The author works from the premise that, although the American dream has a destructive effect on Willy Loman, the primary cause of his failure & suicide is his ego-ideal, which is pathologically narcissistic. The narcissist believes the ego-ideal to be more powerful & more real than the external world, thus the ego-ideal overwhelms the ego with its inordinate needs & demands. Loman is a weak man overwhelmed by life, that is, by his self-murderous ego-ideal. (26 refs.)