Willy, a Tragic Hero?

In my experience, a true tragic hero is someone who starts out great, but due to a flaw in
their character, they fall from their greatness.   They must realize their mistakes and flaw, but be
unable to prevent their demise, which usually results from their flaw. I do not believe Willy is a
tragic hero. Compared to a classic tragic hero, such as Macbeth, Willy doesn’t hold up. Macbeth
starts out as a victorious general and a well respected lord, thus he starts out great. Willy, on the
other hand, starts out as an already failing salesman as depicted in his flashback to when his wife turned his imaginary $200 to his actual earnings of $70. Macbeth’s flaw is his ambition, his
willingness to do anything to become king. Willy also has the flaw of ambition, and he also is
very prideful. Macbeth’s ambition causes him to kill the king and his guilt drives him into
madness.   Willy’s ambition to become the model of the American Dream also drives him mad.
Willy has several chances to escape from his downward spiral of failure but his pride prevents
him from doing so. At the end of the play, Macbeth realizes his mistakes far too late, for an army
was already out to kill him. Willy realizes his mistakes, but not totally. He doesn’t accept the fact
that he has gone crazy, as evidenced by the fact that his imaginary brother is the one who
convinces Willy to kill himself. Willy isn’t too late to prevent his death because he is the one
who kills himself. He always had the choice.