Willy loman: a tragic hero

            
             A tragic hero is a character exhibits traits of good moral, but possess a fatal flaw that brings upon his or her own downfall. In Arthur Miller's drama, Death of a Salesman, the protagonist and tragic hero, Willy Loman, although somewhat corrupted by material desires, is a man with good morals and noble qualities, but possesses a tragic flaw, which sees him to his inevitable downfall.
             Though a seemingly unsuccessful and emotionally unstable character, Willy Loman has good noble qualities, a characteristic of a tragic hero. .
             Further supporting the characteristics of a tragic hero, Willy's tragic flaw is his interpretation of how to attain success and the American Dream. "He is liked, but he's not well liked Because the man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead. Be liked and you will never want."" In this statement made towards Biff and Happy, Willy portrays his naive perspective on gaining material wealth. Fixated on his childish superficial qualities, Willy doesn't understand that hard work and patience are the keys to success, not being "well-liked."" "He was eighty-four years old, and he'd drummed merchandise in thirty-one states he'd go into his room and pick up the phone and call the buyers, and with out ever leaving his room, at the age of eighty-four, he made his living. And when I saw that, I realized that selling was the greatest career a man could want Do you know? When he died "and by the way he died the death of a sales man, in his green velvet slippers hundreds of salesman and buyers were at his funeral."" Willy's admiration of Dave Singleman's popularity and ease of success further illustrates his obsession with being "well liked."" What Willy fails to realize is that Dave Singleman had to work hard to achieve his admirable status. Ironically enough, Miller's title of this work, Death of a Salesman, taunts Willy's desire to become successful.