his contradictory statements and emotional outbursts" (1). Willy would be vigorous, energetic and agile one minute and then moody, sulky and sad the next. This abandonment and self-esteem continued to suffer and became evident when he started a family of his own. This motif of abandonment and betrayal is passed on to Willy's son, Biff. Biff feels betrayed when... middle of paper... in a cyclical way. The Loman family is so involved in betrayal that it ultimately takes someone's death for the family to finally be "free." Works Cited Centola, Steven R. “Family Values ​​in the Death of a Salesman.” CLA Journal 37.1 (September 1993): 29-41. Literary Resource Center. Network. December 7, 2010. Martin, Robert A. “The Nature of Tragedy in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman.” South Atlantic Review 61.4 (Fall 1996): 97-106. Literary Resource Center. Network. December 3, 2010.Miller, Arthur. “Death of a Salesman”. Norton's introduction to literature. By Alison Booth, J. Paul Hunter, and Kelly J. Mays. New York: W. W. Norton, 2005. Printed 1556-1621. Ribkoff, Fred. “Shame, Guilt, Empathy, and the Search for Identity in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman.” Modern Drama 43.1 (Spring 2000): 48-55. Literary Resource Center. Network. December 2. 2010.