Comparing Making History and Death of a Salesman Essay

The tragic cuneus is a man of noble stature. He is not an ordinary man, solely a man with outstanding quality and importance about him. His own destruction is for a greater cause or principle. Aristotle How far is this statement true concerning Willy Loman and Hugh ONeill? Comp are 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 conservative citizen, he is a very proud man, this per intelligence-to-personity 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 well liked man in order to inspire them to pursue the American Dream.Hugh ONeill, on the other hand, is a much much re instantaneouslyned man within society and his role is great (dissimilar to Willys), 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 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 Biffs who is far less attractive but more intelligent, ironically Bernard becomes more successful in further scens of the text. In addition, this illustrates how Willys ideals are becoming outdated and obsolete, as the society he is living in requires work to be efficient and the trend a person is perceived has no impact on working effectively.Willys 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 hasnt changed along with the format of the high demand-business world he inhabit s this contributes towards his depression and dissatisfaction with his son Biff, who has so much 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 Willys views are, Bernard acting as a symbol of this. Arthur Miller uses several characters to act as symbols or messages, for example it could be argued that Ben, Willys 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 diamonds which are aesthetically attractive, and it could be argued that they are worth so much due to their appearance, this is very reflective of Willys own pride induced views of success.During Act 2, Scene 2 when Hugh shuts the book in fury is symbolic as it represents change within Hugh, in earlier sections of the play Hugh questions Lombards intentions when writing said book, and asks But youll tell the truth?, an d 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 conform to instructions. His duty would be to remain true to Lombards plan, but his anger towards The History book demonstrates Hughs personal beliefs becoming a priority whereas beforehand(predicate) his identity was dependant on his duty.The theme of history reoccurs throughout Friels 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 Hughs identity becomes less fragmented as the play ensues. The book Aristotle said that A man doesnt become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall. Similarly, Willy is aware of his flaws but fails to outwardly have to doing so, instead he takes a defensive advance 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 Bernards suc cess and naturally compares him to Biff, (as he ever so has) who is yet to achieve anywhere near as much as Bernard.When Bernard asks Willy about what happened to Biff, Willy answers If a boy lays down is that my fault? The reason for Willys raptorial behaviour in this scene is influenced by the fact he knows that he is the reason for Biffs 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 Willys anxiety towards Bernard.