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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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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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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 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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