Discuss Willy Loman as a Tragic Hero.

Answer

Discuss Willy Loman as a tragic hero.

Willy Loman is a tragic character in the play “Death of a Salesman” (1949) by Arthur Miller (1915-2005). A tragic hero is a character who represents consequences that contain one or more personal faults or are doomed by a certain fate. Theoretically, as a literary device, the purpose of a tragic protagonist is to arouse sympathy and fear in the audience through the protagonist’s flaws and consequent fall.

Not So Good Nor Bad: According to Aristotle, the tragic hero’s character will not be much good or worse. Willy Loman is not so good or bad. He is a sixty-plus traveling salesman. He has been serving in a company as a traveling salesman for nearly 36 years. He is responsible for the family, so he is doing the job. He wants to be a successful businessman like Ben. He wants to see his sons’ high-principled positions. These are normally good sides of Willy. On the other hand, he has to conceal relations with a woman to preserve his social prestige, so we can say that Willy Loman is not fully good or bad. Linda Loman Says: 

A man is not a bird, to come and go with the springtime.

Tragic flaw: The tragic fault causes the downfall of the hero. It indicates the three facts: ignorance of circumstances, the error of judgment, and voluntary commitment to error. Willy Loman has a tragic flaw, which is his high ambition. He wants to be a successful man in America. He wants to see his sons in great positions. He cannot face reality. He has an American dream, which symbolizes name, fame, and money, which are the main tragic flaws of his life. 

Hubris or excessive pride: Hubris is a Greek word for excessive pride and disrespect for the natural order of things. In the play, Willy Loman has the American Dream, which stands for excessive pride. We have seen that Willy teaches his sons in such a way that the present business world does