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Character of Willy Loman in Death of Salesman
Tragic characterizations of death of a salesman
Is the death of a salesman a tragedy
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Willy Loman as Tragic Hero in Death of a Salesman
Willy Loman, the troubled father and husband in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, can be classified as a tragic hero, as defined by Aristotle in his work, Poetics.
In Aristotle's Poetics, a tragic hero was defined as one who falls from grace into a state of extreme despair. Willy, as we are introduced to him, becomes increasingly miserable as he progresses from a dedicated, loving father, though not without flaws, into a suicidal, delusional man. The definition of a tragic hero, as stated in "Poetics," also describes a person who is influential and is of significance to others. Though, in actuality, Willy Loman may not possess these characteristics, he perceives himself as having them as he cares for himself, his children and his wife. A final distinction noted by Aristotle was that a tragic hero is not a bad person deserving of his impending misfortune, but instead, has made a series of mistakes leading to his downfall. We can see that Willy does not purposely create this harmful situation for himself, he is only ignorant that certain actions of his are wrong, which contribute to his self-ruin. Willy Loman therefore personifies the attributes of a tragic hero as proposed by Aristotle.
Willy, with a house, a car, a job, two sons whom he adores, and a supportive, caring wife, seems to have everything that any man could ever want. He manages, however, to alienate himself from these things that he loves near the end of the play as he slips into a self-induced state of altered reality. Willy, being "...lonely...terribly lonely" (Miller, page #) has an affair with a woman during his marriage to Linda. Even though Linda is not aware of this, or makes no mention of ...
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...id not keep his sales skills sharpened, but he never purposely hurt the people in his life.
Through the actions of Willy Loman, and the reactions of those around him, we can see that his character follows the model of a tragic hero presented by Aristotle in his works, "Poetics." Willy passes through life in a path that begins with prosperity, as evidenced by his possessions and successful family, and ends with misery, when he loses his job and commits suicide. Willy has indeed made mistakes in his life, and we can recognize that they are mistakes and were never intended to harm anyone, but instead to satisfy his own needs. These characteristics then, by Aristotle's determination, make him not a "wicked man" (Aristotle, 1303), and not a virtuous man, but "a man whose place is between these extremes"; (Aristotle, 1303) by definition, the tragic hero.
According to Frye's definition, tragic heroes bring suffering upon themselves. Willy Loman is delusional and has a skewed view on the world he lives in. Willy asserts that he is young, popular, and respected among his family and workmates. Flashbacks of past memories, which interrupt the present day flow of time, prove that Willy is not everything he used to be in his younger years. This constant misconception of time is Willy Loman's main flaw, and he is the main victim in this suffering. Willy's misunderstanding of the world around him is shown in key scenes, such as his conversation with his brother Ben in the garden near the end of the play (Miller 99). The death of Willy Loman is also a consequence of his flaw: Willy's disorganized state of mind causes him to jump into a car and crash.
While both Oedipus Rex and Death of a Salesman can be described as tragedies, Willy Loman is not an example of a traditional tragic hero like Oedipus. To be labeled as a tragic hero, the character must experience an anagnorisis, a peripeteia, and must have hubris and a hamartia. Oedipus has all of these qualities, which is what makes him a prime example of tragedy. Oedipus’ tragic flaw, his discovery of what he has done, and his consequential destruction because of his discovery are all necessary to be termed a hero of tragedy. Although Willy Loman has a tragic flaw that is even comparable to Oedipus’ in that it results in his blindness from reality, he, however, does not experience a revelation as to why his demise is inevitable. Without such an experience, Willy is not a hero of tragedy.
Many dilemmas throughout the recent decades are repercussions of an individual's foibles. Arthur Miller represents this problem in society within the actions of Willy Loman in his modern play Death of a Salesman. In this controversial play, Willy is a despicable hero who imposes his false value system upon his family and himself because of his own rueful nature, which is akin to an everyman. This personality was described by Arthur Miller himself who "Believe[s] that the common man is as apt a subject for a tragedy in its highest sense as kings were" (Tragedy 1).
In the book Death of A Salesman, author Arthur Miller shows how cruel life can be through the life of Willy Loman, the main character. His feelings of guilt, failure, and sadness result in his demise.
The proliferation of prison overcrowding has been a rising concern for the U.S. The growing prison population poses considerable health and safety risks to prison staffs and employees, as well as to inmates themselves. The risks will continue to increase if no immediate actions are taken. Whereas fighting proliferation is fundamentally the duty of the U.S. government, prison overcrowding has exposed that the U.S. government will need to take measures to combat the flaws in the prison and criminal justice system. Restructuring the government to combat the danger of prison overcrowding, specifically in California, thus requires reforms that reestablishes the penal codes, increases the state’s budget, and develops opportunities for paroles to prevent their return to prison. The following context will examine and discuss the different approaches to reduce the population of state prisons in California in order to avoid prison overcrowding.
They argue that the character Willy Loman fits the mold of a tragic hero, a misguided man unaware of his flaws who comes to discover them through his journey but ends up dying in a tragic way in the end in grand release of tension. However, Willy Loman doesn’t reach the standard of a high status that is required to be a tragic hero. He is simply a typical man, a simple salesman. Willy is not even great at being a salesman or even a husband and father, the only roles he plays in his simple life. He never comes to discover his many flaws, he is deluded until the very end. The only consistency Willy has with a tragic hero is the tragic end. But the audience does not experience a catharsis of emotions, the audience can anticipate the miserable way Willy goes out but when it happens there is still a lingering air of unresolved misery and , especially for his
It is that simpler explanations are more likely the better choice than complicated drawn out explanations. The simpler something is the easier it is follow and there is less room for mistakes. Complicated explanations are more likely to make errors in them. This of course is when both theories explain the data or situation equally well. For example if you walk into the kitchen and the cat food has been knocked over and split all over the floor you would have to evaluate the different explanations. If your in-between two explanations that are the cat jumped on the counter and knocked it over or the dog unlocked its kennel pushed a chair over to the counter and then jumped on the counter, this tool says to go with the first option. Both explanations are reasonable and would explain what happened but the first less
Although criminal justice professionals are aware of the consequences of high incarceration rates,the problems that these bring and have order states to get rid of their overpopulation in prisons along with other measures, it is still not enough.
The film Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room was a great film loaded with examples of unethical behavior with Enron being an unethical corporate culture. The film portrays the rise and fall of Enron, one of the most corrupted corporations this country has seen. Enron had started off as a promising energy company with a vision to do good which quickly turned sour when top executives torn the company down while stealing millions of dollars from people. A reason for the downfall of Enron was the deregulation of electrical power markets which fueled the greed of Enron’s officials. They were the ones that transformed Enron from a traditional energy company into an energy broker.
Overcrowding in our state and federal jails today has become a big issue. Back in the 20th century, prison rates in the U.S were fairly low. During the years later due to economic and political factors, that rate began to rise. According to the Bureau of justice statistics, the amount of people in prison went from 139 per 100,000 inmates to 502 per 100,000 inmates from 1980 to 2009. That is nearly 261%. Over 2.1 million Americans are incarcerated and 7.2 million are either incarcerated or under parole. According to these statistics, the U.S has 25% of the world’s prisoners. (Rick Wilson pg.1) Our prison systems simply have too many people. To try and help fix this problem, there needs to be shorter sentences for smaller crimes. Based on the many people in jail at the moment, funding for prison has dropped tremendously.
According to Miller, a tragic hero is someone who dies for personal dignity. Willy does die for his dignity. “Those who act against the scheme of things that degrades them.”(Miller. Tragedy of the Common Man) Willy, in his ideas and action of committing suicide, fits in that category. In act 2, Willy reveals his desires to win back Biff’s respect by committing suicide.
Willy Loman’s feelings of alienation and loneliness are direct psychological results of his interaction with society and the conditions that are found within it. Although, he does not necessarily have the ability or allow himself to have the ability to define his feelings as such, they are still very much a part of his everyday existence. This is evident in his constant bragging and attempted compensation. He does not feel that he is truly a part of society. Indeed, he is not. Miller himself seems to be saying that this is not necessarily a bad thing; this society is not that wonderful. Yet Willy still yearns to be like his brother, Ben, and the other men he sees making up the work force. He desperately wants to command respect and be a part of the group. Although usually he just goes about his business as best he can, he does at times admit his feelings:
Mill writes that thinkers are still arguing the foundation of morality and constantly squabbling over the definition of right and wrong. He tells the reader that Plato wrote that Socrates first postulated the idea of Utilitarianism in his writings against the Sophists (Mill 1). He says man must test what is right and wrong seemingly against his own instinct, and that instinct can only give general principles of moral judgment (Mill 2). He writes that the intuitive and deductive schools taught that there is a science of morals but did not have a first principle. Rather they relied only on second principles to guide moral action. Mill writes that utilitarian arguments are indispensable for moralists and that the greatest happiness principle has influenced even those who vocally reject it (Mill
The tragic hero is defined by Aristotle as "a great man who is neither a paragon of virtue and justice nor undergoes the change to misfortune through any real badness or wickedness but because of some mistake” (Aristotle n. pag.). There are a few principles that Aristotle believes to form a tragic hero: the protagonist should be a person of power and nobility, who makes a major error in judgment and eventually comes to realization of his or her actions (Aristotle n. pag.). In Arthur Millers’ play, Death of a Salesman, he has twisted Aristotle’s belief of a tragic hero, and has created his own. Although Miller has twisted Aristotle’s belief, Sophocles’ play, Oedipus Rex, has a tragic hero (Oedipus) that follows the flaws, dignity, and acknowledgment of the truth that Aristotle believes in to make a tragic hero. It is essential for them to recognize their position and role in the play. Due to the fact that Willy Loman and Oedipus experience tragic flaws throughout their respected plays, they both have nobility, and they both realize the fact (anagnorisis) that they made an error in their life (hamartia). Through their fatal mis-steps, their pride and ego, predominately affect their familial lives, which in turn causes them to realize the truth that they are tragic heroes.
The Enron Corporation was an American energy company that provided natural gas, electricity, and communications to its customers both wholesale and retail globally and in the northwestern United States (Ferrell, et al, 2013). Top executives, prestigious law firms, trusted accounting firms, the largest banks in the finance industry, the board of directors, and other high powered people, all played a part in the biggest most popular scandal that shook the faith of the American people in big business and the stock market with the demise of one of the top Fortune 500 companies that made billions of dollars through illegal and unethical gains (Ferrell, et al, 2013). Many shareholders, employees, and investors lost their entire life savings, investments,