Trevor Yeow

November 5, 2010

ENG-4U0

Mrs.Kim

“A Modernist’s Tragedy”

‘A comparison between the tragic Heroes of Death of a Salesman and Oedipus’

Willy, from Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, is a far more effective image of

a tragic hero than Oedipus. Both of them share similar qualities, but in Willy’s case, there

are three elements that differ from Sophocles’ representation of a tragic hero. These

elements regard the character’s self awareness, their stature, and the sense of loss

accompanied by the character’s fall. All of which contribute to the composition of a

modern tragic hero.

Prior to the downfall, there is to be a single moment of self awareness to define

how tragic it is, but realistically, this is not true. In Sophocles play, there is a climatic

point where Oedipus finally realizes the truth about himself. In his moment of self

awareness, when the prophecies become true, “[he] stands revealed—born in shame,

married in shame, an unnatural murder” (Sophocles 69). He restates what he has done to

emphasize his tragedy, but it is entirely unnecessary. The reader would have interpreted

what would happen well before that. Furthermore, the moment of self awareness can be

removed and the character will still effectively be a piteous figure. In fact, from the

moment he realizes the truth, he states what he has done 6 times. Again, it is unnecessary

for Oedipus to repeatedly regard himself, “Godforsaken, the son of an accursed marriage

bed” (76), when it is clear that, “[he] has drawn his lot” (76). Arthur Miller demonstrates
this concept through Willy Loman. In the first memory, he promises his boys that

“America is full of beautiful towns and upstanding people. And they know [him]...up and

down New England” (Miller 31). He has this mindset throughout the play. In the events

prior to Willy’s death, he has a memory of Ben, in which he converses about his

relationship with his son, Biff. He tells Ben how, “[Biff] thinks [hes] nothing…But the

funeral… [His] funeral will be massive! [Biff] never realized—[Willy is] well known”

(126). Evidently, Willy does not falter from his beliefs and attitude. He is a pitiful being

not because of self realization, but because he was a man who, “had the wrong dreams”

(138), but still held onto them, even to his tragic death.

Aristotle’s view of a tragic hero depicts a man of noble stature because of his

pride and because he has so much to lose when he falls. However, this creates a barrier

between those of high stature, and the common man. As Arthur Miller stated, in his essay

Tragedy and the Common Man, “If the exaltation of tragic action were truly a property of

the highbred character alone, it is inconceivable that the mass of mankind should cherish

tragedy above all other forms, let alone be capable of understanding it” (1).

Consequently, in Death of a Salesman, Willy is depicted as the common man; an

everyday American citizen with a family of four, and respectable occupation. Unlike

Oedipus, a king, he is only a salesman; one who barely makes enough money to support

his family. His employer, Howard, pays little attention to him when he comes to discuss

financial matters, and when the confrontation ends, Willy ends up losing his job. He loses

the one thing he had loved, which was being a salesman and is forced to deal with his

pride. When Willy makes an excuse to not ask for help from his sons, Howard replies,

“This is no time for false pride Willy…tell them that you’re tired. You’ve got two great
boys, haven’t you” (Miller 83)? It is at this point where Willy reveals his true nature.

Beneath all his dreams and aspirations, he is driven by his pride. The one thing he would

never do, would be asking for his two sons for help. Even when Charley, “the only friend

[he’s] got” (Miller 98), offers him a job, he declines twice. After years of looking down

on Charley, and his son, with his overinflated ego, he finally is cut down to size.

However, even in a position as low as his, he still is unable to accept humility. Similarly,

Creon told Oedipus, “If you think stubbornness deprived of intelligence is a worth-while

possession, you are out of your mind,” (Sophocles 30) in an attempt to change his mind.

However, Oedipus was far too prideful to accept any answer other than what he proposed

himself. Even though he had the choice to listen, he drove himself to his demise through

pride. Both Willy and Oedipus are prideful people, but Willy demonstrates that the issue

of pride is not entirely dependant on the stature of the character. In fact, it is more tragic

to see the downfall of someone who is, in essence, the same position as most of society is

today.

Willy’s downfall is accompanied by a deep sense of waste because there is always

a possibility of him changing. In the moments prior to his death, he finally reaches that

point where things could change. When his son finally breaks down before him, he

realizes that after all the arguing and accusations, Biff really does mean well. Biff comes

to a moment of self realization, where he acknowledges the fact that he is not the great

successful salesman he is told to be. Willy, “blew [him] so full of hot air, [that Biff] could

never stand taking orders from anybody” (Miller 131). Willy has the same opportunities

to realize that. In fact, Biff refers to this multiple times but Willy passes it off as ‘spite’. It

is only until Biff’s final confrontation that Willy shows signs of change. But ultimately
the voices in his head drove him to his death. There is a sense of pity, because there is a

choice instead of a destined fate. The flaw in Oedipus is the fact that Apollo chooses his

fate well before, so no matter what he does, his destiny is to be fulfilled. It is because of,

“[his] example before [the Thebans], [his] life, [his] destiny” (Sophocles 70), that the

tragedy of his fall is defined. However, Apollo’s prophecy makes Oedipus’ actions

appear to have no logical basis. It also diminishes the extent to which Oedipus falls,

because his actions give some sense of justice for the punishment. Ultimately, it is in the

absence of a destined fate that the deepest sense of loss is found.

Arthur Miller’s character, Willy, represents the modern tragic hero. A common

man, with a plethora of bad decisions, and a mind bent on achieving the impossible. He is

a true spectacle of pity, well beyond Oedipus’ tragedy. In essence, it takes more than

saying it is a tragic to make it a tragedy. A tragic hero is defined by his reflection in the

minds and souls of society today.