What role does the fear of abandoment play in Willy's life in "Death of a Salesman"?

As
unfolds, we see the unravelling of Willy Loman's life and mind. As
his current life falls apart around him, Willy retreats more and more into the past, always
revising history as he goes. He has created a family history that fulfills his American Dream
but which is far from the truth. There is a deep need in Willy to be a hero to his sons and a
stalwart husband to his wife, and it could be argued that this need has its roots in the traumas
of Willy's early life. Increasingly, during the course of the play, we see the shadow
remembrance of Ben, Willy's older brother who went into the jungles of Africa and came out a
rich man. Ben has become an icon in Willy's pantheon of heroes, but is Ben real? The abandonment
of his younger brother to a much lesser life has certainly scarred Willy in ways from which he
can never recover. He is unable to blame Ben for abandoning him, seeing him instead as a hero of
mythic proportions. To shore up his own self-esteem, he borrows...