In the play "Death of a Salesman," playwright Arthur Miller, shows his audience how Willy's dream of being the best is not only unattainable through his actions, but also how unrealistic it is in the way he went through life. The actions he took, and the steps he took them were not idealistic in the times of 1946 America. The "American Dream" of making it big was all that Willy worried about, he did not take in the fact that he was blinded by the way society was changing, and the lack of real support from his family hindered his life. Early on in the play Willy says to his wife Linda "If old man Wagner was alive I'da been in charge of New York now! That man was a prince, he was a masterful man. But that boy of his, that Howard, he don't appreciate. When I went north the first time, the Wagner Company didn't know where New England was!" (Miller 1671). This was the first big scene for foreshadowing the life of Willy. The word "If tells us that he is still trying to live in the past. Times have changed since Mr. Wagner was alive, the economy is ramping back up after the end of the war, and Willy is still living in the past. He uses if a lot in the play, if this and if that, but the fact is that he is not living in the present. He also says I'da been, which tells us again that he would have been if Mr. Wagner was still alive, but his son Howard Wagner is now in charge of the company and Willy refuses to accept that change. There comes a time in the play where Willy confronts Howard Wagner, and again he is talking about the past, with Howard's father. Willy said to Howard "I'm talking about your father! There were promises made across this desk! You mustn't tell me you've got people to see ”I put thirty-four years into this firm, Howard, and now I can't pay my insurance! You can't eat the orange and throw the peel away ”a man is not a piece of fruit! Now pay attention. Your father in 1928...I had a big year. I averaged a hund