Pretty much nails it in the same terse form that made Death of A Salesman great. I read the play for about the 4th time just a few weeks ago - and it was very fine - it must have hit the theatrical world like an atom bomb back in 1947 or 48. I also recall reading an interesting story in the NYT Magazine about 10 years ago on some of Miller's experiences that were the germ for Death of A Salesman. Apparently Miller's father ran a shop in NYC and Arthur worked there as a teen. A particular sales rep called on his father's store and one day Arthur helped the guy to the train with his sample cases. A short time later it became known that this particular sales rep committed suicide by jumping in front of a train. Whence came Willy Loman.
I suppose it's like Sean Penn and numerous others - capable of great artistry - but really flawed as human beings. You have to admire them with a real reservation.
As we age we learn to overcome obstacles, how to succeed, and how to roll with the punches at times that failure beats at our door. Miller's salesman just doesn't get it about taking responsibility for one's own life, being a man without being a whiny victim, setting a high moral example for his family, savoring the benefits that love and fidelity produce, and living according to a higher moral code that has little to do with material success.
This play, like alot of his other work, is a superb reflection of the malaise of the country at the time it was written. It's of Miller's time and not necessarily time-less. It's a downer and Miller's attitude in alot of interviews seemed pessimistic. The Crucible was a manipulation of the details of the Salem Witch Trials as well as the McCarthy hearings (according to Ann Coulter's reporting). After the Fall seemed like a betrayal of his marital intimacy with Monroe.
Miller didn't seem like a positive person. If that negativism is "like the rest of us", I treasure not being one of the crowd.