Willy Loman lived in a fantasy world.
In his mind he was capable of greatness, and that the greatness stemmed from his charisma, and his popularity.
In reality he had made a few serious mistakes, and instead of financially moving forward, he was continually losing ground.
He was indeed a fake.
He taught his sons to lie to their women, and they also mistreated them.
He did not think that stealing was wrong, or a sin, and when one of his sons told him he had stolen a football from a coach, Willy (dad) told his son that popularity and charisma will outdo hard work.
Willy was unhappy with life, I think he loathed himself because deep inside he knew he was a failure...His strength ?: He had ideals, "Be charismatic, and popular and you'll achieve greatness", and he lived by them
His weakness: His ideals, they were the WRONG ideals, they became his doom.
Source(s): http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100818140041AAk3zhi