Was Willy Loman's family responsible for his demise?

      Willy's family was partly responsible for Willy's demise. However, Willy is solely responsible for his own downfall. All of Willy's misfortune stems for his idea of the American Dream. He believes that getting ahead in life will only happen with establishing good personal contacts. He is obsessed with being well-liked despite the sound council of his successful best friend.
  
  Moreover, Charlie not only provided several job offers for charlie but he gives him a weekly allowance so that he can pretend to have made a salary for his family. Despite Willy's constant humiliating outburst to Charlie, Charlie continues to comfort Willy and watch him self destruct instead of helping him become a 'man'. 


  Willy never really had a father figure in his life since his father left him and his brother as children. Willy is determined to have a different and better life for his family than what was given to him. But in his quest for a better life, Willy becomes like his father since he lives the life of a salesman and is often away from his family on work. Willy, a 60 year old man,still has a child-like mentality because he still wants everything to fall in his lap. In some ways, Willy's father is at fault for giving him a sense of abandonment. Also, the ghost of Ben Loman is at fault since his constant mention of time and money continues to taunt Willy and reminds him of his failures. 


  Additionally, Linda who plays the part of a supportive and dependent wife is one of the main culprits to Willy's failure. She compromises to accommodate Willy's ego and defends him at all costs. For example, Happy and Biff are chastised for leaving Willy at he dinner. Linda sees that Willy is getting more lost by the day but unfortunately does nothing. Even at the discovery of Willy's suicidal tendencies only goes on with the parade. Linda is blind to the fact that Willy isn't just haunted by memories but is quickly going off the cliff.

  Biff is the son that Willy always wanted. Willy taught him to be successful according to his standard. He taught him to lie to get what he wants and he does nothing when Biff is caught stealing. Biff was the one who caught him cheating on Linda hence, Willy is haunted by that event and thinks that Biff holds resentment in his heart towards him. This guilt clouds Willy's judgement. Biff's knowledge of the event is one of the underlining traits of Willy's misery. Biff represents the fact that Willy was a failure in training Biff to be a success and turns Willy mad.


  Happy is the son that Willy ignores. He is the younger of the two boys and is another reminder to Willy that his life counts for nothing. Happy is unable to make something of his life and thus forces Willy to realize that his American Dream is flawed.