In A Raisin in The Sun and The Death of a Salesman, a male character is the protagonist in both storylines. Unlike the “typical” role of a father, these men weren’t providing a stable environment for themselves or their families, but rather a dysfunctional home caused by himself. While the dysfunction was not intentional, it was inevitably the result of misguided life goals seen by both men. Willy Loman and Walter Lee Younger, although from very different families, inadvertently created a flawed family by trying to fulfill the roles they feel must adhere to as fathers. Willy Loman, around 60 years old, was a hardworking salesman who had worked for the same company his whole life. He truly believed in the American Dream, the ideal that everyone can achieve success and wealth, but, …show more content…
Walter wanted to invest thirty thousand dollars into a liquor store, which Ruth, his wife, highly disagreed with. Mama put some money down for a house in a white neighborhood. However, Mama gave the rest of the money to Walter, telling him to do with it what he wants. He was now a loving, kind, and altogether enjoyable person to be around. Nonetheless, everyone was right and one of the men Walter made the investment with took all of his money and ran off. To make things worse, a white man from their future neighborhood came by their apartment and told them that their black family was not welcomed and they would pay them to stay in their original apartment, which Walter originally agreed to. When the man showed up with papers for the Youngers to sign, Walter couldn’t face showing defeat in front of his son and proved himself, refusing the money. Walter surprised everyone, especially his mother when “He finally came into his manhood. Kind of like a rainbow after the rain.” (Lorraine 152). Walter Lee is a perfect example of how poverty, defeat and being a minority can change how a person functions, but through self-determination, he can overcome these
Many black men have to deal with a systematic racism that effects their role in society. The frustrations that a black man has to deal with can affect the family a great deal. For example, if Walter gets upset at work or has a bad day, he can't get irate with his boss and risk loosing his job; instead he takes it out on his wife Ruth. Also, the job that he holds can only provide so much to the family. He's not even capable of providing his son Travis with some pocket change without becoming broke himself. What type of "breadwinner" can a black man be in America? Walter Younger is thirty-five years old and all he is, is a limousine driver. He is unhappy with his job and he desperately seeks for an opportunity to improve his family standing. He tells his mother how he feels about his job when she wouldn't give him the ten thousand dollars; I open and close car doors all day long. I drive a man around in his limousine and I say,"Yes sir;no sir,very good sir; shall I take the drive, sir?" Mama, that ain't no kind of job... that ain't nothing at all.
Willy Loman is a travelling salesman who has worked for the Wagner firm for 34 years. He is now 61 years old and his job has been taken off salary and put on commission. He has a family and he boasts to them that he is "vital in New England," but in fact he isn’t vital anywhere. Willy has many strong beliefs that he strives to achieve.
The parents in Death of a Salesman and “Two Kinds” exhibit their ambition to present their children a brighter future. However, their different definitions of success bring a downfall to the children’s lives, as more burden and pressure is involved. As a result, disappointment and broken relationships were concluded from the unrealistic expectations.
Living in a poverty stricken area, Walter can only think about one of the many things he lacks, money. On the contrary, there are African Americans on the other side of Chicago who do have money and run large businesses. This pushes Walter to not only want to provide more for his family, but also dream big and become determined. The only way that he sees fit for him to make his dream come true and earn more
The 1950’s was known as the calm before the storm of the rebellious 1960’s and rightfully so. The 1950’s was a time of many ideals and two books that portrayed these ideals perfectly are The Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller and A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry. The Death of a Salesman is centered around Willy and Linda Loman and their struggles to accept that their children, Biff and Happy Loman, would not be successful. A Raisin in the Sun is centered around Walter Lee Younger and his mother Lena Lee Younger and their struggles living in a African-American poverty-riddled family surrounded by well-off American families. Through the contrasting faithful and devoted characterization of Linda Loman and independent and self-reliant
Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman and Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun are both classic dramas from the mid-20th century. Because of the time in which both plays take place, they both heavily feature themes reminiscent of the American Dream. The Loman family and the Younger family are similar in many ways, especially when you look at the individual members and their roles in their respective stories.
The Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller examines the hardships that arise in the life of Willy Loman, a salesman who is unable to come to terms with the actuality of his current financial position. The author tries to stress the cost of blind faith in the national values correlating to the American Dream. Mr. Loman’s incorrect understanding of American values gave rise to insincere relationships among his family, friends, and colleagues. In like manner, The Painted Door by Sinclair Ross tracks the conflicting emotions of a farmer’s wife named Ann, who finds herself yearning for a deeper connection with her husband John. The loneliness and isolation cause Ann to be in a delusional state which impairs her ability to make
Willy Loman is a hard working salesman who unable to achieve success. He travels all over during the week and is barely able to make enough money to support his family. He has two sons he is very proud of and hopes that they will also be successful. Willy Loman has failed to realize that he is not a successful salesman. He has an illusion of himself as this successful businessman that everybody respects, but in reality he is not respected at all.
Walter has a steady, but low paying job and wishes that he could do more for his family. The money he makes hardly provides enough for his family to survive. He is constantly thinking about get rich quick schemes to insure a better life. He doesn’t want to be a poor back man all of his life and wishes that he could fit in with rich whites. He doesn’t realize that people won’t give him the same opportunities, as they would if he were white (Decker). Walter feels that he needs to provide more for his family and starts to ask around on how to make some money. He gets the idea of opening up a liquor store and has his heart set on it. Because he wants to please everybody he loses his better judgment and acts without thinking of the long-term effects. He is ready for a change and feels the store will bring his family a better life (Hyzak). “Mama, a job? I open and close car doors all day long. I drive a man around in his Limousine and say, Yes, sir; no, sir; very good sir; shall I take the drive, sir? Mama, that ain’t no kind of job ... that ain’t nothing at all” ( Hansberry 1755).
No matter how hard they try, there are some people who cannot get ahead in life. Walter Lee Younger is a man who is frustrated with his current position in life, and every disappointment he has encountered thus far. Although he tries to be a loving man, sometimes he does not know how to show the idea of love, 'Sometimes...sometimes...I don't even know how to try' (Hansberry 89). His position in life can be regarded as symbolic of every black male struggling to provide for his family by any means necessary. Although Walter has a job, it seems inadequate for his survival. As a result, he has become frustrated and lacks good judgement. Throughout this play Walter searches for the key ingredient that will make his life blissful. His frustrations stem from him not being able to act as a man and provide for his family and grasp hold of his ideals to watch them manifest into a positive situation. Walter Lee Younger, a man who is vehement for his family, has many ambitions in life, and dreams of the biggest dreams out of anyone else in the play.
Willy Loman is a firm believer in the "American Dream:" the notion that any man can rise from humble beginnings to greatness. His particular slant on this ideal is that a man succeeds by selling his charisma, that to be well liked is the most important asset a man can have. He made a living at this for 30 years, but as he enters the reclining years of his life, people have stopped smiling back and he can no longer sell the firm's goods to support himself. His ambition was one of greatness, to work hard and to be a member of the firm; and if he could not succeed in this respect, that he should at least be well-liked and be able to sell until the day of his death: When his friends would flock from all over the country to pay their respects.
...tried to live out the "American Dream." He wanted to be someone special. He did not realize he was just a dime a dozen. He was a carbon copy of the rest of the traveling salesman in the world. He was just an average man with an average family, who lived from paycheck to paycheck. He just wanted to live out his dream. His family, however, held him back. They ruined him and let him down. They kept him from being the best. If it had not been for Linda, he would have been filthy rich. Willy Loman died the death of a salesman, but he did not die the death of a successful salesman. A successful salesman is someone who people love and care for. Willy Loman only has five people attend his funeral. A successful salesman would have had many people at his funeral. Willy Loman died the death of a normal salesman as he was no different from the rest of the salesman in the world.
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”.
The 'American Dream' is a generally held belief that through hard work, perseverance, ingenuity, and courage, that one might find happiness through financial prosperity. Willy Loman is of the belief that it is necessary to be well liked in order to succeed in life. He also appears to lack the ability to express love for anyone in his family. Arthur Miller uses these two aspects to show Willy's skewed version of the American Dream and how it compares to two competing historical American Dreams (Islas).
In Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman is an example of a failure as a good father. He did not discipline his sons well by not punishing them. He did not set a good example to his sons by not admitting his faults. He did not make his family his number one priority. Instead, it was his work, coming before his family, his friends, and even himself. Not only is Willy Loman not a good father and husband, but he was a failure by not becoming successful, not achieving the American Dream.