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Death of a Salesman...

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Willy Loman: A Tragic Hero (rough draft)

“Death of a Salesman” author, Arthur Miller, argues that Willy Loman is a “tragic hero” rather than the pathetic victim readers and critics believe him to be. Willy Loman and “Death of a Salesman” are metaphors for the social and cultural struggles of post-war America. Therefore, Willy is a complex, multidimensional character, and is both a hero and pathetic everyday man. His struggle with the pressure society placed on men and his lack of talent as a salesman, husband, and father led to his suicide. Much like every other citizen at the time, Willy spent his life chasing the American Dream, and his failed attempts at a successful life are the sources of pain in his own life and his relationships. “Death of a Salesman” is a drama surrounding a family living in Brooklyn during the late 1940s. The father, Willy Loman, is a traveling salesman in his early 60s. His wife, Linda Loman, doesn’t work and his two sons, Biff and Happy, are in their thirties and haven’t amounted to anything, in their father’s eyes. The drama focuses on the troubled relationship between Willy and Biff. Linda is aware that Willy has been attempting suicide but does nothing to stop it. Biff blames his father for his problems and their relationship has been tarnished ever since Biff was a teen and caught his father cheating. Biff and Happy attempt to go to an old friend for help starting a business and Willy goes to his boss to get a job in New York instead of traveling. They are all unsuccessful. The three of them go out to dinner and after a fight, Willy goes to get seeds to plant while Biff and Happy go out with two girls. When they return home, Linda tells them they aren’t allowed in her house any longer. Biff decides he should no longer speak to his father. After an emotional fight, Willy decides his ideas to kill himself for the insurance payout are

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what’s best for his family and leaves the family while they are calling out for him. He gets into his Chevy and crashes it, killing himself. Miller uses Willy to represent the “everyman”, meaning he is just as ordinary as everyone else. During the 1940s, the United States was recovering from the second world war. This meant pushing women back into their homes now that they weren’t needed in the work force and men being expected to be the breadwinners. Willy was expected to work constantly to provide a home, food, and money for his family. They followed such a typical American family structure that even when Willy couldn’t provide and had to borrow money from his neighbor Charley every week, Linda still didn’t work. Willy taught his sons to value their good looks instead of hard work. He believed because they are “built like Adonises” and well liked that they will achieve more, and have everything handed to them. When Biff’s schoolmate, Bernard, came to tell the Lomans that he heard their teacher saying Biff wouldn’t graduate unless he brought up his math grade, they laughed at him and brushed him off. Willy told his sons Bernard was less than they are and wouldn’t go far in life, despite his hard work and good grades, because he wasn’t well liked (Miller 1441). After Biff doesn’t graduate high school, he goes through multiple jobs and ends up working on a farm for one dollar an hour, what would be worth roughly ten dollars today. He enjoys this job the most because being in nature is what he loves most about the world. Biff complains about how he is expected to work fifty weeks out of the year at a job he hates and “...always to have to get ahead of the next fella. And still- that’s how you build a future” (Miller 1435). Biff didn’t have the same desires as his father did. Biff was aware that the American Dream was out of his reach and all he wanted to do was “to be outdoors with [my] shirt off” (Miller 1435). His father couldn’t accept that this is what was important to him and thought Biff was lazy and not living up to his full potential because he wasn’t chasing after the same things he was. At the end of the drama, Willy and Biff are

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arguing. Biff says, “You were never anything but a hard-working drummer who landed in the ash can like all the rest of them...I’m now bringing home any prizes anymore, and you’re going to stop waiting for me to bring them home” (Miller 1494). Biff knows all he and his father were ever going to be was hardworking, average men. When Biff was a successful football player, Willy expected him to be better at everything than everyone else his entire life and those unrealistic expectations are one of the reasons they had such a troubled relationship. Charley offers Willy a job multiple times but he refuses, believing he is above taking the job. Willy’s values are so skewed that he thinks it is better to continually have Charley hand him money every week instead of accepting a job and working for it. He judges Charley by saying, “A man who can’t handle his tools is not a man. You’re disgusting” (Miller 1447). Grant Williams, author of “Death of a Salesman a  nd postwar masculine malaise” argues that Willy values masculinity, being strong and attractive. While Charley is actually making money, and providing for the Loman family when Willy fails to, Willy talks down to him and calls him disgusting because he isn’t Willy’s ideal image of a man. Williams also claims that Willy draws his opinion of the ideal man from his son Biff. He never believed that Charley’s son Bernard would be anything in life because he wasn’t the well liked athlete that Biff was. The Lomans treated Bernard horribly, making fun of him for being studious, but when Bernard was a successful lawyer and was trying a case in front of the supreme court, Willy asked Bernard why Biff wasn’t successful. He fails to realize that his parenting and mistakes are what led to his children being less successful than Bernard, and other men their age. At first glance, Willy Loman is the epitome of the everyman. He is pathetic. But he is also a tragic hero. He is an everyman because he is just average, plain and simple. He is working through life and going nowhere. He cannot succeed. He is pathetic because he causes his own problems. He doesn’t take the job Charley offers him, furthering his economic distress. When he

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realizes that Biff really does love him, he follows through with suicide to get the insurance payout to better Biff’s future. This is his act of heroism (Martin). Robert Martin, author of, “The Nature of Tragedy in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman ” , states that Willy’s entire vision of success is flawed. He strives to be like his brother Ben, because he wants to show off the same wealth that Ben has attained, but fails to accept that he has never been successful as a salesman. When Willy sacrifices the future of his life so his family can survive of his life insurance, he stops being just an everyman and becomes a noble figure. Willy Loman is seen as a pathetic everyman because of his inability to see his faults and change his own life. Readers are empathetic towards Willy Loman because he is relatable. Willy Loman fails to succeed in his chase for the American Dream, struggles with the post-war masculinity he feels he must live up to, and is only a hero because he gives his life for his family. He understands his own mortality and believes the insurance payout will be of better use to his family than if he continued to live and work. Willy Loman is both a pathetic everyman and a tragic hero.

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Works Cited

Martin, Robert A. "The Nature of Tragedy in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman . " Contemporary Literary Criticism, edited by Janet Witalec, vol. 179, Gale, 2004. Literature Resource Center , http://link.galegroup.com.ezproxy.collegeofthedesert.edu/apps/doc/H1100052923/LitRC ?u=desert&sid=LitRC&xid=adca1861. Accessed 10 Dec. 2017. Originally published in South Atlantic Review , vol. 61, no. 4, Fall 1996, pp. 97-106. Miller, Arthur. “Death of a Salesman.” Literature and its Writers: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama, B  edford/St. Martins, 2013, pp.1429-1498. Williams, Grant. "Death of a Salesman  and Postwar Masculine Malaise." Children's Literature Review, edited by Lawrence J. Trudeau, vol. 195, Gale, 2015. Literature Resource Center , http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/H1420118697/LitRC?u=desert&sid=LitRC&xi d=68b75988. Accessed 10 Dec. 2017. Originally published in Arthur Miller Journal , vol. 8, no. 1, 2013, pp. 53-68.

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Ally Jenkins Professor Rossi English 002 12 December 2017

Willy Loman: A Tragic Hero (final draft)

“Death of a Salesman” author, Arthur Miller, argues that Willy Loman is a “tragic hero” rather than the pathetic victim readers and critics believe him to be. Willy Loman and “Death of a Salesman” are metaphors for the social and cultural struggles of post-war America. Therefore, Willy is a complex, multidimensional character, and is both a hero and a pathetic everyday man. His struggle with the pressure society placed on men and his lack of talent as a salesman, husband, and father led to his suicide. Much like every other citizen at the time, Willy Loman spent his life chasing the American Dream. His failed attempts at a successful life are the sources of pain in his own life and in relationships. “Death of a Salesman” is a drama surrounding a family living in Brooklyn during the late 1940s. The father, Willy Loman, is a traveling salesman in his early 60s who is struggling with mental instability. Willy is having flashbacks and mental breaks that keep him from improving his financial and emotional situations. His wife, Linda Loman, doesn’t work and his two sons, Biff and Happy, are in their thirties and haven’t amounted to anything, in their father’s eyes. The drama focuses on the troubled relationship between Willy and Biff. Linda is aware that Willy has been attempting suicide but does nothing to stop it. Biff blames his father for all of their problems and their relationship has been tarnished ever since Biff was a teen and caught his father cheating. Biff and Happy attempt to go to an old friend for help starting a business and

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Willy goes to his boss to get a job in New York instead of traveling. They are all unsuccessful. The three of them go out to dinner and after a fight, Willy goes to get seeds to plant while Biff and Happy go out with two girls. When they return home, Linda tells them they aren’t allowed in her house any longer. Biff decides he should no longer speak to his father. Biff wants the family to finally start telling the truth. They argue and by the end Willy has seen how much Biff loves him again. After the emotional fight, Willy decides that providing his family with his life insurance money would be more beneficial to them than keeping himself alive. He gets into his Chevy and crashes it, killing himself. Miller uses Willy to represent the “everyman”, meaning he is just as ordinary as everyone else. During the 1940s, the United States was recovering from the second world war. This meant pushing women back into their homes now that they weren’t needed in the work force and men being expected to be the breadwinners. Willy was expected to work constantly to provide a home, food, and money for his family. They followed such a typical American family structure that even when Willy couldn’t provide and had to borrow money from his neighbor Charley every week, Linda still didn’t work. Willy taught his sons to value their good looks instead of hard work. He believed because they are “built like Adonises” and well liked that they will achieve more, and have everything handed to them. When Biff’s schoolmate, Bernard, came to tell the Lomans that he heard their teacher saying Biff wouldn’t graduate unless he brought up his math grade, they laughed at him and brushed him off. Willy told his sons Bernard was less than they are and wouldn’t go far in life, despite his hard work and good grades, because he wasn’t well liked (Miller 1441). After Biff doesn’t graduate high school, he goes through multiple jobs and ends up working on a farm for one dollar an hour, what would be worth roughly ten dollars today. He enjoys this job the most because being in nature is what he loves most about the world. Biff complains about how he is expected to work fifty weeks out of

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the year at a job he hates and “...always to have to get ahead of the next fella. And still- that’s how you build a future” (Miller 1435). Biff didn’t have the same desires as his father did. Biff was aware that the American Dream was out of his reach and all he wanted to do was “to be outdoors with [my] shirt off” (Miller 1435). His father couldn’t accept that this is what was important to him and thought Biff was lazy and not living up to his full potential because he wasn’t chasing after the same things he was. At the end of the drama, Willy and Biff are arguing. Biff says, “You were never anything but a hard-working drummer who landed in the ash can like all the rest of them...I’m not bringing home any prizes anymore, and you’re going to stop waiting for me to bring them home” (Miller 1494). Biff knows all he and his father were ever going to be was hardworking, average men. When Biff was a successful football player, Willy expected him to be better at everything than everyone else his entire life and those unrealistic expectations are one of the reasons they had such a troubled relationship. Charley offers Willy a job multiple times but he refuses, believing he is above taking the job. Willy constantly lets his pride get the best of him. He thinks it is better to continually have Charley hand him money every week instead of accepting a job and working for it. He judges Charley by saying, “A man who can’t handle his tools is not a man. You’re disgusting” (Miller 1447). Grant Williams, author of “Death of a Salesman a  nd postwar masculine malaise” argues that Willy values masculinity, being strong and attractive. While Charley is actually making money, and providing for the Loman family when Willy fails to, Willy talks down to him and calls him disgusting because he isn’t Willy’s ideal image of a man. Williams also claims that Willy draws his opinion of the ideal man from his son Biff (Williams 1). He never believed that Charley’s son Bernard would be anything in life because he wasn’t the well liked athlete that Biff was. The Lomans treated Bernard horribly, making fun of him for being studious, but when Bernard was a successful lawyer and was trying a case in front of the supreme court, Willy

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asked Bernard, “How-how did you? Why didn’t he ever catch on” (Miller 1472). Willy has begun to ask Bernard how he became so successful, but he knows it was because of his hard work. Willy wants to know why Biff never made it big when Willy always thought his good looks and personality would get him so far. He fails to realize that his parenting and mistakes are what led to his children being less successful than Bernard, and other men their age. At first glance, Willy Loman is the epitome of the everyman. He is pathetic and replaceable. But he is also a tragic hero. He is an everyman because he is just average, plain and simple. He is working through life and going nowhere. He cannot succeed. He is pathetic because he causes his own problems. He doesn’t take the job Charley offers him, furthering his economic distress. When he realizes that Biff really does love him, he follows through with suicide to get the insurance payout to better Biff’s future. This is his act of heroism (Martin 1). Robert Martin, author of, “The Nature of Tragedy in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman ” , states that Willy’s entire vision of success is flawed. He strives to be like his brother Ben, because he wants to show off the same wealth that Ben has attained, but fails to accept that he has never been successful as a salesman. When Willy sacrifices the rest of his life so his family can survive of his life insurance, he stops being just an everyman and becomes a noble figure. Willy Loman is seen as a pathetic everyman because of his inability to see his faults and change his own life. Readers are empathetic towards Willy Loman because he is relatable. Willy Loman fails to succeed in his chase for the American Dream, struggles with the post-war masculinity he feels he must live up to, and is only a hero because he gives his life for his family. He understands his own mortality and believes the insurance payout will be of better use to his family than if he continued to live and work. Willy Loman is both a pathetic everyman and a tragic hero.

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Works Cited

Martin, Robert A. "The Nature of Tragedy in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman . " Contemporary Literary Criticism, edited by Janet Witalec, vol. 179, Gale, 2004. Literature Resource Center , http://link.galegroup.com.ezproxy.collegeofthedesert.edu/apps/doc/H1100052923/LitRC ?u=desert&sid=LitRC&xid=adca1861. Accessed 10 Dec. 2017. Originally published in South Atlantic Review , vol. 61, no. 4, Fall 1996, pp. 97-106. Miller, Arthur. “Death of a Salesman.” Literature and its Writers: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama, B  edford/St. Martins, 2013, pp.1429-1498. Williams, Grant. "Death of a Salesman  and Postwar Masculine Malaise." Children's Literature Review, edited by Lawrence J. Trudeau, vol. 195, Gale, 2015. Literature Resource Center , http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/H1420118697/LitRC?u=desert&sid=LitRC&xi d=68b75988. Accessed 10 Dec. 2017. Originally published in Arthur Miller Journal , vol. 8, no. 1, 2013, pp. 53-68....