Then finally, I want you to argue for or against Willy Loman being a tragic hero as defined by Arthur Miller in his essay, “Tragedy and the Common Man.”
hello, Greetings, Scholars!
Death of a Salesman is considered one of the best plays in American Theatre. So much of the play’s success comes from the deep and hard look it takes America and its myths. For Miller, the Depression exposed the fallacy of America and the rise of consumerism created false gods that did nothing more than expose American society and American ideology as a myth. in Death of a Salesman, we really see this dichotomy play out in the generanational differences between Willy and Biff (as a side note, we’ll see generational differences pop up again in Fences). Willy can’t help but believe in the promise of America, while Biff is stuck wanting to believe what his father believes, but fundamentally knowing deep down that it is nothing more than a myth. In fact, myth-making and those that participate in the myths of the Loman family are fundamental to our understanding of this dichotomy.
For Willy, being a salesman is about riding on a dream and being a man that his sons can look up to and admire. His myths revolve around this success as a salesman; he has struggled for much of his career and we see the financial struggle he and Linda have endured and we know from his own confessions and Howard’s active contradiction of Willy’s statements that he’s never been a great salesman. But regardless of this fact, Willy holds fast to this dream and even faster to his myths.
For Biff, Willy is the greatest man in the world. Everything he does is geared towards making Willy proud of him and he is rooted in his absolute belief in what kind of man Willy is. Biff is Willy’s American Dream come to life. He’s good looking, charming, and most importantly, he’s well-liked. He’s going to play football in college, he’s got the whole world ahead of him until one fateful event that irrevocably changes Biff’s life. Having failed his math class, Biff takes off for Boston to get Willy because he knows that Willy can change that. But when Biff arrives and finds that Willy is having an affair, his belief in Willy is destroyed, the myth of Willy is destroyed for Biff, and Willy is fake and a phony. It is this interaction that changes their relationship forever and causes the tension they feel for the next sixteen years. Unfortunately for Biff, this revelation leaves him in limbo and he drifts between participating in the myths and trying to free himself from them. It isn’t until his revelation at the end that he’s able to finally leave the myths behind.
For this discussion, I want to give you all a bit more freedom. Think about something that stood out to you in the play. What was a major theme that stuck out to you? After you’ve decided on the theme, create an argument using a character or comparing and constrasting two characters that you think show the conflicts of this theme.
If a colleague has picked a theme you were also interested in exploring, feel free to add on to their argument or argue for another character, or even feel free to create a counter argument.
Then finally, I want you to argue for or against Willy Loman being a tragic hero as defined by Arthur Miller in his essay, “Tragedy and the Common Man.”
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