Free Essays on Death Of A Sales Man

A Tragic Hero in Arthur Millers â€Å"Death of a Salesman† Tragedy was a very controversial issue in literature until recent years. Recent figures in literature have set a clear definition for tragedy. Author Miller is one of these figures. Plays and novels have distinguished the definition of tragedy. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary tragedy is a serious piece of literature typically describing a conflict between the protagonist and a superior force and having a sorrowful or disastrous conclusion that excites pity or terror. Miller’s explains that a tragic hero does not always have to be a monarch or a man of a higher status. A tragic hero can be a common person. A tragedy does not always have to end pessimistically; it could have an optimistic ending. The play Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller, is a tragedy because its hero, Willy Loman, is a tragic figure that faces a superior source, being the American dream and the struggle for success. Loman also excites pity in the reader because of his defeat and his inability t o become a success or teach his children how to make their lives successful. Miller defines a flaw as â€Å"an inherent unwillingness to remain passive in the face of what one conceives to be a challenge to one’s dignity†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Penguin USA) Loman fulfills many of the requirements of being a tragic hero. Willy is not â€Å"flawless† in his actions, which by Miller’s standards make him a tragic hero. It is not wrong for Willy to have flaws and it does not make him a weaker man but a tragic figure. Miller designed the play so that Willy could be a tragic hero and for this he needs to have a flaw. Willy’s flaw is that he is unable to see things in a more realistic perspective. Charley says something in the play that sums up Willy’s whole life. He asks him, "When the hell are you going to grow up?" Willy’s spends his entire life in an illusion. He sees himself as a great man that is popular and su... Free Essays on Death Of A Sales Man Free Essays on Death Of A Sales Man A Tragic Hero in Arthur Millers â€Å"Death of a Salesman† Tragedy was a very controversial issue in literature until recent years. Recent figures in literature have set a clear definition for tragedy. Author Miller is one of these figures. Plays and novels have distinguished the definition of tragedy. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary tragedy is a serious piece of literature typically describing a conflict between the protagonist and a superior force and having a sorrowful or disastrous conclusion that excites pity or terror. Miller’s explains that a tragic hero does not always have to be a monarch or a man of a higher status. A tragic hero can be a common person. A tragedy does not always have to end pessimistically; it could have an optimistic ending. The play Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller, is a tragedy because its hero, Willy Loman, is a tragic figure that faces a superior source, being the American dream and the struggle for success. Loman also excites pity in the reader because of his defeat and his inability t o become a success or teach his children how to make their lives successful. Miller defines a flaw as â€Å"an inherent unwillingness to remain passive in the face of what one conceives to be a challenge to one’s dignity†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Penguin USA) Loman fulfills many of the requirements of being a tragic hero. Willy is not â€Å"flawless† in his actions, which by Miller’s standards make him a tragic hero. It is not wrong for Willy to have flaws and it does not make him a weaker man but a tragic figure. Miller designed the play so that Willy could be a tragic hero and for this he needs to have a flaw. Willy’s flaw is that he is unable to see things in a more realistic perspective. Charley says something in the play that sums up Willy’s whole life. He asks him, "When the hell are you going to grow up?" Willy’s spends his entire life in an illusion. He sees himself as a great man that is popular and su... Free Essays on Death Of A Sales Man Seeking the American Dream of Success Arthur Miller’’s â€Å"â€Å" Death of A Salesman†Ã¢â‚¬  could be described as a study in the American Dream ideology, a system that at times is indescribably brutal and at other times compassionates. Author Miller's plays are usually associated with real life issues filled with failure and disappointment. The author's main character, Willy Loman, is a traveling salesman that spends his whole lifetime trying to find success based on looks and popularity. Willy Loman is a product of this ever-increasing society, obsessed with measuring success by popularity and material wealth and unfortunately emphasizing these principles upon his family. For Willy Loman, to be liked was the definitive criterion of life success. The American dream of wealth and luck became Willy’’s dream, and it almost became reality. Willy realizes that in fact he has lived his life in vain, never achieving nor succeeding but remaining a shad ow of his ambition. It is this sudden insight that urges him into a fantasy, afraid to face the future. It is only through Willy’’s failure as a salesman that his innate desire for the outdoors is exposed. At the end of the play, Charley mentions, â€Å"â€Å"†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ He was a happy man with a batch of cement †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ so wonderful with his hands †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ he had the wrong dreams, all wrong.†Ã¢â‚¬ . It has been often said that the play emphasize the path not taken may have been the right one, still Willy holds the inability to see who and what he is. Miller has created Willy’’s wife Linda in such a way, that it is difficult to confirm whether she is a positive or destructive force upon him. It is hard to understand why she allows this deception to rise to the level that it does. The love Linda holds for Willy is relentless. She sees herself as his protector, allowing him to laps into his illusions where he feels contentment. But i n her love for her husband she is ironically his destroyer. Linda in he...