Miller and Hemingway on Self-Respect

In Death of a Salesman, Charley and Bernard do not suffer under capitalism the way Willy does. The particular way Willy engages with the social system of achievement and display engendered by capitalism leads Willy to a tragic undermining of his self-respect. This is a theme Miller also explores in The Price and The Last Yankee. It can be elucidated by considering Aristotle’s discussion of eudaimonia and a distinction psychologists draw between accomplishment and achievement. Ernest Hemingway’s story “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber” helps us understand Miller’s theme: the way self-respect must be grounded in accomplishment rather than achievement and display.