Jay Gatsby Tragic Hero

Jay Gatsby, from The Great Gatsby, and Willy Loman, from Death of a Salesman, is considered tragic heroes because of their pitiful storylines; however, are Jay Gatsby and Willy Loman real tragic heroes? According to Aristotle, a tragic hero is a king that has flaws, makes mistakes, yet he realizes his mistake at the end of the story; the hero must also have a destiny bigger than he deserved, and have excessive pride (Tragic Hero defined by Aristotle). Arthur Miller believes the same characteristics are needed in a tragic hero, however Miller thinks a regular person can become a hero too. I agree with Miller, and somewhat agree with Aristotle. However, I believe Jay Gatsby and Willy Loman are not tragic heroes because Gatsby and Willy
According to Aristotle, a tragic hero should have pride as a flaw (tragic hero defined by Aristotle), however I disagree. Tragic heroes should have flaws, but I do not believe tragic heroes need pride as a flaw because it causes them to seem conceited and unlikeable. Tragic heroes should make the audience feel relatable to him; the audience should like the hero to make the story feel further tragic. Excessive pride will make the audience dislike the character and feel unsympathetic towards the character. Jay Gatsby and Willy Loman has excessive pride as a characteristic. Gatsby believed Daisy still loved him and never moved on, and loved him more than Tom (F. Scott Fitzgerald 133). Also Willy Loman believed he was extremely popular and handsome, he even killed himself believing millions for people would come to his funeral (Arthur Miller 135). These situations caused the audience to feel unrelatable and unsympathetic towards Willy Loman and Jay
Scott Fitzgerald 152). According to Aristotle, a tragic hero need to be spiritually wounded (Tragic Hero Defined by Aristotle). However, Gatsby was not spiritually wounded, in fact he was happier at the end of the novel, than at the beginning. Willy Loman was spiritually wounded at the beginning of the play (Arthur Miller 13). However, at the end of the novel, Arthur Miller wrote, “Isn’t that remarkable? Biff-he likes me” (Arthur Miller 133). This quote shows Willy Loman’s spiritually drained body was regenerated because he believed Biff loved him. Jay Gatsby and Willy Loman were never truly spiritually wounded; Willy Loman may have been wounded at the beginning of the play, however, both of the characters’ spirts were raised at the end of the