Based on the essay "Tragedy and the Common Man" by Arthur Miller, could the character Jay Gatsby, from the book "The Great Gatsby," be considered a...

In a word: Absolutely. Arthur Miller, in his essay, seeks to modernize the term "tragic hero," because he feels it's become "archaic, fit only for the very highly placed, the kings or the kingly." By looking at what drives Jay Gatsby in his quest to win Daisy's love and comparing it to the elements of a tragic hero set forth in Miller's "Tragedy and the Common Man," it can be fairly easily argued that Gatsby fits the definition of a common tragic hero. 

One of the characteristics Miller focuses on first is the tragic hero's sense of personal dignity. 

"Sometimes he is one who has been displaced from it, sometimes one who seeks to attain it for the first time, but the fateful wound from which the inevitable events spiral is the wound of indignity, and its dominant force is indignation." 

Jay Gatsby has been displaced from his personal dignity. The Gatsby that Nick Carraway meets is a shell of his former self, a fact readers see as they learn more about Gatsby's past from him recollections and Nick's narration, as well as Daisy's emotion when she interacts with Gatsby. Gatsby seeks to find his dignity through lies and deceit as well as his money and parties. But, like Miller says, he suffers the "wound of indignity." No matter how hard Gatsby tries, he continues to fall short of winning Daisy's love. Not because she doesn't love him, but because, as Nick says, "You can't repeat the past." Gatsby shows his desperation and indignity with his response: " 'Can't repeat the past?' he cried incredulously. 'Why, of course you can!' " 

Miller also clarifies that a tragic hero's "tragic flaw" need not be a weakness in his character. Readers who can't argue that Gatsby's death is the result of a weakness in his character can still see him as a tragic hero when they consider that:

"The flaw, or crack in the character, is really nothing--and need be nothing, but his inherent unwillingness to remain passive in the face of what he conceives to be a challenge to his dignity, his image of his rightful status."

Again, this describes Jay Gatsby to a "T." His image of his rightful status is that he and Daisy should be married; however, even more than that, he wants Daisy's time with Tom to be completely erased. 

"He wanted nothing less of Daisy than that she should go to Tom and say 'I never loved you.' After she had obliterated four years with that sentence they could decide upon the more practical measures to be taken."

Throughout his essay, Arthur Miller seeks to not only redefine the tragic hero, but to modernize him as well. By looking at major literary figures like Jay Gatsby, readers can expand their scope of understanding and realize that "tragedy" is not just reserved for Shakespeare and Sophocles.