We are Looking at Tragedy the Wrong Way

People seem to believe that only the rich and famous can have tragedies. We believe that we are somehow below tragedy, or tragedy is above us. The truth is that anyone can experience tragedy. If the high class really was the only group of people to experience this feeling, no one would cherish tragedy, and no one would be able to comprehend its meaning because no one would have experienced it.

Miller discusses that the feeling of tragedy is felt when "we are in the presence of a character who is ready to lay down his life, if need be, to secure one thing--his sense of personal dignity." Really, tragedy is about trying to make someone feel better, and then they proceed to fail. The character is trying to discover morality, and when they fail it represents a wrong in the environment, evoking a feeling of tragedy. "Tragedy enlightens--and it must, in that it points the heroic finger at the enemy, of man's freedom." No one likes tragedy being taken away from someone, and that can evoke a feeling of tragedy. Also, he presents the idea if we were born with sadness and misery in our minds, all action and especially heroic action would be impossible. If we were depressed from the beginning of our lives, there would be no such thing as a "hero", since it would be impossible to have one. If society alone is capable of "cramping" our lives, the hero would have to be completely faultless and pure, which would completely devalue the idea of the character. Neither of these ideas can create a tragedy, because they do not represent a balance of life. Tragedy feeds of balance, and cause and effect. Without balance, there can be no tragedy, because it would no longer be a realistic scenario.

I found this article really interesting in that there are many different ways to think about a tragedy. The main thing I think we need to remember is that tragedy can happen to anyone at any time, not just the upper class. Tragedy shows a lesson in human nature and morality, and can change a person's idea of life. As long as we still have tragedy, we can see the common struggle for man to secure his rightful place in the world.