Arthur Miller's Depiction of the Personality of Willy Loman As Shown In His Play, Death of a Salesman

Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller, is a tragic play focusing on the typical man in the course of the late 1940’s. Considerably of the story is told by flashbacks of Willy Loman’s previous, which includes him cheating on Linda, his wife. His older son, Biff, witnessed the affair and has not been the exact same ever given that. Content, the younger son, is not really satisfied but he enjoys lying in order to get ahead. Willy teaches his sons that becoming popular and “well liked” is a lot more important than having capabilities. A tragic hero is a literary character who tends to make a judgement error that inevitably leads to his/her personal destruction. The character Willy Loman in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman is an instance of a tragic hero.

An example of a characteristic of a tragic hero is that the character have to have a weakness. This applies to Willy Loman since he has several weaknesses, pride getting the most evident. He has a false sense of his personal value and believes that he will die “the death of a salesman” with a crowded funeral, but as an alternative dies quite much alone (Miller 55). When Charley offers him a job, Willy turns it down because he feels that it could compromise his dignity. He is fine with getting hand outs but is also proud to accept Charley’s provide (Miller 26). He also consistently talks about being “well liked” and having buddies (Miller 17).

Willy Loman represents the frequent functioning American man. Though he cheats on his wife and ruins his connection with his sons, Willy suffers much more than he deserves. Committing suicide is the way that he wants to redeem himself in their eyes, taking into consideration that his life insurance coverage will leave them with twenty thousand dollars (Miller 39). His punishment, death, exceeds his crimes. One more way he suffers is when Howard refuses to move his perform closer to home and then eventually fires him. Willy tells him that he “can’t consume the orange and throw the peel away – a man is not a piece of fruit” (Miller 55). By this, he means that the company cannot just fire its staff when they are as well old and worn out to be of worth to them. Willy has been with the organization given that the starting, operating for Howard’s father. The only cause that Howard kept him around was for his father.

This story certainly arouses worry and empathy from the audience. Willy’s biggest wish is to be noble and “well liked”, but he clearly never ever reaches that status. Throughout the play, it appears that he genuinely believes that he is well-liked, His death should raise fear in the common man, whom Willy symbolizes, because we can recognize related possibilities of error in ourselves. He is a “low man”, struggling to succeed in the incorrect way. His dream was never to be a businessman that concept was planted into his head by his father. Getting a salesman was wrong for him he was always skilled at constructing items (Miller 26). The audience can realize Willy’s need to be productive, effectively liked, and the worth he sees in appearances (Miller 18). Following all, “well liked” is almost certainly the most widespread phrase in the complete play.

Willy discovers his fate by his own actions, not by things happening to him. He was primarily a product of society, chasing soon after material goods and the “American Dream”. Not only did Willy want to be rich, he also wanted to be common amongst other individuals. He lives in the previous, which is characterized by the conversations in between Willy and his deceased brother, Ben (Miller 27). Willy smashing up the auto is pointed out several instances all through the play, leading the reader to believe that he has tried committing suicide ahead of (Miller 7). He also inhales gas from a gas pipe, in an attempt to gradually kill himself (Miller 39). In the end, it is Willy’s personal actions that lead to his death.

Finally, a tragic hero must be physically or spiritually wounded by his experiences, often resulting in death. Spiritually, Willy’s affair with The Woman plays a large function in his downfall. He loves Linda, but The Lady plays along with Willy’s belief that he is much more important than he really is. When Biff finds out about the affair, he is destroyed. While he employed to be the star football player at his college, he has offered that up and does not graduate from high school (Miller 84). Willy knows that the affair has caused a drift in his partnership with his family members, and he even feels guilty that he can offer stockings for The Woman but not for his wife. Each and every time that Willy crashes his car or inhales gas, he is physically hurting himself. At some point, the auto leads to his death (Miller 98).

In conclusion, Willy’s major flaw is having too significantly pride. He suffers more than he deserves, his personal actions lead to his downfall, and his story arouses worry and empathy. Due to all of these and his death, Willy is capable to meet the criteria of Aristotle’s tragic hero. The character Willy Loman in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman is an example of a tragic hero.