Is Willy Loman An Effective Protagonist English Literature Essay

Is Willy Lo gay An rough-and-ready Protagonist English Literature EssayWilly Loman represents an efficacious protagonist in Death of Salesman as he is an ordinary working class man in keeping with the domestic cases of tragedy. He possesses many a(prenominal) anti wedge heelic qualities by non fulfilling the American trance and glamorising the retiring(a) when he believes he was sure-fire. hitherto in reality he was even a failure then, which demonstrates that he is not the classical sad fighter aircraft of high status. A quality which is common through let out all tragic protagonists is hubris. Willy has immense self-respect, arrogantly thinking he is better than he really is and believing that success can come without hard work. His hubristic aspect is, in effect, his fatal flaw because Willys obsession with being well liked emphasises his superficial pursuit of the American intake, which helps bring up themes like materialism, as a modern listening will recognise. However, Willy fails to become an potent protagonist in a tragic sense as he does not reach an epiphany, instead, subsidence for suicide.The first aspect of a modern domestic tragedy is the f mo it centres on ordinary people. This is make in Death of a Salesman which contrasts with Othello that depicts Othello who is of noble class. Willy is a father and a husband who is head of the family and because he does have some responsibility and power over the people around him. Millers aim with his plot of land may be to reach closer to the audience, thereby showing how anyones fall from grace can be tragic. Also Miller could have chosen the name Willy Loman as the name Loman is similar to low man reflecting Willys true status.Willy Loman is an anti hero which is as you might expect as a protagonist in a modern domestic tragedy. The audience would strive to be everything he is not, for face, his constant reminiscing of the good doddery days which were not that good as he had to borr ow money to have a nice wage. What makes him even more of an anti-hero is the denial that he is really a failure. However, this could possibly make him an increasingly effective protagonist because his anti heroic qualities make him less perfect and therefore more realistic as a character. Conversely, pokings discovery of Willys affair, which leads to his loss of ambition and respect. You fake You phony little fake You fake is reenforce by the repetition to show Biffs anger. Here Willys actions damage Biff emphasising a come along his anti heroic qualities.Hubris is emblematic of protagonists in tragedy and makes Willy Lomans character more dramatically effective. Willys hubris is shown when he dismisses Bernard Bernard dont be a pest (to his boys) What an anemic because he believes that his sons are better than Bernard, instilling arrogance and his hubristic pride into them, shown through the stage direction. Excessive pride is evident in Willys attitude towards creases, wher e he turns down a job offer from Charley I dont demand your goddam job . His hubris accentuates the climax of the play as he could have accepted a job that would have guaranteed relative safety of income. The resulting loss of sympathy from the audience heightens the tragic elements of the play. In Act devil Willys denial that he was responsible for Biffs giving up with his future What are you trying to do, blame it on me? If a boy lays down is that my fault? is emphasised in the repeated rhetorical questions. The denial shows an profligate pride as he will not admit to being responsible for Biff flunking maths and thus destroying his future.Psychological elements shown in Willys character reflect the modern aspects of tragedy. These signs of mental unease are shown as early as Act 1 I suddenly couldnt drive anymore. The car kept release off on to the shoulder, yknow? indicating that Willy is perhaps struggling to cope with reality. Miller allows the viewers to gain a greater i nsight into Willys mind which makes him more effective as a protagonist because you can understand to a better extent the reasoning behind his actions. The whole play takes places during the final two days of Willys animation, rent between flashbacks of the foregone which increasingly leave him unable to punctuate between past and present. His inability to distinguish past from present adds an otherwise dimension to his character which is a more modern characteristic of tragedy, dealing with insecurity and mental breakdown. All of this is shown in the form, effectively demonstrating the downfall of his character. Most of the play revolves around constructs of the past in his mind which are portrayed as Eden like. The flashbacks represent Willy trying to recreate the past when he believed he was successful. Willys Eden is centred on his time with Biff and Happy in their younger eld as he tries to cling to times when his son respected him like Biff in act 2 when I take off my he lmet, that touchdown is for you, rather than the present when they are at odds. Another example is when Willy recalls Ben because he views him as a success, highlighting his refusal to face the present and the truth that he has not achieved the American dream.Willy Lomans fatal flaws are in part his hubris and it also his pursuit of the American dream. His idea of the American dream is the root of the problem, believing that you have to be well liked in order to be successful, as he describes Dave Singleman Cause what could be more satisfying than . . . to go at the age of eighty-four, into twenty or thirty different cities . . . and be remembered and loved. However, he may have been well known but Willy misses out the confidential information that he still had to work until he died, highlighting that being well liked is not what the American dream is about. As he dismisses Bernard for being a nerd it shows that Willy thinks you can be successful without working hard. Whilst you co uld argue that Willy is to blame for his hubris, the reverse side is that society is the villain in the play, fashioning him what he is. Miller shows this theme for example when the Lomans need a new fridge Once in my life I would like to own something outright before its broken which can explain Willys seemingly misguide pursuit of the American dream in the form of materialistic value. Yet because it is broken like many other items it could be a metaphor for the misplaced confidence of Willy in materialism as it lets him down, frequently like the aspirations for his sons. Miller creates an effective protagonist by connecting him with other aspects in society that are pertinent in America at the time.Typical of many protagonists in tragedy is the reaching of a point of revelation. Willy does not reach this as he instead settles for suicide worth more dead than alive. Yet the realisation may not be from Willy but the audience in their perception of the American dream and how it c an have disastrous effects on people. Despite not reaching any mark of self truth, his life insurance policy would in his eyes compensate Linda for his affair and he would gain the respect of Biff.Catharsis, it could be said is not experienced by the audience up until the requiem. Charleys speech null dast blame this man. You dont understand for a salesman, there is no rock bottom to life highlights that the pressure of a salesman would have contributed to Willys downfall. It helps induce compassionate from the audience as it removes blame from Willy. Charley continues to give the audience reason to pity Willy No man only needs a salary which draws attention to the fact that materialistic values cannot sustain a man. Happy reinforces the abreaction as he is inspired by Willys death. However this catharsis could be undermined due to Lindas comment It seems to me that youre just on another trip hinting that the insurance money for Biff may not be put to good use. The recurrence o f the flute music symbolically represents Willys mistaken pursuit of the American dream. This could mean that the catharsis is not as effective as the world is not cleansed and is just as it was at the start of the play.From an audiences perspective they could possibly think that Willy is an ineffective tragic hero because it was his own fault that he was not successful. He failed to understand the American dream, in the process obstructive his own sons future. The anti heroic features of Willy could serve on their own as a reason the audience lose sympathy for him and possibly deem him ineffective as a tragic hero. However, on the other hand, society could be viewed as the villain of the play because it gives the audience reason to understand his character, thus making Willy an effective protagonist. Willy Loman could be considered an effective tragic protagonist because of his hubris and fatal flaw typical of a tragic hero. Likewise, the psychological aspects introduced to the p lot draw attention to the modern characteristics of modern domestic tragedy.