Is Willy Loman Presented as a Hero/Victim in

Authors Avatar
Is Willy Loman Presented as a Hero/Victim in "Death of a Salesman"?

Willy Loman is presented as both a tragic hero and an unconscious victim in "Death of a Salesman". "Death of a Salesman" is very much based upon the American Dream, and whether we are slaves or conquerors of this dream. This is an idea that the playwright Arthur Miller has very passionately pursued both through Willy's own eyes, and through his interaction with the different characters in the play.

Firstly, the definitions of a hero and a victim very much influence the way that Willy is viewed by the audience. Miller has not used the play to suggest that Willy Loman is an ordinary hero, but more a tragic hero. A tragic hero, simply by definition means that the reader already begins to see Willy in a more sympathetic light. A tragic hero is somebody who cannot forget his past, and so is destroyed by the consequences of his own actions.

In order to picture Willy as a victim, again one cannot think of a regular victim, but of an ignorant victim. This would mean that Willy was completely unaware of his role as a victim in the play. It would also imply that Willy was not in control of his own fate.

From the beginning of "Death of a Salesman" we see Willy playing the very victimised role of the conformer. Near the end of the first scene, as he speaks to his sons in one of his flashbacks he says: "the man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead."

This sounds very much like a typical business ideal, and one cannot help but feel at this stage that Willy is taking on ideas from other people and convincing himself that they are true. This is reinforced by the evident confusion and foolishness within his character, implied by the way that he regularly contradicts himself, always with great conviction:

"Biff is a lazy bum...There's one thing about Biff - he's not lazy."

This is a very typical characteristic of a victim such as Willy, as much of his down fall is due to lack of knowledge, or illusions.

On the contrary, we are not immediately introduced to this delusional, flaky character. At the beginning of scene one, we see the more assertive side of Willy as he discusses business possibilities with his wife Willy. Miller balances out the audience's perception of Willy towards the end of the act where the more vulnerable side of Willy is illustrated, with the use of his behaviour and the response of others to his attitude. An example of this would be Linda diligently agreeing with Willy's strange statements.
Join now!


One of Willy's traits which qualify him as a hero is his eternal sacrifice, and the way that he throws everything into the balance in order to secure his rightful place in society, and to live the American Dream. These sacrifices are perfectly illustrated by the long distance that Willy travels in order to sell his stock. At the start of the play, Linda comments on his driving up to New England to which Willy responds: "I'm the New England man. I'm vital in New England." Miller makes clever use of the language here, in order to present ...

This is a preview of the whole essay