Mike Rose

An inheritance may consist of property, money, and securities to provide surety for its beneficiaries. The condition of the estate may be the product of birthright, hard work or even immoral acts. The deeds, beliefs and ethics of the bestower can have a deeper impact on the heirs than the estate itself. The scions' lives may be affected by the psychological, emotional or spiritual components of their inheritance.

Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman undermines the belief that a legacy would benefit one's posterity, and demonstrates how heirs may be instead be afflicted by inheritance. What Willy bestows his sons is not affluence, but deeply rooted character flaws. These deficits prevent their personal growth, and are barriers to self-fulfillment.

Willy Loman, is a failure within the capitalist model, as he has struggled all of his life to earn a living as a salesman. "I get the feeling that I won't sell anything again, that I won't make a living for you, or a business for the boys" (38) he tells his wife Linda. In spite of his professional disappointments, he clings to his belief that likeability and attractiveness are the cornerstones of achievement. He preaches that a man's natural gifts are more valuable than his efforts or integrity. "Because the man who makes an appearance in the business world, who creates persona interest, is the man who gets ahead. Be liked and you will never want"(33). He dramatically overstates his appeal to his sons, and pretends to be a great man. This delusion creates the roost of dishonesty in which his sons are raised. Biff and Happy feed on falsehoods that deform their senses of identity, their perceptions of reality, and concepts of morality. Willy's lies ensure that distortions become their truth, dishonesty their trade, and unhappiness their harvest. This web of deceit is the Loman legacy, and its destructive dividends are paid throughout the boys' lives.

Willy's fabrications are rooted in abandonment, and he filled the void with a mythology of genealogical. His father is remembered as a great man: he, too, was a traveling salesman, and great inventor whose success was the stuff of folk tales. His brother A secondary father figure who appears to Willy in hallucinations is his brother Ben. We are to believe that Ben "walked into a jungle, and comes out, the age twenty-one, and he's rich"(25). There is no mention of what Ben did to achieve this success, nor is it ever clear whether he succeeded at all. For Willy, this legend is proof enough that a man needs only to dream to succeed. Willy fantasizes that he possesses this rugged appeal, and believes that charisma provides access to the American Dream. He does not put value on true virtues like hard work, professionalism and business savvy. With neither appeal or diligence,