Comparing Making History and Death of a Salesman Essay

‘The tragic hero is a man of noble stature. He is not an ordinary man, but a man with outstanding quality and greatness about him. His own destruction is for a greater cause or principle.’ Aristotle How far is this statement true concerning Willy Loman and Hugh O’Neill? Compare and contrast how heroism is presented in Making History and Death of a Salesman. Willy Loman has no extensive amount of greatness as a character and socially he is a middle-class citizen, he is a very proud man, this personality flaw tends to obstruct his view of reality. Within the Loman household Willy controls his family, in return they look up to him as the man of the household and a symbol of dependence as he is shown to be the prime bread-winner and he constructs a cloudy image to his sons that he is a â€Å"well liked† man in order to inspire them to pursue the ‘American Dream’. Hugh O’Neill, on the other hand, is a much more renowned man within society and his role is great (dissimilar to Willy’s), due to the fact he has a vast amount of power as the Earle of Tyrone. He too has an image to present for his plans to ensue effectively. Willy Loman believes that the only people who achieve are the ones who â€Å"make an appearance in the business world, the man who creates a personal interest, is the man who gets ahead.† Something Willy said to Bernard, an inferior friend of Biff’s who is far less ‘attractive’ but more intelligent, ironically Bernard becomes more successful in further scens of the text. In addition, this illustrates how Willy’s ideals are becoming outdated and obsolete, as the society he is living in requires work to be efficient and the way a person is perceived has no impact on working effectively. Willy’s incapability to overlook aesthetic qualities is one of many flaws he possesses as a character, due to the fact his thoughts have been narrowed by past ideals. Willy hasn’t changed along with the format of the high demand-business world he inhabits; this contributes towards his depression and dissatisfaction with his son Biff, who has so much â€Å"personal attractiveness†. Although this segment of the play is a memory and seemingly light-hearted, the message is a lot deeper and symbolises how shrouded Willy’s views are, Bernard acting as a symbol of this. Arthur Miller uses several character’s to act as symbols or messages, for example it could be argued that Ben, Willy’s older, more successful brother is a metaphor for the ‘American Dream’ as he achieved what neither Willy nor any other Loman have managed. Ben talks of â€Å"diamonds† which are aesthetically attractive, and it could be argued that they are worth s o much due to their appearance, this is very reflective of Willy’s own pride induced views of success. During Act 2, Scene 2 when Hugh â€Å"shuts the book in fury† is symbolic as it represents change within Hugh, in earlier sections of the play Hugh questions Lombard’s intentions when writing said book, and asks â€Å"But you’ll tell the truth?†, and now in the second act he is infuriated by the book as Mabel is not a part of his history and Hugh disregards his usual behaviour to follow instructions. His duty would be to remain true to Lombard’s plan, but his anger towards ‘The History’ book demonstrates Hugh’s personal beliefs becoming a priority whereas beforehand his identity was dependant on his duty. The theme of history reoccurs throughout Friel’s play, the title alone reinforces the idea that Lombard wants to make a history for the Irish to remember, but Hugh wants reality. It could be argued that Hugh’s identity becomes less fragmented as the play ensues. The book Aristotle said that â€Å"A man doesn’t become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall†. Similarly, Willy is aware of his flaws but fails to outwardly admit to doing so, instead he takes a defensive approach and orders his memories in a way to create a reality which does not exist, for example, during Act 2, Scene 5 Willy learns of Bernard’s success and naturally compares him to Biff, (as he always has) who is yet to achieve anywhere near as much as Bernard. When Bernard asks Willy about what happened to Biff, Willy answers â€Å"If a boy lays down is that my fault?† The reason for Willy’s aggressive behaviour in this scene is influenced by the fact he knows that he is the reason for Biff’s loss of ambition. His flaw being brought to the surface, as Willy fails to admit that he is to blame although the audience is shown via facial expressions and changes in vocal tone or physicality e.g. a nervous twitch, to show Willy’s anxiety towards Bernard.