Arthur Miller’s Depiction of Willy Loman as a Heroic Figure as Illustrated in His Play, Death of a Salesman

Arthur Miller chose a Low-Man as his hero because the queens and kings don’t live anymore, and writers can’t write about them. I think it’s great that Miller chose a person like Lowman to be his hero. Lowman is a regular person; he doesn’t have a high social status and is just like anybody else. This choice reflects the shift in societal focus from the aristocratic to the common man, highlighting the struggles faced by everyday people in contemporary society.

Arthur Miller's Portrayal of Willy Loman as a Heroic Character in Death of a Salesman

Willy Loman was an unsuccessful salesman; nobody liked him, and he was a disappointment to his sons. After the affair with another woman, from admiring him and looking up to him, his son Biff turned his back on him and never saw him as a role model. This story is different from Shakespeare and other stories because, in those stories, the characters were all high class, kings, and queens. In this story, the man is an unrecognizable, unsuccessful man who lost all respect from everyone around him. Miller’s tragic hero, Willy Loman, causes his own downfall. Willy was making a mistake by being ignorant and ignoring the facts that everything was not okay when he thought it was. He was never a successful salesman, but he saw an image of somebody else that he looked up to when he was growing up and thought he was that person by putting false thoughts in his mind about himself. He was never that person, but he stayed ignorant, and his delusions led him to take his own life away (Miller, 1949).

Comparison to Classical Tragic Heroes

Willy Loman is a modern common man. It’s very hard to compare Loman to Hamlet or Oedipus because the times are very different, but some comparisons can be made. Oedipus was a delusional man just like Willy Loman. They both follow "Wrong Dreams" and live in an image that they created themselves. Hamlet thinks that revenge will do something for his life, but his wrong thoughts end up killing him, and nothing is achieved. I like how Willy Loman still tries to be positive, even though that "positivity" kills him, but he still works and tries to provide for his family and pay off the mortgage. People don’t like him for his foolish pride. What really killed Willy was his foolish pride. When Charley offered him a steady paying job, Willy refuses because he thought that would hurt his pride. This refusal highlights how pride can become a person's downfall when it prevents them from making rational decisions (Miller, 1949).

The Modern Concept of Heroism

To be a hero today is not very easy. For some people, a hero is your father, like Willy Loman was a hero for Biff before he had an affair. My father is my hero because he is a perfect example of how a person should live a life. Even though nobody is perfect in this world, I admire how my father is trying to teach me how to be a good person by trying. All the people make mistakes and show you their bad side, but a hero to me is somebody who can learn from their mistakes and admit that they did it. Whatever it takes, you must be able to learn from them and not do them again. In the story "Death of a Salesman," the delusion that Loman had ended up really bad for him. He didn’t want to admit that he was making mistakes and didn’t want to accept the change that was necessary for his life. A hero is somebody that tries to make people around you better and show them a good example by doing good things (Miller, 1949).

Conclusion

Arthur Miller’s choice to portray Willy Loman as a tragic hero reflects the struggles of the common man in the modern era. By focusing on Loman's life, Miller illustrates that heroism can be found in the ordinary struggles of life, and the lessons from these struggles are as profound as those found in the lives of kings and queens. Willy’s story serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of delusion and pride, while also highlighting the importance of resilience and self-awareness in the quest for personal redemption.

References

Miller, A. (1949). Death of a Salesman. Viking Press.