Cole Dapprich Krumm Death of a Salesman Processed Essay In Arthur Millers classic play, Death of a Salesman, the protagonist,

a traveling

2/13/12 Period 4

salesman named Willy Loman, commits suicide because he believes that the money from his life insurance policy will provide a better life for his family than he can while he is still alive. The cause of this decision is a tragic flaw in Willys character: he has a deep, insatiable need to be well liked. Despite his absence of nobility, Willy fits Aristotles definition of a tragic hero just as aptly as the title characters in Shakespeares Othello or Sophocles Oedipus the King. According to Aristotle, a tragic hero must be highly renowned and prosperous, have goodness and other qualities appropriate to type, be lifelike and consistent, and must fall into misfortune (catastrophe) because of his/her hamartia (tragic flaw). Willy Loman fits the description perfectly, with one exception. Willy is always well intentioned: he is always thinking of whats best for his boys. He also has many other qualities appropriate to his character and standing in society, such as a desire for his children to have a better life than he does. He is also very lifelike and consistent. Many of us might see a piece of ourselves in Willy Loman, and once his character is established, he stubbornly refuses to change. For example, he mistakenly considers himself to be more liked than his neighbor Charley, so when Charley offers him a job after he is fired, he refuses it because he cannot comprehend having someone he considers his inferior as his boss. And finally, he does fall into catastrophe because of his hamartia. Because of his deluded perception of himself as a well liked, successful salesman brought about by his tragic flaw of constantly desiring respect or affection, he commits suicide, telling himself that his family will consider him a hero for sacrificing his life so that they will get the insurance money and be better off. Tragically, this proves yet another failure for Willy. However, Willy is not highly renowned and prosperous. According to Miller, the common man is as apt a subject

Cole Dapprich Krumm

2/13/12 Period 4

for tragedy in its highest sense as kings were. His reasoning for this statement is that when put in the same tragic situations as the tragic heroes of ancient times, commoners react in the exact same way with the exact same mental processes. Miller is correct in his assertion, because if he wasnt, Death of a Salesman, which is a tragedy of a common man, would not resonate with us so strongly, impact us so powerfully, or rise to its current status as a classic. Another way we can defend Willy Lomans classification as a tragic hero is by comparing his tale with that of two of the most tragic figures in the history of tragedy: Oedipus and Othello. In Shakespeares Othello, the title character is led blindly into his downfall because of his inability to differentiate between truth and deception. We can say the same for Willy Loman. Willy is unable to see the difference between his own deluded world view and reality, and so he retreats into the comfort of his disillusioned memories, reliving his few triumphs over and over rather than face his failures, namely, his son Biff, who he in one breath calls him a lazy bum and in the next says he is not lazy. In Sophocles Oedipus the King, the title character is desperately trying to find the truth of his identity in order to save his dignity as King of Thebes, while unknowingly searching for what will ultimately cause his downfall. Willy Loman undergoes a similar experience in that rather than face the loss of his dignity, namely, being fired from his job, and live through the rest of his life ringing up a zero, he commits suicide. Miller is correct in his assertion of Death of a Salesman as a tragedy, and of Willy Loman as a tragic hero. This play, along with other tragedies of the common man, will continue to deeply affect and touch many audiences to come as well as Othello and Oedipus the King.