Arthur Miller's Play "Death of a Salesman"

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that while Willy Loman, in Arthur Miller's play "Death of a Salesman", is not what Aristotle would consider to be a tragic hero; his character is a everyman's tragic hero and his experiences depict those of ordinary people in post-war America. The author points out that Willy possesses a fatal flaw that causes him to make a series of serious mistakes from which he is unwilling to learn or accept responsibility. The paper relates that, in order for a tragic hero to be truly tragic, he must evoke pity or sympathy from the audience; it is easy to feel sympathy for Willy because he does have dreams and does not intend to fail.

From the Paper:

"Here we see how Willy stretches the truth for no real reason at all. Perhaps Willy acts this way because of his need to feel loved and appreciated but, whatever the cause, it certainly evokes sympathy from the audience. To compound things, Willy even lies to Happy later when he tells him that he is well liked in his profession. Willy not only lies to himself, he also lies to everyone else, with exceptional ease. Instead of hating Willy, we are moved to feel pity for him that he must behave this way. It is also pitiful when Biff attempts to tell Willy that he is nothing "but a hard-working drummer who landed in the ash can like all the rest of them!" "

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