It is believed by many critics that this is Willy’s shortcomings and his own flaw that causes him to end up in such a tragic ending. In this case, J. I. Guijarro-Gonzalez and R. Espejo assert that:
Although Death of a Salesman, after a superficial or cursory reading, would indeed look like a savage indictment of the system that victimizes Willy Loman, the more one thinks about it, the less plausible does that initial reading seem granted by the text. It is true that in a way, the system swallows Willy Loman, as the sharp focus on the apartments surrounding the Lomans’s place, symbolizing the modern world, seems to suggest, but the system is not to blame for it. Willy is on the brink of ruin. He is, moreover, exhausted but cannot …show more content…
Perhaps this is the very point that his semi-achieved dream begins to evaporate and he turns out to be a wage slave.
In Death of a Salesman two symbols are of a great significance: Apartment Houses and the act of growing Seeds. Taking in consideration that apartment houses are a major consequence of urban life and Capitalization we can assume them as a symbol of Capitalism that Miller deftly uses in his play. The Seeds can imply either organic life (Mathew 66), his sons (Eric 8), his success in the business world or maybe all the three at the same time.
At the end of the play, before committing suicide Willy realizes that he doesn’t have “a thing in the ground” (Miller 96), and he has planted nothing. He hastily goes to provide some seeds and cultivates them. Willy because of the huge shade of apartment houses, that symbolizes capitalism, couldn’t have grown any seeds. So that the reason why he can’t raise good sons, live a pastoral life or make success in business world is the shade of