2. Regardless of your answers to question 1, there can be little doubt that Willy Loman is the victim of a "tragic flaw." Can you isolate that flaw? Is it Willy's own tragic flaw that causes his downfall? It it society's? Is it a combination of both?
CHARLEY: You want a job?
WILLY: I got a job, I told you that. [After a slight pause] What the hell are you offering me a job for?
CHARLEY: Don’t get insulted.
WILLY: Don’t insult me
I believe that Willy's tragic flaw is his pride. He has all of these grand dreams, but his pride prevents him from making these dreams true. He refuses to take any small jobs that would lead to the important ones. He wants to simply be on top and considers it a disgrace to be anywhere else. His pride also prevents him from seeing any problems with his life until it's too late. As shown by his memories, he believes that Biff is perfect, and even when Biff has flunked math and doesn't evolve into Willy's definition of successful, he still refuses to see his son as anything else. Willy believes that he is better than everyone else. He thinks that he is more successful than Charley even though the opposite is true. Charley was offering him a job, but his pride refuses to let him take it.
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