Willy Loman, from the play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, exhibited the traits of a tragic hero. His disastrous qualities came prior to his foreshadowed death when he realized his existence had not panned out the way he had hoped. Mr. Loman aroused sympathy from the readers as he dedicated his life to a single cause, all while having a weakness of pride that led to his catastrophic passing.
Willy was destined to pass away from the very start of the story, just like a tragic hero characteristically does. The title of the work shows the fate of Willy Loman. “Death of a Salesman” (DiYanni 1777). The name of the play foreshadows the destiny of the main character. The reader knows that Willy will perish because the very first words of the work tell the reader exactly that. The name of the literary work obviously states that someone will die, and once the reader finds out Willy has the occupation of a salesman we know his condemned fortune. The opening scene of the play reveals yet another forewarning of Willy’s death. “Linda: Don’t you feel well? Willy: I am tired to death. I couldn’t make it. I just couldn’t make it, Linda. Linda: Where were you all day? You look terrible” (DiYanni 1779). The fact that those words come from Mr. Willy Loman as only his fourth line of many indicates that his death will come at some point in the story. He used the word “death” to describe his physical state so in essence the person reading the tale has insight to his destiny. The reader can clearly see the demise of Mr. Loman from the start.
The salesman, Willy, heroically has a heartbreaking semi-epiphany about his life in the concluding scenes of the piece. In his final days, Mr. Loman grasps the fact that his years have not gone exactly as ...
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Works Cited
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DiYanni, Robert. "Death of a Salesman." Literature Reading Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Ed. Emily Barrosse. 6th. New York, NC: McGraw-Hill, 2002. Print.
George, Thomas. "The Tragic Hero Identity Crisis in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman." Academia. Web. 21 Apr. 2014. .
Simon, Scott. "'Salesman' Willy Loman: A Towering Little Man." NPR. 2 Feb. 2008. Web. 21 Apr. 2014. .
"Willy Loman." Shmoop. Web. 21 Apr. 2014. .
The play, “Death of a Salesman” written by Arthur Miller, presents Willy Loman, as a salesman, who fails to earn a living and slowly loses his mind. Willy continuously seeks the past to find out where he went wrong. During his years in life, Willy wanted his two sons, Biff and Happy to become someone they’re not; Willy wanted them to become a salesman like him. However, because of his obsession in the American Dream of easy success and wealth, he created a life full of lies for himself and his sons. In the end because of “his misconception of himself as someone capable of greatness” leads to his downfall and the end of his life (Death of a Salesman).”
Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Seventh Edition. X.J. Kennedy, and Dana Gioia. New York: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc., 1999. 1636-1707.
Gioia, Dana, and X.J. Kennedy. "Death of a Salesman" Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing, Compact Edition, Interactive Edition. 5th ed. New York: Pearson; Longman Publishing, 2007. 1212-1280. Print.
... Death of a Salesman. New York: Penguin, 1996. Print. The. Sherk, James.
Murray, Edward. “The Thematic Structure in Death of a Salesman.” Readings on Arthur Miller: Death of a Salesman. San Diego: Greenhaven Press Inc., 1999.
Arthur Miller’s play “Death of a Salesman”, primarily focuses on the flaws and failures of Willy Loman, Millers’ main character in this story. Willy’s distorted and backward views of the American Dream, paired with his inability to let go of the past lead him down a road of regret and in the end his biggest failure which was his wasted life.
Miller, Arthur “Death of a Salesman” Literature: Craft and Voice. Ed. Nicholas Delbanco and Alan Cheuse. 2nd ed. New York: McGraw Hill, 2012. 205-13. Print.
Because Death of a Salesman is set in the late 1940’s, in the midst of a hardworking America, Arthur Miller’s portrayal of Willy Loman reflects the struggles of having trouble balancing a successful job with the ever changing economy. Even though small sales men, like him, are having trouble thriving, he attempts to live on ideals of a successful business man. Without the ability to confront reality, Loman’s pathetic life and failures are an effect of his skewed outlook on capitalist society and its values. One reason why his life goes downhill is because he believes that he can make business by merely being well liked. Also, Loman does not realize the insensitivity that is part of the capitalist industry.
In Arther Millers, Death of The Salesman, is a tragic play about a struggling salesman, Willy Loman. This play is also seen as tragedy between dream vs. reality. He believes in the American Dream and strives to achieve wealth and success, but he never does. Willy is a very hard worker and pushes himself to provide his family with the supplies they need. Willy’s character is an average guy who hides his failure as he strives for success, but he faces certain experiences that occur throughout the story that shape his character into something negative.
“Death of a Salesman” written by Arthur Miller in 1948 attempts to give the audience an unusual glimpse into the mind of Willy Loman, a mercurial 60-year-old salesman, who through his endeavor to be “worth something”, finds himself struggling to endure the competitive capitalist world in which he is engulfed. Arthur Miller uses various theatrical techniques to gradually strip the protagonist down one layer at a time, each layer revealing another truth about his distorted past. By doing this, Miller succeeds in finally exposing a reasonable justification for Willy’s current state of mind. These techniques are essential to the play, as it is only through this development that Willy can realistically be driven to motives of suicide. The very first section of the first scene, already defines the basis of Willy’s character for the rest of the play.
Miller, Arthur. "Death of a Salesman." Compact Literature. Ed. Laurie Kirszner and Stephen Mandell. 8th ed. Boston: Wadsworth, 2013. 1262-331. Print.
Arthur Miller's, "Death of a Salesman," shows the development and structure that leads up to the suicide of a tragic hero, Willy Loman. The author describes how an American dreamer can lose his self-worth by many negative situations that occur throughout his life. The structure and complications are essential because it describes how a man can lose his way when depression takes over.
Drama Analysis: Death of a Salesman Death of a Salesman is a dark and tragically sad story about a man’s last days of his life. On the surface the play is about “The American Dream”, however, the underlying tone of this play is the man's obsession with his last name. Arthur Miller said in an interview with Charle Rose said: “it's about a salesman and he dies, It’s about the United States, it's about a man and his economic state and it’s about family. ”. At the end of the day, the story is really about love and what a man is capable of doing for the love of family, however, misguided. Willy Loman, despite his futile search through his past, does not reach self-realization.
Willy Loman’s character in Death of a Salesman portrays him as a tragic hero. Willy Loman continued to want recognition and his reputation, but never forgets about his family. These characteristics describe him as a tragic hero in Death of a Salesman. Willy Loman’s tragic flow leads him to pursue the idea that reputation in society has more relevance in life than knowledge and education to survive in the business. His grand error of wanting recognition drove him crazy and insane and led to his tragic death.
Willy Loman, the main character in Death of a Salesman is a complex tragic character. He is a man struggling to hold onto the little dignity he has left in a changing society. While society may have caused some of his misfortune, Willy must be held responsible for his poor judgment, disloyalty and foolish pride.