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Willy Lom Aristotle's Definition Of A Tragic Hero

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If we compare Death of a Salesman with what Aristotle's definition of a tragic hero, Willy Loman classifies as a tragic hero. His biggest downfall is the loose grasp of reality. He has all his “perfected dreams”and tries so hard to get away from the surroundings around him. Instead of being satisfied with the reality of his life, he continues to chase all of this fantasies. At this point he gets so happy when he is stuck in his fantasies that he ignores reality and do anything to not go back to facing the current family. He keeps this up with living the fantasy moments that he doesn't move forward with his life and stays miserable when he does come back from those little moments..That type of tragedy is called Hamartia. A good example of him being stuck in one of those moments was when he was thinking about what Ben ( the brother of Willy) said to the boys : “ Why boys, when I was seventeen I walked into the jungle, and when I was twenty-one I walked out. And by God, I was rich.” That shows that Willy wants to take that knowledge and achieve it for himself, then his son Biff. He believes that in order to live by …show more content…

He wanted to see this American Dream so badly, that he looked at this all the wrong way. He strives to be successful, even if that means to be miserable and look away from reality. He doesn’t see the wrong in him but can see it in others and points out all the wrong in them. He imagines this high class man when all he is is a “common man”. With him not recognizing all his flaws even when he was reaching his deathbed, he still couldn’t see his wrongdoings and that is what lead him to his ultimate downfall. Even though Willy Loman did have a tragic flaw, reversal of fortune, and having as his fate being death, his failure to recognize reversal caused by his own actions as well as striving to achieve your "rightful" position in society classified him to be a modern tragic

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963 Words | 4 Pages

Willy Loman was a troubled man who didn't have respect for his wife and degraded his children every chance he got when it came to their failures, especially with his son Biff. He only cared about achieving the American dream which he did not succeed because of all his problems that stood in his way. His constant obsession with achieving the American dream only made his family distance themselves from him more only due to the fact that he believed that achieving this would lead him to happiness and success. This also leads to the other major theme which is resilience. Willy came from a poor socioeconomic background and he is making all the efforts to pull himself out of his current situation through whatever he can do in hopes for something better that will make him feel like he's achieved his

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1210 Words | 5 Pages

“The man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead” (33). In Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller uses foil characters to elucidate Willy’s flaws that ultimately prevent him and his family from succeeding. The contrast between Charley and Willy and Bernard and Biff serves to highlight how Willy’s obsession with achieving his version of the American Dream impacts both his life and his children’s. His poor values are passed on to his children producing even more failures. ¬¬¬¬Both Charley and Willy work as salesmen, however Charley represents what Willy desired to become – successful.

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1008 Words | 5 Pages

Willy always found his dreams in someone else which is why his happiness never came. At first it was his father then it was his brother Ben, and then it was famous sales man Dave Singleman. He looked for others inside of himself which led to him not being satisfied. Dreams can not be rented or borrowed. Willy never realized this and in turn it caused his mental health to deteriorate even more than it already had.

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1800 Words | 8 Pages

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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243 Words | 1 Pages

In “Death of a Salesman” & “The Tragedy of Macbeth” by Arthur Miller, the character Willy Loman on the modern america, in the 1940’s as cars and appliances ar be made willy is constantly to maintain the best in family as he slowly starts to lose his mind in the world it’s clear that willy only cares about one thing is that it’s keeping up with the people around him. In the book Death of a Salesman Willy hallucinates about his brother and about his family in the past when they were doing so good with money. Willy Loman has a hard time between reality and illusion, so does lady macbeth’s husband.

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1009 Words | 5 Pages

Willy Loman was only liked, but he completely aspired and hoped to be well-liked within his community and workforce of salesmen. No one cared enough, outside of his family, to show Willy that he could have been well-liked. This definition of success did help lead Willy to death. Willy often felt that he lacked something in his life. He said: “WILLY: The man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead.

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1794 Words | 8 Pages

Ultimately, these aspirations lead to negative repercussions. First of all, the pursuit of perfection can be observed by the actions of a particular individual in Death of a Salesman. The main character of the play, Willy Loman, was a man with misguided life goals. A rather insecure person, Willy placed strong emphasis on his reputation and self-image. He wanted more than anything else to be a popular salesman well-liked by everyone around him – it was the perfect portrayal of himself.

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1735 Words | 7 Pages

In the play, it shows Willy is soft and insecure not just a crazy man. Biff, Willy’s son had caught his father cheating on his mother and that made him feel angry at his father. Willy did not know how his son felt; Willy says [directly to Biff] “what’re you doing? What’re you doing?” Biff says [crying, broken] “will you let me go, for Christ’s sake?

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741 Words | 3 Pages

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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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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1537 Words | 7 Pages

Tragedy can spread. In Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman is the protagonist, however he not the only person in the play who’s story ends tragically. His view on life spreads to those close to him. Primarily, Willy teaches it to his children who look up to him while his wife simply attaches herself to him, rooting for him in blind support while really she should be waking him up to the cold and dark reality that is their life. Throughout the play, the Loman family evolves differently.

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1065 Words | 5 Pages

It is not a vice that results in his downfall, but some error or frailty. In “Death of a Salesman” Willy can be characterized as a tragic hero. Willy began as a great and successful man but due to his error of judgment, he looses it all and in the end he realizes that he is worth more dead than alive. Aristotle says that a hero must be, firstly, good. Willy Loman is a good man with good intentions.

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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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499 Words | 2 Pages

According to Arthur Miller a modern tragic hero , is an average man, who is willing to sacrifice his life to achieve one thing. Willy in "Death of a Salesman" is an example of modern tragic hero. His foolish pride and his persistence to achieve his dream, led to his tragic

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553 Words | 3 Pages

Modern tragedy is still about the downfall of a man; however, this man needn 't be one of high social standard, in fact, it is better if the man is an everyday person. Every tragic hero needs to have what 's called a "tragic flaw", Miller defines this flaw as "... Really nothing-and need be nothing, but his inherent unwillingness to remain passive in the face of what he conceives to be a challenge to his dignity, his image of his rightful status. " Meaning, the tragic flaw should be their great sense of pride. Willy Loman, the protagonist of Death of a Salesman, fits right in with Miller 's definition of tragedy because his pride keeps him from doing quite a few things.

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