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Act I (Loman Home, Present Day): The salesman, Willy Loman, enters his home dressed in a dark gray business suit and carrying two large sample cases. He appears very tired and confused, a sixty year old man with calluses on his hands, yet he has powerful strivings and a mercurial nature. Linda Loman, his wife, puts on a robe and slippers and goes downstairs. She has been asleep. Linda is mostly jovial, but has developed …

…aspirations, thus repudiating the humiliations that Willy suffered during the course of the play. The play ends on an ironic note, as Linda claims that she has made the final payment on their house, securing for the Lomans a sense of financial security for the first time. Willy Loman worked for thirty-five years in order to build this sense of security and stability, yet committed suicide before he could enjoy the results of his labor.