Similarities Between Fences And Death Of A Salesman

Arthur Miller and August Wilson are both authors of plays that show the readers two fathers who try their hardest to work and support their families, but in both plays the fathers show their feelings and thoughts about their sons. Both authors present this by creating a conflict between the two fathers and sons. These conflicts lead to showing the true natures of both the fathers and sons to the reader. Miller and Wilson display this by having the characters begin to change once the sons start to express their opinions to their fathers. Throughout the plays, Fences and Death of a Salesman, the authors display two different fathers who have similar relationships with their sons by having both fathers be disappointed in their son’s actions, beliefs,

and plans for the future.
Troy Maxson and Willie Lowman are two hard working men who try their hardest to make their sons into great men, but the fathers do this in an unsettling manner. Both of these fathers are very similar to the authors because “Both Arthur Miller and August Wilson were sired by Anglo fathers, both have had a number of marriages and both write plats that might be deemed, in part, to be autobiographical” (Walton). Troy and Willie both have certain mindsets that limit their sons’ abilities throughout the play. For example, Troy believes that his son Cory should start working at a job early in life in order to make some money, but Troy refuses to believe that Cory is capable of doing anything else besides work. Willie has a similar mindset that Biff should become a great salesman because he is well liked and hardworking. Willie has this mindset because he believes those salesmen are very popular and wealthy people. However, Biff feels much differently about salesmen because he has seen that being a salesman has done to Willie. Even though Biff feels this way, Willie refuses to believe that there is any other job that is suitable for Biff. Both of these relationships show that Willie and Troy only believe that their sons can succeed in life by obeying their father’s orders. This makes both Cory and Biff realize that their fathers’ have these mindsets and begin to rebel against them.
In both plays the fathers show the reader that they are greatly disappointed in their sons’ actions.

When Biff decides that he does not want to work as a salesman, Willie becomes angry and calls Biff a bum. Willie believes that Biff is perfectly fit to become a great salesman, but Biff believes that he should be working outside with his hands. This makes Biff feel guilty because he is not doing what his father has preached to him about his whole life. However, later in the play Biff “demonstrates his ability to separate from his father” (Ribkoff) by telling him “I realized what a ridiculous lie my whole life has been. We’ve been talking in a dream for fifteen years” (Miller 1812). This shows the reader that Biff understands the position he is in and wants to take action to live a better life, but Willie refuses to understand Biff’s feelings. Now, in Fences we see a very similar situation with Troy and Cory. For example, we see Troy believes that Cory will never be fit to play football. Troy has this belief because he barely missed the opportunity to play in the Major Leagues. Troy expresses this belief by saying “I’m talking about if you could play ball then they ought to have let you play” (Wilson 1840). Troy was unable to play because African American baseball players were not recruited until he was too old. This makes Troy think that he was unable to play in the Major Leagues because of his race and also believes that Cory will experience the same problem. As a result, Cory is not able to play professional football because of Troy’s “need to control every aspect of his life”

(Galens).
Throughout Death of a Saleman and Fences, the reader can begin to see that Willie and Troy both show disappointment in their sons’ ideas and beliefs. Both authors achieve this by displaying the fathers’ rage when their son attempt to express these beliefs. In Death of a Salesman, the reader can see that Biff believes that he is just an average person, but Willy believes he is a God or an “Adonis”. Willie begins to show his rage when Biff confronts him about not getting the job from Bill Oliver. Willie is shocked because he was stuck in the mindset that Biff is destined to become a great salesman. Willie’s disbelief shows the reader that Willie is “incapable of facing his own feelings of guilt and shame” (Ribkoff). Once Willie finally realizes the truth about Biff Willie begins to show his true feelings towards Biff by saying “Oh, Biff! He cried! Cried to me! That boy—that boy is going to be magnificent!” (Miller 1828). This shows the reader that Biff and Willie have finally realized the truth about their lives. In Fences, we see how Troy becomes angry and frustrated when Cory expresses his beliefs about playing football and working. An example of this would be when Cory attempts to get Troy to sign his permission slip for football, but Troy refuses and tells him to start to work early in life. Cory believes that he can play professional football, but Troy disagrees with this belief because “Troy prefers instead to remember that he was not allowed to play professional baseball when he was released from prison” (Harris-Lopez). Troy then tells the coach to remove Cory from the team so that he can start to work a job. Troy does this because he wants Cory to understand that he is the boss. This explains that Troy wants to be in charge of Cory’s life and “that Cory’s actions can ensue only with Troy’s permission” (Harris-Lopez).
Troy and Willie both have established that they want their sons to do the same work they have done for most of their lives. Miller and Wilson display this by having both fathers express their anger towards their sons’ plans for the future. Willie begins to lose faith in Biff, but still believes that he can succeed by saying that “Biff Loman is lost. In the greatest country in the world a young man with such—personal attractiveness, gets lost. And such a hard worker. There’s one thing about Biff—he’s not lazy” (Miller 1768). This shows the reader that Willie is “Confusing divine omnipotence with his sons’ good looks and personalities…and implies that their inherent qualities and physical prowess will make them successful businessmen” (Ardolino). Biff knows that being a salesman is not the right job for him, but he decides to go see a salesman he thinks he used to know named Bill Oliver. Once Biff stays in Oliver’s office for a very long time he begins to realize that Oliver has completely forgotten about Biff and wants nothing to do with him. Biff is devastated by this and starts to realize that he was living a lie and that Willie was as well. Finally, Biff decides to confront Willie with the truth about their lives and Willie starts to deny that anything Biff says is true. This shows the reader that Willie refuses to change his mindset that Biff is like a perfect human being. Through Troy the reader can see that “he is offended by his sons’ unwillingness to haul garbage, his own livelihood” (Brewer). Wilson displays Troy as a disappointed man throughout the whole play, but he is most disappointed in Cory’s choice to play football instead of work. This shows that Troy is set on having Cory work and will never allow him to play football. Troy believes that if you start to work earlier in life then you will be more successful when you are older. Troy expresses this when he says “I thought we had an understanding about this football stuff? You supposed to keep up with your chores and hold that job down at the A&P.”(Wilson 1852) This gives the reader a good understanding of how Troy feels about Cory’s choice to play football instead of work.
Arthur Miller and August Wilson use these plays in order for the reader to have a better understanding of these fathers’ relationships with their sons. Miller uses Willie to show the reader how a father acts when his son learns about lies about his life. Wilson uses the character Troy to show how fathers react when their sons won’t listen to their advice. Both fathers are very similar, but they also have many differences in their beliefs. Both fathers want their sons to succeed, but refuse to listen to their sons because they are stuck in limiting mindsets. Wilson and Miller uses these men to show how hard working fathers can become easily disappointed in how their sons act, what they believe, and how they see the future.