Willy Tragic Hero

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In search of the American dream, one may unknowingly have their lives corrode away little by little. In Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman is out in search the American dream, seeking to become wealthy in order to love and support his family. However, a crucial flaw suspends him from success, causing him to almost perfectly fit into Aristotle’s ideology of a tragic hero. Yet Arthur Miller does not create Willy as one among kings, rather Miller forges an everyday man, with the same potential for greatness as a classical tragic hero. Throughout the play, Willy gradually develops into the mold of a modern tragic hero, as his struggles with hubris become a major blemish that is constantly ignored and unnoticed by Willy; and, eventually this weakness …show more content…
From this point on, he believes himself to be a burden on his family, and due to the essence of hubris, he is unable to accept the fact of being such a burden. Willy turns to (what he thinks is) the only way to redeem himself and depart the world dignified--which is suicide. However, Willy does not completely embrace in this action, as he has constant inner conflicts with himself. He believes that suicide would be a honorable way to die, since the twenty thousand dollars would put Biff “ahead of Bernard again,” which could finally turn Biff’s life around (2.1970). On the other hand, Ben (who is just Willy’s subconscious) believes that Willy would appear as a coward and would just “make a fool of [himself],” revealing that Willy is intensely debating suicide, pondering the possible outcomes of his death (2.1966). In the end though, Ben (who again is only himself) changes his mindset and begins to encourage rather than discourage death, telling Willy that “It’s dark there, but full of diamonds,” meaning that death is dark and scary but it will be accompanied by valuable things, such as the twenty thousand dollars or the retention of dignity (2.1970). This completely pride-led choice leads to the end scene of Willy’s death where sorrow occurs

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