Willy Loman Character Analysis

Bill Clinton sat in the Oval Office, admiring his numerous accomplishments as the fire created amorphous shadows on the South Wall. In that moment, Clinton recalled all he had achieved in his lifetime: he was the president of the united States of America, he was married to his wife for twenty years, and he had created about six million new jobs. Despite all of this, it was there, in the Oval Office, that Clinton and Monica Lewinsky, a fellow White House staff member, engaged in an inappropriate relationship that lasted for two years and eventually led to the demise of the Clinton administration. It was because of his conscious choice to cheat on his wife, and belittle the presidential name that Clinton is an impeccable example of an Aristotelian tragic hero. In contrast to this, Willy Loman, from the play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, fits the definition of a modern tragic hero. Willy Loman was subjugated to every day forces outside of his control which eventually led to his demise. One force that Willy

Willy’s old age hinders his ability to sell to all of the connections that he made when he was a younger salesman. Since all of Willy’s previous acquaintances from earlier years are either retired or dead, he has little hope of selling to prospective young buyers. Linda explains this by saying, “But you’re sixty years old. They can’t expect you to keep traveling every week” (4). Willy’s age prompted his disability to connect with the buyers and thus caused him to fail at selling his product, and the company he worked for simply did not have room for salesmen who could not sell. In addition to this, Willy’s old age prevents him from getting different jobs after he was fired, which only makes him all the more desperate to keep the job that he has. Willy was unable to change the fact that he was an old man working a young man’s job, and since he was unable to accommodate, this eventually led to his