Comparing Death Of A Salesman And Fences By August Wilson

In Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller, Willy Loman’s life seems to be slowly deteriorating. It is clear that Willy’s predicament is of his own doing, and that his own foolish pride and ignorance lead to his downfall. Willy’s self-destruction involved the uniting of several aspects of his life and his lack of grasping reality in each, consisting of, his relationship with his wife, his relationship and manner in which he brought up his children, Biff and Happy, and lastly his inability to productively earn a living and in doing so, failure to achieve his “American Dream”.

Troy really believes despite being recruited it will still get him nowhere, he is convinced that he will be eventually dropped, will be disappointed and does not want him to end up like him-. He had decided a long time ago without his son’s knowledge that he will not be involved in any sports, he told his wife.

Death of a Salesman, written by Arthur Miller, and Fences, written by August Wilson, are two plays are very different in terms of their plot; both plays contain two very different cultural backgrounds each affecting the respective protagonist differently. Looking beyond the plot into the themes and symbolisms used, the audience learns that the plays are more similar than they are different as they share a common universal truth regarding the American Dream. They are both tragic heroes who fail in trying to achieve the American dream. Despite their differing cultural backgrounds, both characters’ drastic downfalls occur by similar means as demonstrated by their occupational failures as well as their familial relationships. The American dream is an important factor in many American’s lives as it is to Willy Loman, the white protagonist of Death of a Salesman and to Troy Maxson, the black protagonist of Fences. Willy and Troy both fail to achieve the American Dream due to the distorted ways with which they define success and go about attaining it.

Willy Loman is a senile salesman who lives a dull life with a depleting career. He has an estranged relationship with his family and believes in the American Dream of effortless success and affluence, but in no way accomplishes it. Feeling like the aim of life is to be favored by others and gaining a materialistic fortune, Willy lives in a world of delusion where

Fences written by August Wilson and Death of a Salesman written by Arthur Miller are two plays that could be considered very different in terms of their plot. The plots of both plays contain two very different cultural backgrounds which affects each protagonist differently. If the reader or audience looks past the plot into the theme and symbolisms used they can see that the plays are more similar than they are different. In spite of the different cultural backgrounds of each protagonist they both are tragic heroes that are trying to achieve the American dream as it relates to each character; both of which fail in drastic yet similar ways. The American dream has always been an important factor in many American’s lives as it is to Troy

In the end his son still thought that Willy was on the wrong path with wrong dreams. However, Happy, thought that his father’s dreams were achievable and chose that path for himself. Both Troy and Willy wanted to achieve the American dreams in their era, for Troy it was in the shape of baseball, fame and equality while for Wily it was money, respect and to belong in the high society, however, not only

In the play Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman is the main character and he has high expectations for his one boy Biff. He wants Biff to be like him but he pushes him to more than he can handle. Willy is an older man who is starting to lose his mind. Willy has mental problems which causes him to see things and do things, he also attempts to kill himself a couple of times. Will one day was driving in his car and he all of a sudden he forgot he was driving, “No, its me, its me. Suddenly I realize I’m goin sixty miles an hour and I don’t remember the last five minutes. I’m-- I can’t seem to-- keep my mind to it.” This quotes shows how he keeps forgetting things that have happened. Willy also is a salesman for a job and he has to travel a lot but he does not like to travel so he tries to change what he does. He tries by going to his boss and asking about the job where he can stay in one spot and not travel. He asks to work in one spot and offers to be payed less, once his boss doesn’t go with the plan he gives another price range, “I tell ya, Howard. The kids are all grown up, y’know. I don”t need much any more. If I could take home---well, sixty-five dollars a week, i could swing it.” “Howard, all I need to set the table is fifty dollars a week.” These two quotes shows how he kept offering lower and lower when he didn’t get the job. Willy is very similar to Troy Maxson. Troy and Willy expect the same out of their boys, to be successful. Troy was a big sports person and wants his son to be the same, “Though he used to be able to

Fences by August Wilson is a play that covers the life of Troy Maxson from the 1950s through the mid 1960s. The main character Troy is an aging man who formerly played in the negro leagues and is now working as a garbage man. Troy struggles with racism, taking care of his family and dealing with the reality that times have changed. Maxson is a strong character with very prominent traits displayed throughout the play. He can be described as hardworking, responsible, and troubled. Those traits attest to who he his, how he lives and play a role into his relationships with family and friends.

The two plays that I chose to read are, Death of a Salesman and Fences. While reading these two plays and examining the father and son from both stories, I found a special connection with both of them with personal life experiences and stories. While comparing and contrasting these characters, I discovered great insight through other peoples life experiences with failure and success. Although Death of a Salesman is a more tragic story and Fences is more of a coming of age story, the relationships between the characters are similar.

Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller and Fences by August Wilson have similar themes of conflicts between fathers and sons, conflicts between husbands and wives, and the need to focus on a small unit of space in order to achieve success. In the process of developing these themes throughout the two plays, three similar symbolic elements are used including the insecure father figure, the "other woman," and the garden.

Troy fears that Cory will turn out just like him and that he will end up just as his father did. Whenever Cory delays doing his chores to go to football practice, Troy reprimands him harshly. Troy does his best to parent Cory, a luxury not afforded to Troy in his own childhood. Troy is aware of what his life has turned out to be, and he does not want his son to suffer the same fate that he has. Troy's struggle between wanting Cory to be just like him and hoping Cory never has to lead the life that Troy leads causes great conflict.

The examples of Troy's past experiences with his father, jail, and failed sports career contribute to his committing adultery by enabling him to replace the immorality of the act with a sense of deserving. Many events in the play foreshadow Troy's choice to commit adultery. In the beginning, Troy casually speaks to his friend Jim Bono about fooling around with women outside of marriage. He initially sounds as if he discourages the act, and in doing so he is hiding the fact that he himself is involved in such affairs. Troy confronts his wife Rose about the affair claiming his emotional and mental state improves when he goes to see the woman: “I can sit up in her house and laugh….and it feels good.” (835). Meaning that he can sit there and laugh without a worry in the world and it makes him feel better. He forgets about his problems and just focus on how happy can be. Both these two events in the play

The definition of a fence is a barrier, railing, or an upright structure enclosing an area to mark a boundary or prevent escape. The dramatic play “Fences”, by August Wilson, uses a fence to symbolize the barriers which destroy the relationships between a family of four. Troy’s affair was the obstacle that destroyed his and Rose’s marriage. Due to Troy’s selfishness, his bond with his brother Gabriel was also impaired. Finally, Troy’s relationship with his son Cory was ruined because of Troy’s own expectations of his son.

It is said that father-son relationship is an influential part of any boy’s development to becoming a man this relationship is the most eternal bond with a partner in society. The father-son relationships has been a recurring theme since the growth of literature and has immersed itself in American literature largely through playwrights to embody general themes such as the American Dream. In the Pulitzer awarded tragedies “Fences” by August Wilson and “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller the Father-son relationship is a vital piece to these remarkable classics that has defined family values in the post-depression era. Both tragedies revolve around their respective protagonist Troy Maxson and Willy Loman. They are unhappy, unsuccessful men who want the best for their families but fail to attain the American Dream because they live far from the notion. Their philosophy has deluded their reality throughout the plays then in turn effecting their family relationship especially with their sons.

Fences by August Wilson and Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller are two plays that are very similar to each other. They are different in terms of plot, but they are both stories about family conflicts and relationships between family members. In both plays, sport plays a big role in the life of the characters as both sons of the main characters wish to play sports in school. Also, the women in both plays have an unfortunate marriage as their husbands both had an affair and betrayed their marriage. In addition to these similarities, death is also a strong concept; as both stories end with the main character’s funeral. Although there are many similarities in both plays such as sports, marriage, and death; there are also many differences in these same themes.