Open Prompt Revision (4/21)

2003. According to critic Northrop Frye, "Tragic heroes are so much the highest points in their human landscape that they seem the inevitable conductors of the power about them, great trees more likely to be struck by lightning than a clump of grass. Conductors may of course be instruments as well as victims of the divisive lightning." Select a novel or play in which a tragic figure functions as an instrument of the suffering of others. Then write an essay in which you explain how the suffering brought upon others by that figure contributes to the tragic vision of the work as a whole.

In Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman is a tragic figure.  The culture of a capitalistic society lures Willy to continuously pursue a position in the elite class.  As a result Willy develops a philosophy for succeeding in life, and the choices he makes hinders his sons’ ability to function in the business world.

          Willy measures his success by how well he is liked, and if he is well liked then he surely will succeed in life.  While Willy is a part of the American dream he is missing one key component, working hard.  Because of Willy’s dream to be in the elite class he encourages his sons to pursue the same goal.  Throughout Biff and Happy’s life Willy has taught them to be popular, because as he says, “personality always wins the day” (Miller, 65).  Subsequently Biff doesn’t work hard in school; he copies the answers from his friend Bernard.  Biff believes, as his father has told him, that as long as he is well thought of he will succeed.

           The play shows the tragic ending of Willy who gave his life to a society that exploited him.  Willy furthers the tragedy by instructing his son’s to follow the same path, however, they too fail.  Biff is unable to hold a job because his father taught him never to take orders from anyone.  The Loman’s struggle to pay the bills and put food on the table because Willy refuses to give in.  At the end of the play it is seen that Willy’s dream have failed.  To further the tragedy, his sons will most likely experience a similar fate.

Willy’s teachings to his children contribute to the tragic vision of the work as a whole.  Readers feel sorry for Willy as they realize that his dream to succeed in a capitalistic society fails.  All of his effort to reach the top leads him to an unstable mental condition and eventually his death.