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Death of a Salesman: In the play, Arthur Miller? s Death of a Salesman: Willy Loan, a sympathetic salesman and despicable father who? s? life is a casting off? has some traits that match Aristotle? s views of a tragic hero.
Willy? s series of? ups and downs? is identical to Aristotle? s views of proper tragic figure; a king with flaws. His faulty personality, the financial struggles, and his inability are three substantial flaws that contribute to his failure and tragic end.
Willy, an aging salesman who sells nothing, is abused by the buyers, and recently borrows money from Charley to make ends meet. He is angered by the way his boss, Howard fired him after working for thirty-four-years at the same company, ? You can? t eat the orange and throw the peel away man is not a piece of fruit! ? (Miller, 61). Willy is battling for his life, fighting to sustain a sense of himself that makes it worthwhile living at all in a world which seemingly offers less and less space for the individual.
Now, If it is true that tragedy is the consequence of a man? s total completion to evaluate himself justly, his destruction in the attempt posits a wrong or an evil in his environment. And this is precisely the morality of tragedy and its lesson. The discovery of the moral law, which is what the enlightenment of tragedy consists of, is not the discovery of some abstract or metaphysical quantity. (miller, common man) His problem is that he has so completely accepted the values of his society that he judges himself by standards rooted in social myths rather than human necessities. This lack of insight is strikingly similiar to traits of the tragic hero.
As Aristotle? s writes, the tragic hero, ? Lives for honor and fame? . The glaring point of his faulty personality of neglecting others includes those closest to him, his wife, Linda and his two sons, Biff and Happy. ?
You? ll retire me for life on seventy goddamn dollars a week? ? (Miller, 28) is evidence of the cruelty Willy can show toward Happy as he does to Biff. Willy puts enormous pressure on his older son, Biff, to help him out in his time of need, ? Hap, [Willy] got to understand that I?
m not the man somebody lends that kind of money to, ? (Miller, 81). In the past, Biff went unexpected to Boston, to a hotel where Willy was staying and begs Willy to come back to New York and convince his math teacher to give him a? passing grade? in a math course so he can graduate on time. While there, Biff sees the?
WOMAN? in his father? s hotel room. Willy, at first, claims she is in the room because her shower is broken; then he changes the story and says he knows her through work, ? They?
re painting her room so I let her take a shower here. Go back, go back? (Miller, 93). It did not get much better at home either. He constantly puts down his wife and hates it when she interrupts him in his conversations with Biff and Happy, Willy reacts angrily, ? [to LINDA]: Stop interrupting! ? (Miller, 47). Willy does the best as he know how because his father was never there for him. Despite the good influence Willy has on his wife and two sons, he is a good father to his sons because he spends time with them.
For the most part, he is a decent husband who never abused his wife but his wrongs outweigh the postive things he did do for his family. He has a difficult time selling anything to earn money, ? A hundred and twenty dollars! My god, if business don? t pick up I don? t know what I?
m going to do! ? , (Miller, 23). He works very hard he has nothing to show for it. He decides that it was hard for him to travel to places of business and asks his boss, Howard, if he can work closer to home in New York. He gets fired for asking. His financial struggles continue with late bills, and no payment for his premium insurance; he is going deep into debt. He ignores the problems and thinks that everything is going to be all right.
Because of the booming economy, he is left behind in the dust; everybody competes for positions in their respective professions, in the world of America? s business. For, if it is true to say that in essence the tragic hero is intent upon claiming his whole due as a personality, and if this struggle must be total and without reservation, then it automatically demonstrates the indestructible will of man to achieve his humanity. (miller, common man) He worries for his family so he decided himself by getting in his vehicle and crashing into an object so his family could get money from insurance. Ironically, this trait match's Aristotle? s views of a tragic hero; ?
His heroic qualities contribute to his downfall. ? Willy, at times, is a despicable character who complains about the bad luck that has befallen him. He is also, at times, a sympathetic character who has no control over certain things in his life that which cause him hardships. Some of Willy?
s traits match Aristotle? s views of a tragic hero, a hero with specific qualities which contribute to his own downfall. Aristotle? s beliefs that a proper tragic figure is similiar with flaws of the main character in Arthur Miller?
s book, ? Death of a Salesman? Arthur Miller? s Death of a Salesman: Does Willy Loan? s despicable character and a sympathetic traits match Aristotle? s views of a tragic hero By Martin Galloway Jr 11 / 13 / 00 Block 4 Mrs.
Reese Outline: 1. Willy Loan has traits similiar to Aristotle? s view of a tragic figure. A) Sympathetic character.
B) Faulty personality. C) Finanical struggles. D) Ignoring the family. 2. Sympathetic character A) An aging salesman who sells nothing, is abused by the buyers, and recently boards from Charley to make ends meet. B) Fired by his boss, Howard. C) He judges himself by standards rooted in social myths rather than human necessities. 3.
Faulty personality A) Neglecting others include one closest to him; his wife, Linda and his two sons, Biff and Happy. B) lying about affair. C) Willy constantly put down his wife. 3. Finanical struggles A) He has a difficult time selling anything to earn money. B) Late bills, no premium insurance, and going deep into debt. C) The disadvantage the booming economy has on Willy.
D) Finds a way to kill himself to support his family. 4. Conclusion A) Willy, at times, is a despicable character B) Willy, at times, is a sympathetic character C) Some of Willy? s traits match Aristotle? s views of a tragic hero. got A for good revisions and bs like that.
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Research essay sample on Aristotle Tragic Hero
