Willy Loman the Tragic Hero Essay - 1462 Words

Arthur Miller made the comment that a tragic hero â€Å"has the inherent unwillingness to remain passive in the face of what he conceives to be a challenge to his dignity.† Nowhere is this more evident than in Miller’s play Death of a Salesman, where salesman Willy Loman desperately struggles to regain a sense of dignity after experiencing a number of setbacks in his life. Despite not being able to provide for his family, Willy Loman continues the futile struggle to earn a living, which shows the despair of falling from a position of respect to a position of uselessness. The hopes and dreams that he has for his kids in the past never come into existence, but Willy still enthusiastically pushes his adult children to accomplish unrealistic†¦show more content†¦Through this, Miller demonstrates that self-deception can lead to even more problems. In accordance with Arthur Miller’s definition of a tragic hero, Willy is unwilling to remain passive when his di gnity is challenged. When his neighbor Charley offers Willy a steady paying job, Willy refuses. By taking the job from Charley, Willy feels as though it would hurt his pride. Willy’s inability to see past his pride blinds him to the basic rationality of taking a steady paying job. Miller shows that one must differentiate between an appropriate time to protect one’s honor, and an appropriate time to be pragmatic in order to make ends meet. Willy’s unwillingness to remain passive is seen when he pleads with his boss to allow him to work closer to home. He says, â€Å"Forty dollars a week, that’s all I’d need... I put thirty four years into this firm, Howard, and now I can’t pay my insurance! You can’t eat an orange and then throw the peel away! A man is not a piece of fruit!† (82). Miller has Willy fired from the job altogether after this meeting in order to show that people that have become useless will often be rejected by soci ety. Willy’s expectations that he would continue to live a dignified life are thwarted, and Miller thrusts Willy even deeper into despair, proving that unfulfilled expectations can potentially ruin one’s life. Similar to Willy’s non-passive attitude toward his own job, he is extremely optimistic about the fate of his two sons, whichShow MoreRelatedWilly Loman Tragic Hero730 Words   |  3 PagesIn 1949, the forlorn life of Willy Loman is introduced in Arthur Miller’s â€Å"Death of a Salesman†. At this time the American Dream was something everyone craved during the peak of suburbia. The American Dream was the golden standard of living like Donna Reed, all wrapped up with a white picket fence. To Willy Loman, The American Dream was not the golden standard, but the only standard. His wife Linda dutifully greeting him as he came home from a successful day as a salesman, and sits down to dinnerRead MoreWilly Loman Tragic Hero Analysis956 Words   |à ‚  4 Pagesis revolved around the concept of tragedy and a tragic hero. Aristotle defines tragedy as â€Å"the consequence of a man’s total compulsion to evaluate himself justly†. A tragic hero is defined as â€Å"a literary character who makes a judgement error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction†. These two concepts apply to the play in the sense that Willy Loman is a man of good intentions, but there is often an undesirable outcome of them. Also, Willy is a victim of himself and his own beliefs. ArthurRead MoreWilly Loman Tragic Hero Analysis971 Words   |  4 Pagesor affair; disaster†. The main character, Willy Loman, shows how one dream can become a disaster through his impractical dreams and failing at achieving these goals. Not only does he fail at his dreams, he participates in an affair that is against morals. The idea of a tragic hero is defined as â€Å"a great or virtuous character in a dramatic tragedy who is destined for downfa ll, suffering, or defeat†. Miller believes that the common man is the best tragic hero because it shows that the average, everydayRead MoreCharacteristics Of Willy Loman A Tragic Hero834 Words   |  4 PagesWilly Loman a Tragic Hero? Death Of a Salesman is a 1949 play written by american playwright Arthur Miller. It is a breathtaking play about Willy Loman, a salesman, trying to chase a dream that died long ago. It expresses how the old man’s life comes crumbling down with his last few attempts to make some of his dream reality and help his family in debt. Now people are debating weather Willy loman fits the right characteristics to be classified as a tragic hero. A tragic hero is someone who makesRead MoreHow Is Willy Loman A Tragic Hero727 Words   |  3 Pages The tragic hero referenced throughout the essay Tragedy and a Common Man is Willy Loman from Death of a Salesman. What Arthur Miller means by tragic hero is a protagonist in a play or a different form of filmography who is a subject for tragedy in its highest sense. The essay refers to a character who is ready to lay down his life to secure his personal dignity. The next reference to this character is society the struggle to gain a rightful posi tion. The last proof of this is how Miller talks aboutRead MoreWilly Loman - A Tragic Hero Essay744 Words   |  3 Pageswhen he or she cannot live the â€Å"American Dream.† Willy Loman, the main character in the play is a confused and tragic character. He is a man who is struggling to hold onto what morality he has left in a changing society that no longer values the ideals he grew up to believe in. Even though the society he lives in can be blamed for much of his misfortune, he must also be the blame for his bad judgment, disloyalty and his foolish pride. Willy Loman believes in the â€Å"American Dream,† which is the beliefRead MoreIs Willy Loman a Tragic Hero in Death of Salesman1305 Words   |  6 PagesWilly Loman’s character in Death of a Salesman portrays him as a tragic hero. Willy Loman continued to want his recognition and his reputation but never forgets about his family. These characteristics describe him as a tragic hero in Death of a Salesman. Willy Loman’s tragic flow leads him to purse the idea that reputation in society has more relevancies in life than knowledge and education to survive in the business. His grand error of wanting recognition drove him crazy and insane and lead toRead MoreEssay on Can Willy Loman Be Considered A Tragic Hero?1632 Words   |  7 PagesCan Willy Loman Be Considered A Tragic Hero? Whether Willy Loman can be considered a tragic hero has long been debated between critics. Ever since Miller produced the play, people have discussed whether Willy’s status was high enough for his fall to be considered tragic, or whether Willy can be seen as an altogether modern tragic hero, I will be looking at both these views taking into consideration critics views and also adding my own thoughts. Tragedy has its origin in ancient GreeceRead More Willy Loman as Tragic Hero of Death of a Salesman Essay1519 Words   |  7 PagesWilly Loman as Tragic Hero of Death of a Salesman       Willy Loman, the title character of the play, Death of Salesman, exhibits all the characteristics of a modern tragic hero. This essay will support this thesis by drawing on examples from Medea by Euripedes, Poetics by Aristotle, Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, and Shakespeares Julius Caesar, while comments by Moss, Gordon, and Nourse reinforce the thesis.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Death of Salesman, by Arthur Miller, fits the characteristics of classicRead MoreEssay Death of a Salesman, Tragic Hero. Willy Loman.1503 Words   |  7 PagesTo what extent can Willy Loman be considered a tragic hero according to Aristotle’s rules? Arthur Miller presents his play ‘Death of a Salesman’ in the ancient form of a tragedy. Aristotle has defined his idea of the ‘perfect’ tragedy in his text, ‘Poetics’ (350 BC).Here he suggests that the protagonist must fall from an elevated social standing as a result of a â€Å"fatal flaw† within the character; the fall from the main character creates resolution to the play which is seen as just; finally, Aristotle