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Willy as Tragic Hero in Death of a Salesman Death of a Salesman is the story of Willy Loman, a middle-class salesman who, in the course of a single day, comes to realise that the American Dream, which he has pursued for 40 years, has failed him. Willy's relentless, but naive pursuit of success has not only affected his sense of his own worth but has dominated the lives of his wife Linda and his sons Biff and Happy. In the course of the play he realises that his true wealth lies in being loved and known by his family, and in one final attempt to secure his personal dignity and provide a future for his sons through his life insurance, he commits suicide. Willy Loman is, for Miller, the antithesis of the classic tragic hero. As his name implies, he is a `low man', an ordinary man, whose dreams and expectations have been shattered by the false values of the society he has put his faith in. Unlike the heroes of classical tragedy, he is not a man of stature or noble purpose but he commands our respect and pity because he pursues his dream with a passionate intensity that makes him unique and gives him a heroic quality. While Willy is flawed in many ways, it is not simply this, but the social forces beyond his control that