Oedipus And Willy Loman Analysis

All tragic heroes come across different tragedies. These tragedies often occur through the irrational decisions and actions made by these tragic heroes. Both Oedipus from Oedipus the King and Willy Loman from Death of a Salesman are portrayed as protagonists that are blind to their reality. Despite this, Oedipus seeks the truth and faces it, unlike Willy Loman, who ends up never realizing the truth. Thus, the protagonists of Death of a Salesman and Oedipus the King carry the same tragic flaws that lead to their downfalls, however, the way they see their reality differs.

Oedipus and Willy are similar in the sense that they both are oblivious to the truth and reality of life. Oedipus denies the prophecy of being a murderer, he will not accept being accused for what he has not done. When Oedipus insults Tiresias by calling him blind for giving him false prophecies, Tiresias replies saying, “I pity you, flinging at me the very insults each man here will fling at you so soon.” (Sophocles) Tiresias, being blind, is able to tell Oedipus that he is the murderer of his father and that his marriage is fraud, as he is married to his own mother. As for Oedipus, even while having eyes, is not able to see the reality. This ultimately leads Oedipus to the path of his downfall because while in search for the murderer, he curses him and promises to banish him out of Thebes.

Little did he know that he is cursing himself, which in the end would result in Oedipus facing the consequences. Likewise, Willy Loman is blinded by the illusion of being a successful businessman. When Willy’s wife, Linda, says that Willy is wonderful with his hands during the Requiem, Biff, Willy’s son, replies saying, “He had the wrong dreams. All, all, wrong.” (Miller 138) Willy is too busy occupied by dreaming about having a business and being very successful that he is not able to recognize his talents, instead he believes that being a businessman will take him where he wants to be. In reality, working with his hands is what makes him successful internally. This is proven in the novel as Willy is always working on his house trying to build parts of it that went missing; and he also planted flower seeds. Although they never grew, he still watered them. In conclusion, both Willy and Oedipus cannot see the reality of their situations, which creates a connection between the two that leads to their tragic downfall.
Even though both Oedipus and Willy are blinded by the truth, Oedipus faces the consequences after attaining the truth, while Willy does not come to know what the truth is. Oedipus chases to find the murderer of King Laius after being told about the prophecy. After seeking the truth, he punishes himself and fulfills the promise given to the people of Thebes about the murderer. When Oedipus finds out who his real parents are and who he actually is, he says, “If I died then, I’d never have dragged myself, my loved ones through such hell.” (Sophocles) After figuring out the truth, Oedipus vows to do as promised to the people of Thebes. He banishes himself from Thebes as proclaimed to do so with the murderer. With that, he also gouges his eyes out, his punishment being to live on but to be blind forever. It is evident that Oedipus accepts his fate and is committed to his words, as he does not back out, but faces the consequences of being the murderer. Oedipus also shows that he feels guilty after learning the truth. On the contrary, Willy views his sons and himself as successful businessmen. But when he realizes that he is turning into a failure, he decides to commits suicide to avoid it and benefit his family. Right before Willy commits suicide, he thinks about the benefits the life insurance plan will have upon his family and the family business, he says, “Imagine? When the mail comes he’ll be ahead of Bernard again!” (Miller 135) Willy wants to be a successful businessman as he believes that it is everyone’s dream. In the process of Willy chasing his “American dream,” he fails to recognize his fate and how he was never a successful business man living the “American dream”. He wastes his life comparing and trying to be better than others when what truly made him successful is in him the entire time, which is being a hands on worker. But he thought that if he dies, his family will get $20,000 from life insurance and use the money for a successful business start-up. So, unlike Oedipus opening his eyes to know the truth, Willy faces a tragic downfall without learning of his real fate.
Therefore, Oedipus and Willy both face similar situations that connects them as tragic heroes but their approach to reality differs.

Oedipus and Willy both fail to recognize the reality of their lives. Due to the blindness, they both face tragic downfalls. However, unlike Willy, whose tragic flaw gets in the way of showing him who he actually is, Oedipus learns the truth and deals with the punishments given by keeping his promises and fulfilling it. Overall, tragic heroes are often responsible for their downfalls through their actions, however, the way they face those downfalls impacts their

lives.