The boundary between reality and illusion is often blurred in Arthur Miller's play, Death of a Salesman. Whether embodied in the content or in the structure itself, this struggle between the recognition of reality and illusion develops into a strong theme; this ultimately leads to the downfall of Willy and his family. Willy is unable to recognize who he is and cannot realize that he, as well as his sons, are not capable of succeeding in the business world. Both Happy and Biff go through a battle between reality and illusion that causes part of their lives to collapse. The border between Willy's flashbacks and the present time also throws him into turmoil when he cannot distinguish between the two. Willy thinks he is much more successful than he actually is. The first sign of Willy's delusion about his life appears quite early in the play. He has the illusion that “[he is] the New England man.” [It is] vital in New England” (14). In reality, anyone could have taken Willy's place at work. This illusion leads to his downfall because, as his life begins to fall apart, he lives under the illusion that he has enough money to support his family, so he does not recognize that he must replenish the pieces of his reality. Late in the play, in a fit of anger, Willy refuses to be called "a dime a dozen" and declares "I'm Willy Loman and you're Biff Loman" (132), as if the Loman family was a special family. figure in society. His blurred vision of his place in society leads to his destruction; with only one view of his life, Willy believes he is living his life to the fullest. Not only does Willy believe that he has succeeded, but he believes that he is “worth more dead than alive” (98). We are in the middle of the paper... but as Willy slowly sinks into his illusions, the stage directions signal "The woman's laughter is heard" (40). Willy is completely immersed in this slight flashback of The Woman, but then gets confused and yells at everyone around him. This chaos is a direct result of Willy's confusion between what reality is and what his imagination is. During the intense argument at the restaurant between Biff and Willy, the production features “The Woman Laughs, on the left” (113). Not only does this laugh symbolize the troubles and bad times in Willy's life, but it also triggers Willy's downfall in another of his many flashbacks. Without this theme of illusion and reality, the atmosphere of these flashbacks would not have such a lasting effect on the play.WorkscitedAndersen, Richard. Arthur Miller. New York: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark, 2006. Print.