Death_of_a_Salesman

Death of a Salesman A Tragic Hero in Arthur Millers “Death of a Salesman” Tragedy was a very controversial issue in literature until recent years. Recent figures in literature have set a clear definition for tragedy. Author Miller is one of these figures. Plays and novels have distinguished the definition of tragedy. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary tragedy is a serious piece of literature typically describing a conflict between the protagonist and a superior force and having a sorrowful or disastrous conclusion that excites pity or terror. Miller’s explains that a tragic hero does not always have to be a monarch or a man of a higher status. A tragic hero can be a common person. A tragedy does not always have to end pessimistically; it could have an optimistic ending. The play Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller, is a tragedy because its hero, Willy Loman, is a tragic figure that faces a superior source, being the American dream and the struggle for success. Loman also excites pity in the reader because of his defeat and his inability to become a success or teach his children how to make their lives successful. Miller defines a flaw as “an inherent unwillingness to willy, biff, success, tragic, life, man, willy’s, tragedy, successful, hero, make, miller, himself, salesman, play, common, become, miller’s, father, because, work, way, try, family, death, better, being, although, unable, suicide, power, order, never, loman, literature, hard, dreams, doesn’t, article, always, wrong, wasted, very, trying, through, teach, superior, story, shot