The play All my sons by Arthur Miller, tells the story of a man named Joe Keller who does anything he deems necessary to protect the welfare of his family including violating his own morals. Some believe Keller can be classified as a tragic hero while other think he is tragic in general. Although he meets four out of the six Aristotelian tragic hero qualifications, Joe keller is nothing more than a failure proven by the way he treats his family, his business misfortunes, and his futile attempts to keep his secret. Joe keller, the proclaimed family man, always kept the mentality of family first and always sought out to be the ideal father figure for his two sons. However, after the mysterious death of Larry, one of Keller's sons, strain …show more content…
Ironically Failure is not an option in Keller's eyes so he does whatever he has to do in order to guarantee success in the time being. Keller deems his success on monetary gain, therefore when his business was not providing him his ideal income amount, he chooses to do the unthinkable which leads to the death of 21 pilots and eventually his own son’s as well as himself. An example of a attempt to keep his business afloat, is the fact that Keller used one of his close friends, Steve, as a scapegoat to his own transgressions. While steve is rotting in prison for a crime he didn't commit, Keller is going on with life with his pockets full of money. Later on during the big reveal, Keller tries to explain his actions to Chris and states “ I'm in business, a man is in business; a hundred and twenty cracked, you're out of business…the process don't work if you're out of business; you don't know how to operate, your stuff is no good they close you down... What could I do, let them take forty years, let them take my life away?”(419) Keller tries to justify his Crimes by explaining that he had to do it, that by doing what he did ensured the success of his business and his family. He even goes on the say that he did all of this for Chris “ Chris, I did it for you, it was a chance I took for you...For you, a business for you!” (420) Keller Expresses his misgivings about what happened, but says he did it so …show more content…
After telling lie after lie to his family as well as his friends and the public, it is revealed that because of his negligence and greed, 21 Pilots died. Keller barely sees any harm in what he did because in his own words he says “ I never thought they'd install them… I was going to tell them,” (420) He was more worried about being caught and ruining his reputation and his business to dwell on the fact that he killed 21 innocent men. In the midst of things Keller then tries to blame his family as a last resort by stating “I didn't want it that way, either! What difference is it what you want? I spoiled both of you...I could have made it on a quarter a day myself, but i got a family,” (425) He thought that by committing those crimes he was helping to provide for his family and that he wouldn't have had to do it if he didn't have a family. Keller has a sudden realization of what he truly did when chris says he can't look at him and after he reads Larry’s suicide note. He realizes that he failed his business, his reputation, and most importantly all of his sons which leads to his own
Northrop Frye states in his book Anatomy of Criticism that the tragic hero is “on top of the wheel of fortune, halfway between human society on the ground and the something greater in the sky”. The book also declares that tragic heroes are “inevitable conductors of the power around them”, and conductors may be victims as well as instruments of destruction (website). Willy Loman, the epitome of a tragic hero, brings suffering upon not only himself, but others, including his wife and sons. Willy establishes Northrop Frye's definition of a tragic hero through the suffering of both himself and his friends and family, and this suffering contributes to the great tragic vision of the play as a whole.
A tragic hero is typically thought to be a person that has very good morals but is destroyed by their one flaw. In order for someone to be considered a tragic hero, they must fulfil each stage of the hero’s journey. John Proctor, from Arthur Miller’s ‘The Crucible’, is thought to be a tragic hero because he possesses each of the characteristics of a tragic hero. In Salem, John is known for his integrity, self-respect, and dignity. To him, his family name was everything. He valued it so much, that he was willing to die for it.
A tragic hero is a noble man who commits a fatal flaw. The hero’s downfall is a result of their choices which leads to a punishment that exceeds the crime. “The difference between Proctor and Willy Loman is enormous; the former is the rather typical tragic hero who is defiant to the end, the latter is trapped in submission and is living a lie” (McGill 4). John Proctor is one of the main characters in The Crucible. he is married to Elizabeth Proctor and they live in Salem. In Arthur Miller’s famous play, The Crucible, John Proctor represents a classic tragic hero because he is a well respected man of noble stature, he is conflicted because of his fatal flaw, and his downfall is a result of his own choices.
Since the times of the ancient Greeks, tragic heroes have been used to enhance the meaning of a play or literary work. Any character cannot be described as tragic hero. Several key characteristics are necessary for the tragic hero to possess in order to be characterized as such. He must be high-ranked or have a high standing in the community. He must have a weakness or a tragic flaw and be involved in a struggle. In the end, that struggle will lead to his downfall. Arthur Miller purposely incorporates these characteristics into John Proctor, one of the main figures in The Crucible. He masterfully portrays Proctor as a tragic hero even though he is a common man.
What is a tragic hero? The most well known definition of a tragic hero comes from the great philosopher, Aristotle. When depicting a tragic hero, Aristotle states "The change in the hero's fortunes be not from misery to happiness, but on the contrary, from happiness to misery, and the cause of it must not lie in any depravity but in some great error on his part." In addition, he explains the four essential qualities that a tragic hero should possess, which are goodness, appropriateness, lifelike, and consistency. All of these necessities help to classify the character of John Proctor in Arthur Miller's The Crucible as the tragic hero of the play. Not only does he unfortunately fall to desolation, but also his character captures the sympathy and pity from the audience or readers. Proctor's downfall in the play is initiated by a human flaw, which to a great extent qualifies him to be the tragic hero.
The word hero comes from the Greek that means someone who fights adversity with great strength and power, in the face of danger. They often give up their own personal concerns for the greater good. Unfortunately, this hero can have downfalls. When this happens, he or she is considered to be a tragic hero. A tragic hero is someone who makes a judgment error and that inevitably leads to his or her downfall. In the Crucible by Arthur Miller, John Proctor is a perfect example of a tragic hero. His old housemaid, Abigail Williams, had an affair with John that started this chaos with the trials. She wanted John’s wife, Elizabeth Proctor, dead thus starting the Salem witch trials. Many of his friends and family were sent to accused of witchcraft and sent to jail because of John and his actions. Even though John did good things for his family, he also did a bad thing that leads to his downfall, like a tragic hero.
In the Tragedy and the Common Man, Arthur Miller describes many key aspects that contributes to a tragedy, including the characteristics of a modern tragic hero. Miller describes a modern tragic hero as someone who struggles to obtain what they perceive as their rightful position in their life. Miller writes, “The flaw, or crack in the characters, is really nothing-and need be nothing, but his inherent unwillingness to remain passive in the face of what he conceives to be a challenge to his dignity, his image of his rightful status” (Miller 2). In other words, the tragic hero’s flaw is that he or she cannot accept any actions that challenges his or her position. Troy Maxson from the book Fences is an example of a modern tragic hero. Troy wants to be dominant in his life, he want to be authoritative and make things go the way he likes. Thus, his desire for control ultimately led him to a tragedy.
One moment everything is going well then a mistake is made and the world seems to turn against itself. This is primarily what happens to all tragic heroes. A tragic hero is someone who is usually a distinguished and respected person with a character flaw called hubris, which is excessive pride and arrogance. This flaw causes the protagonist to do an immoral action which will eventually cause his or her downfall. In The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, John Proctor is the tragic hero because of his excessive pride that leads him to do the shameful act of Adultery; this is his fatal error that caused the chain of events that put everyone living in Salem lives in jeopardy. For Proctor, in order to right the tragedy he cause, he must come to
The tragic hero is one of literatures most used (and sometimes abused) characters. The classical definition of a tragic hero is, “a person with heroic or potentially heroic qualities. The person is doomed by the Gods or some other supernatural force to destruction or suffering. The hero struggles against the fate, but due to a personal flaw, ultimately fails in the battle against fate. It is my personal opinion that Brutus,as he is portrayed in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, is a tragic hero by this definition. I came to this conclusion due to the fact that Brutus shares many similarities with other tragic heroes in literature such as Oedipus, Hamlet, and Ralph from Lord of the Flies. All four characters share the two critical traits that are needed to be tragic heroes: a tragic flaw that eventually leads to a tragic downfall. The tragic hero was defined by Aristotle, yet the “invention” of the tragic hero goes to Sophocles.
A tragic hero is a protagonist with a fatal flaw which eventually leads to a character's downfall. The tragic hero is often introduced as happy, powerful and privileged, and ends up dying or suffering immensely due to their own faulty action. John Proctor’s, the protagonist in the play, flaw that lead to his “downfall” was his inability to accept his fate and his pride in which he holds in the town of Salem, Massachusetts. John Proctor had displayed the four characteristics of a tragic hero goodness, superiority, a tragic flaw, and has an eventual realization
A tragic hero is commonly known as a character of nobility that undergoes a fatal change which ultimately results in a tragedy. Arthur Miller, however, has a slightly different view in regards to what a tragic hero is. He asserts that a tragic hero does not necessarily have to be a character of nobility, instead can be an average person in possession of a tragic flaw. In Death of a Salesman, a play written by Arthur Miller, the criteria of a modern tragic hero are best expressed and demonstrated through the main character, Willy Loman. Willy Loman’s tragic flaw would be his excessive and unwarranted pride. This is because his pride causes him to live his life in a world of delusion, ultimately resulting in his very death. Willy’s pride first leads him into misunderstanding and mistreating his family, consequently resulting in family feuds and resentment. It then leads him into building his life out of false hopes, consequently resulting in his absolute failure in the business world. Finally, it results in him living an incredibly narcissistic and delusional life; to a point where he believes that he can attain fame and success through suicide. As it has been thoroughly demonstrated by Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman, having excessive pride in one’s self can ultimately derail an individual’s life into a mass pit of delusion and failure.
Tragedy is a form of drama based on human suffering that invokes in its audience a pleasure in viewing. One of the greatest philosopher, Aristotle, depicts a tragic hero as a noble man that had an "error in judgment" which led to "a reversal of ending" and "a fate that is greater than deserved". Similarly, Miller, the author of the play, The Crucibles, defines a tragic hero as a common man that is ready to give up his image in society as well as facing the later consequences that may be greater than deserved. In the play, The Crucibles, John Proctor, one of the main protagonist, is known to be a tragic hero. Proctor had committed adultery which lead to Abigail's love for him and ultimately ended up starting the witch trials. The wrong decisions, the noble choices he made, and the fate that he experienced allows him to be called a tragic hero.
A tragedy should bring fear and pity to the reader. A man in this tragedy should not be exceptionally righteous, but his faults should come about because of a certain irreversible error on his part. This man should find a bad or fatal ending to add to the tragedy of the story, for this man in the tragic hero. The protagonist John Proctor portrays a tragic hero in The Crucible; his hamartia of adultery causes great internal struggles, he displays hubris by challenging authority, and he encounters catastrophe through recognition and reversal.
In his classic work "Poetics" Aristotle provided a model of the tragic hero. According to Aristotle, the tragic hero is more admirable than the average person. This results in the tragic hero being admired by the audience. For the audience to accept a tragic ending as just, it is crucial that the tragic hero be responsible for their undoing. At the same time though, they must remain admired and respected. This is achieved by the tragic hero having a fatal flaw that leads to their undoing. One of literature's examples of the tragic hero is Achilles from Homer's The Iliad. However, Achilles is different from the classic tragic hero in one major way - his story does not end tragically. Unlike the usual tragic hero, Achilles is able to change, reverse his downfall, and actually prove himself as a true hero.
...audience in such a tragedy, and they lend their mistakes and misfortune to each others’ downfalls as they ultimately drive the others fate. You could argue that Chris is the tragic hero in All My Sons because he is left to deal with the death of his father, brother and his ‘men’ whilst also trying to move towards a new life with Ann. However, Chris is an exemplum not to take for granted what you have, and is an example of morality rather than a tragic hero. In my opinion, Joe Keller is the real tragic hero as due to his actions driving the outcome of those around him, he destroys not only his own life but also the life of his ‘sons’. His whole life was dedicated to his family and their well being but all his plans were undone by one fatally flawed error of judgment. Joe perfectly fits Aristotle’s idea of a tragic hero, as he paid the ultimate price for his mistakes.