Morse 1 Jony Morse Mr. Roso English III H – Slot 1 13 February 2020 The Flaw of a Common Man Between ingenuous social commentary and his focus on the common man as a tragic hero, Arthur Miller was able to produce a lasting impact on the American theatre. Miller once remarked, “I think the tragic feeling is evoked in us when we are in the presence of a character who is ready to lay down his life, if need be, to secure one thing-his sense of personal dignity” (qtd. in Galvin). Miller envisioned tragedy as “the underlying struggle is that of the individual attempting to gain his ‘rightful’ position in his society” (qtd. in Galvin). Although the classic Greek tragedy focuses on the flaws of a person of great importance, Miller centers his tragedies on the common man “as [they are] apt a subject for tragedy in its highest sense as kings were” (qtd. in Galvin). Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman follows the lost soul of Willy Loman, a struggling, ageing salesmen, who is challenged by societal pressures and the harsh realities of life. Willy is a deeply flawed being; however, his hamartia ultimately stems from his false sense of pride. Willy Loman’s misguided pride manifests itself in almost all aspects of his life. Throughout the play, Willy destroys any opportunity to save himself for the sake of his selfesteem. In a sad attempt to protect his pride, Willy goes to Charley to collect his weekly stipend; however, Charley confronts Willy and offers him a paying job of fifty dollars a week. Willy becomes irritated by Charley’s offer and yells, “I don’t want your goddamn job!” (Miller 97). At the time of this scene, Willy is in a financial predicament as he was fired from his job that same day. His pride, however, inhibits him from accepting the job offer. He believes that Charley is Morse 2 inferior to him, and by taking the offer, it would prove that Charley has beaten Willy in the game of life. Leonard Moss, a former professor of Comparative Literature at the University of New York in Geneseo, comments, “As circumstances become more threatening and as his remembrances become more explicit, leading Willy back to the central trauma of his life, his resistance to self-knowledge grows correspondingly more desperate.” (32). Willy’s refusal to yield to Charley’s job offer and accept the reality of his world ultimately gives way to his suicide and even foreshadows it as he states, “After all the highways, and the trains, and the appointments, and the years, you end up worth more dead than alive” (Miller 98). Threatened by the impending submission of his pride, Willy “stubbornly refuses to admit defeat” and believes that his only escape is through killing himself (Moss 32). Willy’s false sense of pride acts as the barrier between success and failure and proves to be the tragic flaw that brings about his suicide. Willy uses his false pride to justify the chaos that encompasses him. In a world of delusion, Willy’s pride forces him to believe that he is of great importance and destined for success. During Willy’s flashback, he proclaimed to Biff and Happy: “the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead. Be liked and you will never want. You take me, for instance. I never have to wait in line to see a buyer. ‘Willy Loman is here!’ That’s all they have to know and I go right through” (Miller 33). Willy’s intends to instill confidence within his sons; however, these misleading comments present a foundation based upon self-deception rooted in a false sense of pride. It is Willy’s pride that does not allow him to realize the problems that hurt him. Irving Jacobson, a professor at State University of New York, Syracuse, supports these ideas as he comments, “His fabrications create so extreme a polarization with his incapacities that an acceptance of failure--his own or Biff’s--becomes impossible” (48). Willy’s tendency to deceive himself along with others stems from “[t]he assumption that prominence brings affection and privilege” (48). Although Willy might have been a successful salesman in the past, his pride Morse 3 does not allow him to accept the current reality of the world and prevents him from addressing his failures that ultimately lead to his suicide. Miller further illustrates Willy's false sense of pride through his affair with his mistress in Boston. Willy's need for constant attention and feelings of inadequacy leads him to cheat on his wife. During their first encounter, The Woman tells Willy that she picked him after "watching all the salesmen go by, day in, day out," to which delighted Willy (Miller 38). The idea is so pleasing to him that he asked, "You picked me, heh?" (38). Willy requires self-validation from others. His feelings of affirmation from a woman whom he does not care about indicates his low self-esteem. Fred Ribkoff, a professor in the English Department at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., affirms this assertion by stating, “[Willy’s] adulterous affair with ‘The Woman’ in Boston, which haunts both him and his son Biff is a desperate attempt to confirm and maintain his self-esteem” (165). As Willy is leaving the Woman, she tells him, “I’ll put you right through to the buyers” which gives Willy a final ego boost before he leaves (Miller 39). Willy uses his pride as a coping mechanism to counter “his sense of inadequacy as a man” (Ribkoff 165). Willy’s hubris leads to his demise as his affair ruins his bond between his family and himself. Ultimately, Willy’s tragic flaw of hubris is rooted in the materialistic culture that surrounds him. If he had stayed true to himself and realized that success does not merely equate to being wealthy or “well liked” by society, then Willy could have saved himself from his tragic fate (Miller 33). Although his heroic sacrifice is a final act of love for his family to ensure financial security, Willy, in turn, becomes just another casualty of society— a victim of the American Dream. Morse 4 Works Cited Galvin, Rachel. “Arthur Miller Biography.” National Endowment for the Humanities, http://www.neh.gov. Jacobson, Irving. “Family, Dreams in Death of a Salesman.” Critical Essays on Arthur Miller, edited by James J Martine, G. K. Hall, 1979, pp. 44-52. Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. Penguin Books, 1977. Moss, Leonard. Death of a Salesman. Arthur Miller, Twanye, 1980, pp.24-36 Ribkoff, Fred. “Shame, Guilt, Empathy, and the Search for Identity in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman.” Willy Loman, edited by Harold Bloom, Chelsea, 2005, pp. 163-170.
