A Hapless Hero
Arthur Miller demonstrated in Death of a Salesman that tragic heroism still possible in the modern world, but the tragic hero or tragic heroine should be of noble birth or hold an important social position, be basically virtuous, and desire to do good. However, Wily Loman is not a tragic hero because he is hapless rather than heroic, his personal tragedy that comes from his lack in ability to admit his errors and learn from them. Instead, he fits Miller's description of the pathetic character, one who "by virtue of his witlessness, his insensitivity, or the very air he gives off, is incapable of grappling with a much superior force," (Miller1).
The definition of a tragic hero is a condition of life that allows an individual to find the route of self-realization and discover to the fullest extent of his or her capabilities. This insight only occurs when an individual bravely endure the "total examination of the 'unchangeable' environment" (Miller1). From this test, comes the fear associated with tragedy, as the individual is faced with the belief of his rightful dignity in society as contradicted to the dignity given to him by the society. Only a tragic hero is ready to die to affirm his dignity, this imbues them with heroism because of their "unwillingness to remain passive in the face of what conceive to be a challenge to dignity, image of rightful status," (Miller1). Thus, one is only flawless when they are peaceful in the midst of the struggle.
Willy Loman passed his life without much thought what the cause and effects are co. He is so deluded of not being somebody and where he stands in the society, that he cannot let go of his delusions and clings to them until his demise. Nevertheless, this is not due to the fact that he is like any other ordinary man. It is because he is a man who lacks conviction and strength to move past his delusions, grasp the reality and prevent himself from developing his, or his sons, whole potential. This is because his insecurities and failures, have arisen from his naivety of a set of values that have been inability to relate with his love and creativity. There is something wrong in Willy's surrounding that has prevented this because he unwittingly based his method of parenting and his lifestyle on values that is based on materialism and not fact. Even when he found these values are unrealistic he is unable to accept it and refuses to admit his mistakes, instead he becomes hapless instead of tragically heroic because he clings to his delusions and forcing them on everyone around him. Moreover, he becomes ireful to those who remarked the errors of his actions. The painful truth of the society is that it baffles one who is in his effort to attain his rightful dignity, but Willy never accepts the truth of the moral law which supports a man's right to have such dignity. Instead, challenges the values of a society which in turn halted the development of himself, and when the realities become apparent to him, Willy balked at it as he cannot take it being torn away from his delusions and commits suicide.
Therefore, Willy's condition is pathetic and hapless and heroic, but not because he is an ordinary man. Instead, it is because he is in a struggle with the society and everyone else, that he is doomed to falter from the very start. He is condemned to suffer because he fights to hold on to and protect the values of society that constitute the "wrong" that forbid him from acquiring his rightful dignity. This, in turn, makes him unable to repent. Willy thought he could achieve his rightful dignity in a society whose values thwart it which is why he tried to fight a battle that was unwinnable from the start. This is also why Biff fails too, because Willy pushed him towards being "popular" and "famous" and to put on a good image as opposed to being a man of action who retaliates against anything that tries to hinder his own rightful dignity. This is why Willy was unable to understand Ben's success as he did not recognize the extreme inequality between motto about 'appearance' and Ben's repeated success story about walking into a jungle in Africa. Instead, he invented a glib formula to develop his childrens potential that consolidated the ideals of aggressiveness and sociability. It is not simply the rejection of his brother's mode of masculine action that leads Willy to catastrophe; it is his unwillingness to come to terms with the consequences of that deed.
The challenge of the stable environment that Willy has brought upon the unstable world around him makes him fearful because he himself realizes that he has built his life on mere delusions. But, he cannot accept from people who pointed it out, nor change, because he could not bear to let go the system of values that thwarts his development. Consequently, Biff fails too because he tries to please Willy by adopting this flawed system, but it is not one that permits for a coalition of his potential and creativity with his desire for productivity. Willy remains passive in the face of the truth and is never able to adopt a lifestyle that brings him attributes for his children. Willy is not the tragic hero because he never is able to claim his own personality, instead, yearned to be the person he thinks he strives for success instead of being an individual that acts morally in the way that affirms his own dignity, "For, it is true to say that in essence the tragic hero is intent upon claiming his whole due as a personality, and if this struggle must be total and without reservation, then it automatically demonstrates the indestructible will of man to achieve his humanity," (Miller1). Thus, Willy never really found out who he is and does not achieve humanity in the society. He passively allows the surrounding him to rob him of everything by acting in ways that remove him from himself. His unwillingness to accept this as the root of his own failures is what prevents him from learning the fact that would set him free, "The wrong is the condition which suppresses man, prevents the flowing out of his love and creative instinct. Tragedy enlightens-and it must, in that it points the heroic finger at the enemy of man's freedom. The thrust for freedom is the quality in tragedy which exalts. The revolutionary questioning of the stable environment is what terrifies. In no way is the common man debarred from such thoughts or such actions," (Miller1).
Therefore, Willy is his own enemy because his unwillingness to change his behavior and thinking keeps him entrapped in a system of values that prevent him from ever being free. This makes him hapless and tragic, not heroic and tragic, because the tragic hero rejects any system that prevents the freedom of love and creativity in the self, even if it is a system he himself has adopted. This is possible for the common man, but Willy is an ordinary man, who, by standing in his own path of development, cannot achieve it.
Works Cited:
Miller, A.Tragedy and the Common Man." An Essay 1949: pp 1461-1464. May 10, 2008
Miller, Arthur. Death of A Salesman. The Riverside Anthology of
Literature Ed Douglas Hunt. 3rd/ ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1997.
1243- 1323.
Ward, Selena and Greaves, Brendan. Notes on Death of a Salesman. SparkNote Death of a Salesman. 10 May. 2008
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