Comparison Between Death of a Salesman & Fences - Case Study Example

The Death of a Salesman and Fences There are as many similarities in these two plays, Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller and Fences by August Wilson, as there are differences. The difference lies in the authors’ thoughts and views. Both are extremely well-written and provide the readers with a peep into the lives of some interesting characters. Both the plays put forth a microscopic view of society. Like Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman, Troy Maxson in Fences is an anti- hero. Both live in the past, have conflicts and both die in the end. The characters in both the works are believable, represent the real American people who make America what it is. The difference here is that the Fences represents an African-American family while the Death of a Salesman is a story of the middle class American Caucasian of the 1940s. The story of Death of a Salesman centres around the disillusioned Willy Loman’s inability to stay focused on things and is replete with flashbacks. Willy’s family is struggling to survive and Biff, the son is unemployed and constantly fighting with Willy. There is a constant failure in jobs. The flashbacks reveal that Biffs career was jeopardized in high school when Biff finds his father having an affair. Eventually Biff accepts himself for what he is, but his father is unable to come to terms with failure and kills himself. Fences though written in was written in 1986 portrays a family of the fifties. It is a play that portrays the life of an African-American family living in a difficult period when Africans were being segregated. Byungho Han (2001) describes the setting of the play thus: “The setting of Fences intends to reveal their dreams of happiness, and subsequent sense of loss, and frustration in the fifties of America.”  This play tells the life of a middle-aged African American, Troy Maxson, who struggles to raise his son, keep his family together in an ever changing society. Laura Hitchcock while comparing him with Willy Loman says, “Like Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman, Troy Maxson is one of the most recognizable anti-heroes of the American stage. He's monstrous, honourable, and a huge charismatic presence in the life of his family”. He has survived a brutal childhood and a prison term and works as a garbage man. Troy's son, Cory, wants to play football and get a college scholarship. Troy believes that the whites will not allow his son to play. He also feels that football will interfere with Cory’s job at a grocery store. He makes Cory leave football for his job as he wants Cory to become responsible. Cory dislikes Troy for this. "You're afraid I was gonna be better than you,” (Arthur Wilson, 1985), cries Cory when Troy does not allow him to take the college athletic scholarship. Troy justifies his decision by saying, ‘You live under my roof, you live by my rules and when I ask you to jump you say how high!’ (Wilson) Rose Maxson, Troy’s wife is a housewife who has a difficult time handling her family. Throughout the play Rose is shown facing challenges and in pain and despair, but even then always holding her head high and hoping for better days. Death of a Salesman and Fences have similar themes of conflicts between fathers and sons, conflicts between husbands and wives, and the need to succeed and make a mark in society. To develop these themes both the plays use similar symbolic elements such as the insecure father figure, the ‘other woman’ and the garden. The struggles faced by the heroes in Death of a Salesman and Fences are similar. First, there is the struggle Willy and Troy face with society. Both feel segregated from society. Second, Willy and Troy struggle with their marriages. Both plays show husbands degrading and being disrespectful to their wives. Both men commit adultery Third, Willy and Troy struggle in their relationships with their sons. Both are unhappy about their sons’ choices of career. It is the portrayal of these struggles that helps to develop the plot. The father-son relationship in both the plays is very much strained. Willy, the hero of Death of a Salesman, never gets respects because of his job, so he has very high expectations of his son, Biff. These expectations create in Biff a desire to live in a fantasy world. He has difficulties in living in the present. In the end at his father's funeral, Biff is compassionate about his father and remembers that "there were a lot of nice days;" (Arthur Miller, 1949) and that his father always had good intentions but "had the wrong dreams"   He realizes it is futile trying to live up to the unrealistic expectations of his father. Cory, in Fences, has similar problem with Troy. He tells him” You ain't never gave me nothing!  You ain't never done nothing but hold me back.  Afraid I was gonna be better than you.  All you ever did was try and make me scared of you” (Miller). Troy always discouraged Cory him from playing professional baseball even though he was a skilled player.  Troy when he was young was never given the chance to play because he was black. But even though things have changed now he is unable to recognize this since he is forever living in the past. This conflict does not get resolved and Cory almost does not attend his father’s funeral.  Unlike Biff he has yet to get over his father’s dominance and is just beginning to "find a way to get rid of that shadow". Both of the insecure father figures in the two plays make unrealistic demands and the sons are forced to resist their fathers' influence and dominance. Biff wants to own a farm and work with his hands. Willy thinks that farming is not a respectable career. “How can he find himself on a farm? Is that a life?”(Miller). Like Willy, Troy too feels that his son is worthless and lazy as he does not have a proper job. Troy is bitter about his past and this influences his relationships with his son. This quote from Cory truly describes their relationship. “You ain’t never gave me nothing! You ain’t never done nothing but hold me back. Afraid I was gonna be better than you. All you ever did was try and make me scared of you. I used to tremble every time you called my name. Every time I heard your footsteps in the house. Wondering all the time . . . what’s Papa gonna say if I do this? . . . What’s he gonna say if I do that?” (Wilson) The relationship between Willy and his other son Happy is also strained. Willy is always talking about how wonderful Biff is. “. . . You got greatness in you, Biff. . . You got all kinds of greatness". (Miller) And barely talks about Happy. This affects Happy and he begins to believe that he will be happy only if he can achieve Willy’s version of success by acquiring wealth and being popular. However in the end he realizes that he is not happy. " . . . It’s what I always wanted. My own apartment, a car, and plenty of women. And still, goddammit, I’m lonely" (Miller). Happy lives his entire life trying to make his father happy and gain attention and yet at the end he is miserable. Troy and Willy interfere in the lives of their children because they want them to have the success that they had always dreamed of. Both the heroes face struggles with society. Willy is no longer is able to keep up with the pressure of work and the amount of work that is required to become a successful salesman Willy is no longer mentally and physically fit and he knows it. He also realizes people know his weaknesses. Willy says, “I know it when I walk in. They seem to laugh at me”. (Miller) He struggles to ensure a steady income. He works his whole life with a stable job, which is suddenly jeopardized. Willy struggles with feelings of worthlessness. Finally Willy is a victim of “the free play of economic forces,” and this is a main conflict theme in the play. In Fences too Troy faces conflict with society. However his conflicts are not always based on economic problems, but more on feelings of injustice caused by the white race. Troy believes that the whites are determined to destroy the blacks. Here he says “I told that boy about that football stuff. The white man ain’t gonna let him get nowhere with that football. I told him when he first come to me with it. Now you come telling me he done went and got more tied up in it. He ought to go and get recruited in how to fix cars or something where he can make a living. (Wilson) Troy feels segregated from society and believes that this will not change. There is feeling of hopelessness with little hope for change. The two heroes face struggles in their marriages too. Willy was loved and respected by his wife, Linda, but he was often rude to his wife, Linda. Biff says, “Stop making excuses for him! He always, always wiped the floor with you. Never had one ounce of respect for you” (Miller). He cheats on her and has an affair with another. Willy tells Biff, “She’s nothing to me, Biff. I was lonely, I was terribly lonely” (Miller). This shows that Willy was unhappy in his marriage. Troy Maxson also faces conflict in his marriage to Rose. He is rude and even disrespectful to Rose, and he, too cheats on his wife. Like Willy he too defends himself. Troy says, “[…] she gives me a different idea…a different understanding about myself. I can step out of this house and get away from them pressures and problems […]” (Wilson). Frank Rich (1991), in Review of Fences, states Rose has “planted herself in the hard and rocky soil of her husband. But, she never bloomed: marriage brought frustration and betrayal” which tells people that their marriage was indeed frustrated and rocky. It is evident that both Willy and Troy face difficulties in their marriages and betray their wives. According to Aparna Iyer (2008), “While the role of the insecure father figure is to generate conflicts between fathers and sons, the role of the "other woman" is to spark another kind of conflict between husbands and wives”. Both men have an extramarital affair and both feel they have a reason for having one. Willie being an inferior salesman lacks confidence and is not able to compete with other salesmen who are charming. He thinks he can gain confidence by having this affair as this woman showers him with compliments. Troy wants to escape the responsibilities of his family and daily life by having an affair. Both the protagonists take a serious view of their roles as providers for their families. Troy explains to his son Cory, "It's my job. It's my responsibility! You understand that? A man got to take care of his family" (Wilson). He continues to his wife Rose, "I do the best I can do... I give you the lint from my pockets. I give you my sweat and my blood... That's all I got, Rose. That's all I got to give. I can't give nothing else". In Death of a Salesman, Willy mentions that he fears "that I won't make a living for you, or a business, a business for the boys. There's so much I want to make". (Miller) In the two plays there are certain common themes but the authors have different viewpoints. For instance there is this theme of sports and unrealized dreams in both the plays. But the theme is treated differently in the two plays. Willie is supportive of Biff’s ambition to play football. He believes and tells everyone that Biff is going to become a big football star. But it so happens that Biff loses his chance to play in a big game that might have taken him to college because he fails in maths. The situation is different in Fences. Corey, Troy's son already has an offer of a football scholarship but Troy thwarts this opportunity and forces him to keep his job at the A&P. In the matter of sports Troy was sceptic because of his own unrealized dreams while Willie had grandiose illusions. Similarly the symbol of garden is used in both the plays. But there is a difference. While Willy in Death of a Salesman plants seeds himself to see them grow, in Fences it is Raynell who plants the seeds in Troy's garden. Willy’s planting of seeds represents his final attempt to leave his mark in the world. In Fences Raynell by planting the seeds is carrying on her father's quest for success.   However both Willy and Troy do not get chance to see their seeds grow as they die before that.   The two heroes are trapped by the American Dream. But there is difference in their perception of the American Dream. The difference is that to Willy Loman in the Death of a Salesman, American dream means becoming a rich businessman and being well liked. Tory’s American Dream is for his family to have the basic necessities of food, clothing, and shelter. Willy Loman is a salesman chasing the American Dream. But he is unable to achieve it. He only dreams and believes he can achieve it. He does not realize that he is only a salesman. For him the American dream is only business success while for many others the American dream is also about a better life not necessarily in terms of money. Hence he could not fulfil his dream. He held on desperately to his dream and shut out reality. Willy did not adapt to the changing world and held on to the unrealistic dream. Finally it is the dream that kills him. In Fences Wilson Troy too had dreams. “But unlike Willy Loman, Troy Maxsons dreams and illusions are distorted by the history of racial prejudice.”( Jennifer Wallace, 2008). He knew from experience in the Negro Leagues that the American dream was out of reach for people of African descent. He was convinced that if you are a black man in America, "you born with two strikes on you before you come to the plate" (Wilson) Throughout the two plays it is shown that the actions, the sins, the faults of the father can breakup or mar father-son relationships. This ruined relationship prevents the sons in both the plays from achieving their dreams. Both the heroes try hard to be good men and fathers but fail in the end. References 1. Byungho Han (2001), Failed Dream and Fences: The Setting of August Wilson's Fences www.seek.or.kr/board/filedown.asp?table=notice&m_no=83 2. Hitchcock Laura (2006), A Curtain U, Los Angeles Review Fences, Retrieved from http://www.curtainup.com/fences.html on 17/12/08 3. Iyer Aparna,(2008), Similar Symbolic Elements in DEATH OF A SALESMAN and FENCES, Universal Journal, The Association of Young Journalists 2008 4. Miller Arthur (1949), Death of a Salesman, Penguin (Non-Classics); 1st edition (October 6, 1998) 5. Rich, Frank.(1987), "Family Ties in Wilson’s Fences" New York Times  27 March 1987 6. Wallace Jennifer (2007), The Cambridge Introduction to Tragedy, Cambridge University Press 2007 7. Wilson August (1985), Fences, New York: New American Library, 1985.  Read More