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Similarities between death of a salesman and fences
Fences and death of a salesman comparison
Similarities between death of a salesman and fences
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“Fences” and “Death of a salesman” are alike and different in multiple ways. These two plays consist of very similar sons who are unsuccessful, wifes who very much love their husbands, and both consist of male protagonists who are both also unsuccessful like the sons and fail to obtain their dreams which is the American Dream. Starting with the sons, Biff and Cory, they are both unsuccessful in their play. They both fail and are not able to continue in their football careers. Their parents both have different dreams for them. For example, Willy Loman wishes his son Biff to focus on playing football and being a star at it which later on rewards him with a sports scholarship. But on the other hand Troy makes his son quit the football team and avoid an athletic scholarship so that he can work regular hours at the local store. This shows how Willy sees the impressive skills Biff has to offer on the football field much more than of his …show more content…
He talks to her with no respect and ignores and avoids her in different occasions in the play and even though he treats her like this she still stands by his side and acts as his support. But in “Fences” Troy treats his wife Rose with at least some respect. An example of this would be how both men found a way to have another affair with different ladies. Linda chose to ignore and forget about the fact that Willy was having an affair with somebody else. But because of her ignoring what was happening, she saved herself some difficult choices. Linda was not strong enough to make those choices. But then you have Rose. When she found out that Troy had been cheating on her she left him and even through all of this she still chose to take care of the child who her husband had, had with the other lady who she was being cheated
He said he had an affair with another woman to escape reality and his responsibilities. Troy and Rose had somewhat of a perfect relationship in the beginning of the play. They seemed happy and it didn’t seem like anything could make them apart. However, when Troy told Rose about the affair they immediately tore apart. Troy didn’t apologize to Rose nor showed any regret for what he had done.
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.
Fences is a play that deals with boundaries that hold people back and the trials and tribulations of those who try or wish to cross them. The characters are African-Americans in a time before the civil rights movement, living in an industrial city. The main character, Troy Manxson, is a talented baseball player who never had the chance to let his talent shine, with restrictions on race and his time in jail as the main obstacles that held him back. He is now hard working and loves his family. However, he tends to exaggerate and has his faults, most prevalent a wandering eye when it comes to women. His wife, Rose, is younger than him and loyal, but she may not have known about all of his faults when she married him. At the beginning of the play, Troy has a son from a previous marriage, Lyons, and a son with Rose, Cory. Also appearing are Bono, Troy’s drinking buddy, and Gabriel, his brother.
Troy’s relationship with Cory also plummets to an all-time low after the reveal, and eventually leads to Cory being kicked out/leaving for good after his big confrontation with his father. Before the affair, Troy’s life was decent. He fought for a promotion at work, and he won. Rose loved him and was the “perfect little housewife.” He was even able to share a laugh or two.
The theme of August Wilson’s play “Fences” is the coming of age in the life of a broken black man. Wilson wrote about the black experience in different decades and the struggle that many blacks faced, and that is seen in “Fences” because there are two different generations portrayed in Troy and Cory. Troy plays the part of the protagonist who has been disillusioned throughout his life by everyone he has been close to. He was forced to leave home at an early age because his father beat him so dramatically. Troy never learned how to treat people close to him and he never gave any one a chance to prove themselves because he was selfish. This makes Troy the antagonist in the story because he is not only hitting up against everyone in the play, but he is also hitting up against himself and ultimately making his life more complicated. The discrimination that Troy faced while playing baseball and the torment he endures as a child shape him into one of the most dynamic characters in literary history.The central conflict is the relationship between Troy and Cory. The two of them have conflicting views about Cory’s future and, as the play goes on, this rocky relationship crumbles because Troy will not let Cory play collegiate football. The relationship becomes even more destructive when Troy admits to his relationship with Alberta and he admits Gabriel to a mental institution by accident. The complication begins in Troy’s youth, when his father beat him unconscious. At that moment, Troy leaves home and begins a troubled life on his own, and gaining a self-destructive outlook on life. “Fences” has many instances that can be considered the climax, but the one point in the story where the highest point of tension occurs, insight is gained and a situation is resolved is when Rose tells Troy that Alberta died having his baby, Raynell.
Both men expect some of the same things from their women including food, housekeeping, and sex. Willy demonstrates his sexual frustrations when he is on the road when he says “On the road, I want to grab you sometimes and kiss the life out of you.(pg 25)”. Troy represents this ideal when he says “We go upstairs in that room at night and I fall down on you and try to blast a whole into forever. That’s all I got, Rose.(pg 21)”. Willy is always working, so his wife has to stay home and take care of the kids and the house. Biff says “Where’s you go this time, dad? Gee we were lonesome for you.(pg 19)”. Troy gets what he wants from Rose and does what he has to do, then does whatever he pleases. Rose shows this when she says “You ain’t been home from work, but time enough to change your clothes and run out, and that’s the best you can do?(pg 36)”. She feels very lonely with Troy never being home she wants to try to rebuild their broken relationship, but he just wants to be running around having fun. Both of these men treat their women like they are so much less then them and yet both woman poor their hopes and dreams into Willy and Troy. In the end Willy and Troy both take their marriage vows and throw them down the drain and have sex with other
Troy was secretly having an extramarital affair with a woman named Alberta. Troy’s friends all knew the truth, but Troy continually denied any involvement with Alberta. Troy’s best friend, Bono, however, managed to convince Troy what he was wrong for continuing the affair. Troy then came clean to Rose, telling her he was going to be the father of a child Alberta was pregnant with. Rose became heartbroken. She told Troy, “I been standing with you! I been right here with you, Troy. I got a life too. I gave eighteen years of my life to stand in the same spot as you. Don’t you think I ever wanted other things? Don’t you think I had dreams and hopes?” (1606). Rose had given up her entire life to be with Troy. However, Troy never once apologized. Troy continually defended himself, and he went as far as to justify himself. Troy claimed Alberta was an escape for Troy. Troy stated, “It’s just… She gives me a different idea… a different understanding about myself. I can step out of this house and get away from the pressures and problems” (1605). Rose was hurt, however, and Troy never apologized nor stopped seeing Alberta. He continued to live in an illusion that he could keep both his family and his secret life separate. However, Alberta later died in childbirth. Her daughter, Raynell, was to be raised by Troy and Rose. Troy effectively destroyed his marriage because of his excessive pride. He refused to believe he was in the
One scene that really exemplifies the reader’s empathy towards Rose is when her and Troy get into a fight while in the backyard. This argument occurs when Troy first tells Rose that he got another woman pregnant. Wilson uses a strong metaphor here to aid him in getting Rose’s point
Throughout the play, readers see an incomplete fence which symbolizes Rose (Troy’s wife) and Troy’s drifting relationship. Rose wants Troy and Cory to build a fence to keep her loved ones protected. This is evident when Rose is seen singing the church hymn, “Jesus, be a fence all around me every day. Jesus, I want you to protect me as I travel on my way” (I. ii). This insinuates the fact that Rose wants to keep her family close. Rose and Troy’s relationship seemed to be breaking down after eighteen years and the fence may have also been a way to keep Troy in Rose’s life. Yet, Troy has been in no rush to finish the fence. He sees it as some sort of confinement. Fences contain a lot of barriers that Troy tries to keep down; one barrier being his marriage. Troy claims that he has so much love for Rose, but readers see that exclusive relationships makes him feel caged in. He keeps the fence unfinished because he knows that if he finishes it than it will symbolize the end of his escape to his mistress, Alberta. Troy’s affair builds a fence that separates his marriage causing his actions to affect Rose by caging her in with a daughter that is not hers: “From right now . . . this child got a mother. But you a womanless man.” Rose tried to use a fence of divine power to keep her family protected. Troy neglected this by committing adultery, leavi...
The Play Fences Has major conflict Between Troy( Husband to Roses) and Cory( son of Troy and Rose ). Also there is Conflict between Rose( Troy wife) And Troy. The reason why there is conflict between the character because Troy prohibits Cory from playing football and going to college. An Troy think it a waste of time. Troy also does not want his son(Cory) to be anything like him.
This is the reason why Troy fights against his family and himself, because he feels like he is the only one who can protect them. To Cory and Rose, Troy is destroying the family because of his stubborn thoughts but to Troy he is saving the family from falling apart and this distrust causes the family to eventually fall apart. Troy really does try his hardest to be a good father and is bothered by the fact that Rose and Cory do not see it as him trying to protect them but more of him destroying the family. This hurts Troy because his family is his everything they are what he “fights” for he works day end and day out to put food on the table and try to give them a life he thinks the deserve. August Wilson in “fences” Troy says, “ I love this woman, so much it hurts. I love her so much… I done run out of ways to love her.”(1.1) Wilson uses to show how much Troy actually cares for his wife, to Troy Rose is his everything, she is the light in his darkness, she try’s to guide him back to a sane man. Another Way Wilson shows how much Troy loves his family is when Troy is talking to his family and says that “ You all line up at the door, with your hands out. I give you the lint from my pockets. I give you my sweat and my blood…”(1.3) Troy is saying that he will give them everything until he has absolutely nothing but the lint from his pockets. He will go out of his way to make
August Wilson wrote the play Fences in 1983, the setting of the play was in 1950s. During the 1950’s women were supposed to find and husband, get married then stay home and take care of the house. The male role in the 1950’s was to provide for his family make sure he had a paying job. In Fences Troy and Rose Maxson are the perfect characters for these stereo types. After analyzing this play many themes became observable. Troy, Rose, Bono and Cory all go through situation where they have to deal with Duty, responsibility, limitations, and opportunity. Troy is the protagonist in the play; he lifts garbage into trucks for a career. Troy use to play baseball for the Negro Leagues. Rose is his wife and he has three children Lyons, Cory and Raynell.
...s the more sympathetic of the two. The struggles that Willie experienced got the better of him. Willie overworked himself and could not offer much because of his low income. In addition, Willie received no help from his two sons, and even lost his job. Willie’s constant hardship in maintaining his home caused him to end his life. On the other hand, Troy did not have it as difficult as Willie did. Troy received help in paying for his home, and unlike Willie, Troy received a promotion that further made him more financially successful. The relationship between father and son could be difficult. The struggles that both Willy and Troy experienced is what caused them to have expectations. Undoubtedly, Willie had to endure more hardships because of the lack of help.
Troy’s Father’s importance and impact on him become evident as soon as Troy’s childhood is known. Despite the hate Troy felt towards his father, he ended up very similar to him. Troy’s father didn’t love or even care about his children, but he did have a responsibility he owed them. . “Maybe he ain’t treat us the way he should have….but without that responsibility he could have walked off and left us.” (I iv, 51). This was the one thing Troy agreed with his father about. However, this trait of responsibility would be used in somewhat of a double standard, with over emphasizing it on Cory but not seeming to consider it on Rose. Troy changes situations to fit his
Have you ever read a book then thought about why the book was made and what things effected on the making of the book? Or even thought about how the setting has affected the story and what symbols were shown that would lead to the conflict? In the play fences there are many literary elements that have affected the play. For instance the theme of the play Fences is the one you least expect to hurt you will hurt you the most. All of the characters have affected on how the story began to how it ended also.