Willy's family is the cause of his demise!

The question whether Willy Loman's family was the cause of his demise can be answered in the affirmative. They each contributed to this in one way or other, with Linda probably being the most likely contributor. Linda, though very supportive of Willy always encouraged him. This might appear completely harmless at one point until one realizes that it fed his over-sized yet unstable ego. Linda's words of encouragement were meant for good, but really ended up defeating their purpose. Willy who was already unstable due to guilt, fear,insecurity and not being able to support his family was someone who hung unto every good word of praise he received; and by getting lots of praise and encouragement from Linda, he was not able to see who he really was nor reflect on his actions -actions of an unsuccessful character.

Linda constantly "bigged him up" by saying things like, "You're the handsomest man in the world Willy" and these words like poison slowly intoxicated his mind, until (with one more little push from Ben) he snapped.

Benjamin or "Uncle Ben" as he is known in the play is Willy's big brother and appears only in Willy's flashbacks, otherwise he is a ghost or figment of Willy's vivid estranged imagination. Ben seems to play the guilt trip on Willy in one flashback where he implores upon Willy to join him on his journeys as he enriches himself. Linda, (the irritable miserable woman) however, interrupted and so persuaded Willy to stay put, assuring him they will " make good" and are quite content with where they were.

As a result of Linda's interference, Willy gave up on one aspect of his American Dream. It is probably because of this very same reason why he now shuts her up whenever she interjects in his conversations. Additionally, it is "Ben" who convinces Willy to "go" so that Biff would have money and have a chance in life, to become "successful".

Biff and Happy, don't really do ,much to lead to their father's death, aside from the pressure they placed on him. Happy's contribution was that he did not help his family enough financially, according to Linda. Biff now was an emotional and mental case for Willy; emotional because Willy still bore the guilt of the affair he knows that Biff witnessed, and mental because Biff did not become the superstar success that Willy wanted him to be.