The most important character in the play is obviously Willy Loman.Realizing that he has not
been able to put Biff on the right track for success, and feeling subconsciously 
that he was responsible for Biff's disenchantment, he decides to commit
suicide in order to leave Biff the sum of $20,000, the value of his insuranceWhat makes his relation to Biff
more of a burden and a source of anxiety is that he always loved his eldest
son Biff and this love was mutual.Such failure had far reaching impact on an athlete who was expected to win athletic scholarships
for university education.Biff thus
has recourse to his father to try to influence the teacher.This
episode breaks Biff, and he gives up on a university education and a career as
an athlete on a scholarship.Willy agonized because he lost the love and respect of Biff, 
but he never pulled himself together to admit that the Boston episode ruined 
Biff and his relation to him.He is not only 
getting old and tired, he is beginning to find out that he is physically unable
to meet the demands of his job.Financially, he has been put on commission 
like a freshman salesman.Biff loved his father and considered him a
model, an idol.This lasted until Biff's graduation from high school.He failed 
mathematics (he missed classes and mocked the teacher).Biff tried to persuade his math teacher to give him
the grade needed for passing the course, but the teacher would not.Willy's love for Biff is seen in his suicide.