A "tragic hero," according to Aristotle, must evoke emotions from the audience, must recognize his faults at the end of the novel, and must be large enough to be appropriate for tragedy. Northrop Frye refers to these requirements when he says, "Tragic heroes are so much the highest points in their human landscape that they seem the inevitable conductors of the power about them, great trees more likely to be struck by lightning than a …showed first 75 words of 681 total…

…showed last 75 words of 681 total…more than the tragic hero, he represented every common workingman all over the world. He evoked emotions from the audience, recognized his faults at the end of the novel, and was large enough to be appropriate for tragedy. His tragic flaw was his misunderstanding of the American Dream. He believed it that success came from being "well liked" and "personally attractive." These ideas ultimately brought him down and his downfall destroyed the others around him.