We see a solid vault of apartment houses around the small, fragile-seeming home.
– Arthur Miller
Death of a Salesman, Act 1. Willy’s home is the only one left on the block, which is now full of suffocating and towering apartment buildings. The home is personified as "fragile," reflecting Willy’s own emotional and mental state. Just as the vulnerable house appears under siege from urbanization and encroachment of tall apartment blocks, Willy’s hopes and dreams are under threat of being overpowered by reality.