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Fatal Flaw Analysis

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An Analysis of Fatal Flaws: Does the Punishment Fit the Crime?
A timeless question that has been asked for centuries is: does the punishment fit the crime? A question that is applicable to a multitude of situations and people, but more so to Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, and his infamous character Willy Loman. Some may argue that Willy did not have a fatal flaw, a hamartia, and that he is not a tragic hero because he does not fit the classic mold of one but Willy has multiple flaws, each one leading to his pointless death. The most tragic of all of Willy’s flaws is his ultimate failure as a father and his inability to be a strong patriarchal figurehead for his family. Willy fails as father because of his own lack of …show more content…

Schneider. While Field calls Schneider's analysis of the play “a bit forced, a bit psychoanalytic,” he does go on to say that Schneider does make a good point. As Willy has moulded his children in his image, he has passed down his resentment of his older brother Ben, to his youngest son Happy. Happy resents Biff because of Willy’s love for Biff is more than he has ever given happy. The most Wily has ever given Happy is his taste for resentment.
The case presents for Willy as a tragic hero is one I agree with. Willy has the most important making for a tragic hero, a hamartia, his being all his failures as a father. Willy does not fit the model for a tragic hero but he does have all the qualities of one. While Willy is no Brutus or Juliet, he is a man whose flaws have lead to his untimely death, a death is so downplayed in the Requiem that it could be used to make the case of Willy’s tragicness. All of Willy’s hamartias, his incompetence as a father to his lackluster moral compass, have earned his title as a tragic

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Notably here, Willy tries to make the model T his family owned seem to be the greatest car in the world. This occurs constantly throughout the play with Willy misrepresenting anything, which causes the people around Willy to dislike him, further alienating Willy and leading him to fall further into depression. Similarly Willy’s decision to lie is also responsible for his death.

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622 Words | 3 Pages

Since Willy has only seen success come to those who are well liked he has a firm belief that success can only be achieved through being well liked by others, Willy sees great potential for success in his sons, especially his oldest son Biff whom is his personal favorite. “One such deficit that has long been suggested in the traditional clinical literature as playing an etio-logical role is that abusive parents have unrealistic expectations of their child's behavior (i.e., they overestimate their child's capabilities; Steele & Pollock, 1968).” Biff is the golden child, the one whom he had dreams of greatness, and the first born. “The order in which a person is born into their family plays a substantial role in the individual’s development of personality, character, intelligence, and career choices.” (Stewart et al., 2001).

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Willy tries to make himself feel better by lying to himself. Although Willy’s death is unfortunate, if one closely examines his pride, bad temper, and his lies, one can see that these flaws will eventually bring him to his demise. Throughout the play, Willy demonstrates his sense of pride while talking to his family and friends. In this quote one can

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Bartleby, from Bartleby the Scrivener, and Willy Loman, from Death of a Salesman, are in many ways opposites. Bartleby is an extreme individualist; only doing what he wants to, no matter the personal or professional cost. On the other hand, Willy Loman is a conformist; he does what he is told, lives an average life, and pursues the “American Dream” like most Americans do. Bartleby and Willy also share similarities: both are physiologically broken and their respective individuality and conformity lead them to their deaths, albeit in different ways. The stories themselves are also similar in that they both critique American society.

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Willy Lowman was no Prince or King, but he was a provider to his wife and two sons. Willy’s wife Linda was aware of this and she was also aware of his flaws and the pressures that were ailing him. This was evident when Linda said, “He’s not the finest character that ever lived. But he’s a human being, and a terrible thing is happening to him” (Gardener 418).

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This helped lead Willy to his own downfall because he was always lacking and felt unwanted and

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Ana Oceguera 12. 19. 16 AP English Death of a Salesman Character Compare and Contrast     In the play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, the audience follows the dynamic between the members of the Loman family. The father of the family, Willy Loman is a self-deluded traveling salesman whose dreams of success do not match his reality. Prompted by his frustration due to the discrepancy between his unrealistically ambitious expectations and his reality, we watch as his mental health takes a turn for the worse,  and his story eventually ends in suicide.

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479 Words | 2 Pages

Willy helps prove that everyone makes mistakes, it is a part of life. The second characteristic that a tragic hero has is hamartia. This is the tragic flaw that leads to the characters downfall. Once the tragic hero reconqnizes his flaw, it is typically too late for him to make a change. Willy does not want to admit to his failure

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966 Words | 4 Pages

The Death of a Salesman should be classified as a tragedy since it depicts the fall of Willy Loman as respectable figure.. The Death of the Salesman is a tragedy when Willy is considered the protagonist because it depicts Willy’s fall from respectability -and his sad attempts at gaining it- in both his professional and personal life. It is implied that Willy, at least in his mind, held the respect of Howard’s father, the previous owner of the firm when Willy states “Your father came to me the day you were born and asked me what I thought of the name of Howard…”. This indicates that Howard’s father respected Willy because one would generally only ask friends about potential baby names and one has to respect someone if they are their friend, therefore, it is implied that Howard’s father respected Willy. Willy’s fall from respectability is illustrated by how Howard, Willy’s boss, treats him.

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930 Words | 4 Pages

Miller depicts Willy as a tragic character in his willingness to preserve his dignity. Additionally, Willy’s dignity is tainted in the story because of his flawed philosophy of the American Dream. This along with unjust comparisons leads to Willy’s death. Based on how Willy Loman evaluates himself unjustly, he is a tragic hero because he must do anything to preserve his dignity, and his false impression of the American Dream, which leads to his downfall.

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(Miller, 1912). The idea of this shows how Willy had false values. From being worn out and not having a clue on how to achieve the American Dream. The self-image that has been characterized to folks around him were lies and victimized himself with it. Although, Willy was adored when he was younger; the image he had for himself was negative, let it take over his mind and started to let others show.

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850 Words | 4 Pages

This shows how willy can not admit his failure to his family. The main character Willy doesn’t want to show how deeply down he had fallen and is starting to lose hope on his

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He is overbearing on his children, and as expected they grow up confused. His struggles begin when he looses his job, at the end we expect him to kill himself, which he does. According to Aristotle, tragic hero should be able to arise the feelings of pity and fear in the minds of audience. Willy’s failure to accept his own inadequacy is what causes catharsis that characterizes a tragedy. Catharsis refers to purification or cleansing and purgation of emotions, especially pity and fear.

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1581 Words | 7 Pages

About the cause of Willy 's death, critic like Bert Cardullo, in his article subtitled The Swollen Legacy of Arthur Miller, argues that: … The salesman figure that comes through is not of a typical grunt brought down by financial failure but of an exceptional invalid, in whom the stress of business only increased existing psychological imbalances ( ' 'Death of a Salesman

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978 Words | 4 Pages

From Father to Tragic Hero A tragic hero is someone who experiences successes and failures that eventually lead to their downfall. In Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman”, Miller uses Willy Loman as a depressed and confused main character. He also leaves the question of whether or not Willy Loman a tragic hero up in the air. Miller uses the hopes and dreams of Willy Loman and turns them into failures to portray him as a tragic hero.

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