Suicide

Throughout the play, Willy tries to commit suicide several times. Considering that he leads an unsuccessful, hopeless life, this is not surprising, but the suicide attempts actually hold some significance. After seeing Dave Singleman’s funeral, Willy thought it was the ideal way a salesman could die. Also, it is known in this play that if Willy dies, there would be insurance money for the family. It is quite sad but the suicide attempts of Willy are not just insane acts, but are Willy’s ambitious, yet vain, desire to be recognized, and Willy’s love for his family.
Willy put a rubber pipe in the room below the stairs that supplies electricity. It is unsure how this would make Willy able to commit suicide, but it can be inferred from the context, since Linda says Willy was trying to kill himself and shows her sons the rubber pipe.
Another method of Willy’s suicide attempt was to crash the car. This play starts with Willy’s coming back from Florida with no energy, and immediately, Happy says, “Maybe he crashed up the car again.” This means Willy already had crashed the car before and there is some possibility that he would do it again. Unfortunately, Willy does die with a car accident, when he drove out at full speed after a daydream with Ben.
There could be two reasons conjectured in context. One is that Willy wants to be admired the same way he did Dave Singleman. Just as Dave Singleman was admired even after his death and was acknowledged as a great salesman, so does Willy want to be well-liked and expects people to be remembering him, praising him. However, this dream of Willy’s was too ideal, considering that he is an unsuccessful salesman, unlike Dave Singleman. The other is that Willy’s death could provide his family with insurance money, which will enable the family to pay back all the rents and be free from the confinement of money. At the end of the play, Willy dies with a car crash, and his family gets insurance money and pays the rent. Whether Willy purposely died or not, the family received insurance money, anyway.