An American Tragedy

“Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get”, one of the most famous lines of the American classic film, Forrest Gump. The tragicomedy centers around the story of the fictional character Forrest Gump, who witnesses and influences important moments in contemporary American history. The film follows this simple-minded man, who represents the ultimate American dream in a land of opportunity. Zemeckis begins his movie with a tracking shot of a white feather. This feather…

just like tombstones, though there positioned side by side, each row is separated by a wide, clear pathway. One who sauntered through these aisles could feel dwarfed by either the sheer size of the scraps or by the tragedy that each piece signified. This man, a former pilot in the American Air Force, tarried on with his hands in his pockets, pensively gazing upon the gaggle of dilapidated, mangled war machines; probably taking into account the human death toll that accompanied them. This man is…

(1050) A Drama Analysis of the Evolution and Demise of the Tragedy in Oedipus Rex, Hamlet, and Death of a Salesman The origins of dramatic tragedy in ancient Greece define a time when heroic figures were killed or removed from power due to the imposition of fate in their life. The tradition of the Greek tragedy is often seen in the example of the downfall of the heroic figure, Oedipus, in Oedipus Rex by Sophocles. The “tragedy” of Oedipus is that he is the heroic savior of Thebes because he…

A tragedy play is one that deals with tragic events that all lead to an unhappy ending, especially concerning the downfall of a main character. Usually plays that come from different time periods and setting lead to different contexts. Furthermore, because the different contexts this often leads to differing tragedies. The two plays that follow this concept is “Oedipus the King” by Sophocles and “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller. When comparing these two plays, it easy to see that the…

conforms to Aristotle’s definition of a tragedy. Arthur Miller follows all of the key steps to a tragedy, whether it’s a misguided person set out to accomplish something, actions arousing pity, or following the timeline of a tragedy. Arthur Miller’s play follows but puts into question the American dream. Aristotle defines a tragedy as "imitation of an action that is serious, that arouse pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish its catharsis of these emotions" The American Dream includes love,…

Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” exemplifies a tragedy in many ways. Though others may argue otherwise, “Death of a Salesman” has all the ingredients to be considered a tragedy. A tragedy usually consist of a tragic figure who has a tragic flaw, that tragic flaw ends up leading them to their own destruction. In this case, the plays main character, Willy loman, is the tragic figure. Though many individuals would disagree with the idea of Willy loman as a tragic figure, Willy has the…

themselves in harm’s way to provide help and assistance both during and in the aftermath. I believe this is one of the greatest aspects of this image, where regardless of ethnicity, gender, our cultural beliefs, we were all Americans on that day, responding to the needs of their fellow Americans who were senselessly cut down by a foreign threat. The…

influential dramatists from America. He wanted to imbue modern American theater with the poignancy of Greek drama and therefore the tragic struggle of his dramatis personae and their moral conflicts can be traced back to the olden times when individual suffering touched the heights of heroic grandeur in its nobility and sheer helplessness. Although he substituted the role of fate and Gods with modern psychological theories to make his tragedies resonate with contemporary milieu, yet the…

man named Willy, who is seemingly living the American dream. Later in the play it is revealed that he is only moderately successful with his wife, and that he is having an affair. Willy also has many struggles with his children. At the end of the play, Willy kills himself due to his failures in life. This ending marks the play as a tragedy, despite the fact that the main character was not successful or well liked. The Death of a Salesman is not a tragedy because it does not fit the criteria of…

VII. Topic Sentence: Tragedy, an element missing from modern society, it is misunderstood and misused. Tragedy does not have to be bad, nor does the tragic flaw have to be a flaw. Rather, tragedy should make us feel sympathy towards the character, and make us afraid to suffer the same fate. In order to provoke sympathy, the character must suffer an undeserved punishment, earned by their response to a problem. In the piece, Miller uses strong diction, allegory to convey his intended message to…