Fences_&_Death_of_a_Salesman-American_Dream

Abstract The two plays Fences and Death of a Salesman have one common theme, that being achieving the American dream. These tales tell of two men with obscure views of achieving the American dream. Their mistakes along the way caused them to not only lose sight of their ideal of the American dream, but also sabotaged their families and lives. Both plays also have affairs contained in them, this being just one of the many mistakes the main characters Troy Maxson and Willy Loman made. Troy lived in a time period of great racial segregation, causing him to become against whites. His family life eventually fell to pieces after constant fighting with his son and wife, as well as an affair and his negative attitude. Willy believed his key to success was being well-liked. He drove to be successful like his brother Ben, and also pushed his children to strive for success. He eventually drove his family apart, and becomes so depressed and manic that he takes his own life. The American dream ideal can make people crazy if their goals are not achieved. The American Dream In the plays Fences and The Death of a Salesman the idea of living the American dream is very prevalent. Throughout these plays, the main characters and their significant others show how they pushed to achieve their idea of the “American Dream”. Within both plays the idea is that when one obtains wealth, respect and happiness, they are considered successful human beings who have achieved all that is possible. Two protagonists, Willy Loman from Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman and Troy Maxson from August Wilson's Fences strive to become successful through comparable motives and ideals. One distinction between Death of a Salesman and Fences is the issue of race. Willy Loman is part of a white family who is struggling to survive, whereas Troy Maxson comes from an African-American background, is also having trouble supporting his family. Both protagonists are blinded by their illusions of success, and both of their experiences are akin to one another (Logan 2007). Willy's experience with achieving the American Dream is similar to Troy's will to survive. Troy struggles to overcome the barrier of Caucasians. Willy is a salesman who believes that the only attribute needed for success is to be well liked. Willy does not realize that the value of hard work and devotion which plays the most important role in achieving success. Willy tries to teach his falsified ideology of the American dream to his sons, Biff and Happy (Litcharts 2009). He focuses more on Biff, the football player, because Willy believes that Biff has potential to become a salesman like him. After Willy talks to his sons about his travels, he says, "...I'll show you all the towns...And they know me, boys, they know me up and down New England...I have friends. I can park my car in any street in New England, and the cops protect it like their own" (Roberts, Jacobs, 2008). This quote is significant because Willy tries to persuade his sons into becoming like him by telling them about his life experiences. Not only does Willy try to take away Biff's dream of becoming a football player, Willy is abandoned by his father and his older brother, Ben who becomes lucky in Africa at twenty-one. During a discussion with Howard, his boss, Willy says, "Oh, yeah, my father lived many years in Alaska. He was an adventurous man...I thought I'd go out with my older brother and try to locate him..." (Roberts et al. 2008). Willy strives to be like his father and wants to emulate the success of Ben. However, because they are not in his life, it is up to Willy to learn on his own. Willy also cheats on his wife, Linda, with an unnamed woman in Boston. Biff loses complete trust in Willy after he finds out about the affair. Biff says, "You fake! You phony little fake!" (Roberts et al. 2008). The adultery shows a sign of emotional detachment because Willy is constantly lying to Biff. Willy does not eventually reach his goals of being successful. Willy Loman turns out to be a complete failure as a businessman, a husband and a father because of his disillusionment of the American dream and his experience with abandonment. Troy Maxson, the protagonist of August Wilson's Fences, is a garbage man who is struggling to provide for his family. Even though Troy is a garbage man, he has the same issues as any other family regardless of skin color or race. As Willy Loman tries to persuade his son Biff to be more like him, Troy tries to pull Cory away from his dream of playing football. When Rose asks Troy why he does not let Cory play football, Troy says, "I don't want him to be like me! I want him to move as far away from my life as he can get...I decided seventeen years ago that boy wasn't getting involved in no sports. Not after what they did to me in the sports" (Roberts et al. 2008). Troy believes that sports will not guarantee Cory a future because of the fact that Troy is unable to become a baseball player because he is African-American. Troy also says, "If they got a white fellow sitting on the bench...you can bet your last dollar he can't play! The colored guy got to be twice as good before he get on the team." Troy continues to talk about the racial barriers that affect his life. Troy is also abandoned by his parent at a young age. Troy is abandoned by his mother because of his father. Troy says, "But he was just as evil as he could be. My mama couldn't stand him...He wasn't good for nobody..." (Roberts et al. 2008). After Troy cheats on Rose with Alberta, Cory becomes angry and Troy disowns him. Troy cheats on Rose to escape the daily responsibilities of his family and his life, such as completing the fence. Troy's lack of commitment to finishing the fence is equivalent to his lack of commitment in his marriage. When Troy says that Cory's belongings will be 'on the other side of that fence' it shows Troy's emotional and physical detachment from Cory. The fence Troy is building for Rose symbolizes all of the barriers that Troy has come upon (Keyes). First, his abusive father, then poverty and homelessness and then it is because of the racial barrier that Troy is not able to accomplish his dream playing baseball. Linda Loman is a caring and respectful wife to Willy. Her life, however, is dreary because she always hopes that things will work out for the better, yet those hopes never blossom. Her first mistake was choosing to marry and support Willy, whose basis of life was being well-liked (Litcharts, 2009). Linda continually supports Willy, sticking up for him against their children Biff and Happy. She aids to Willy’s wants and needs, in hopes that it will help him find some sort of direction in life. It seems as though she too, is pushing Willy in a sense. Because of her supportive attitude, it may have influenced his suicidal tendencies knowing he did not provide well for his wife and children. A significant instance of her loyalty to Willy is when Linda states “I don't say he's a great man. Willy Loman never made a lot of money. His name was never in the paper. He's not the finest character that ever lived. But he's a human being, and a terrible thing is happening to him. So attention must be paid. He's not to be allowed to fall into his grave like an old dog. Attention, attention must be finally paid to such a person.” (Roberts et al. 2008). Linda Loman stood by her husband’s side when the rest of the world walked out on him. She in a sense was all he had left, which did not prove to be enough to keep him alive. In the play Fences, Rose Maxson is compared to a flower. She was a caring, nurturing woman with only good intentions at heart. Rose is a judge of fair character, completely opposite of her husband Troy who is against whites because he had been done wrong when he was denied the right to play baseball. She continually hopes for the best and does not let the present situation of racial barriers displace her from her goal of being a happy individual. A time when her true colors showed through was when Troy had an affair with another woman, and ended up impregnating her. Rose with his caring and nurturing personality, agreed to care for the child stating “Okay, Troy…you’re right. I’ll take care of your baby for you…’cause…like you say…she’s innocent..and you can’t visit the sins of the father upon the child. A motherless child has got a hard time. From right now…this child got a mother. But you a womanless man. (Roberts et al. 2008). With her continual support for Troy, Rose is the ideal image of a typical 1950’s African American housewife. The two classic plays Fences and the Death of a Salesmen display many similar qualities, with the main theme being the chase of the American dream. Although the men’s dreams were not ultimately reached, their legacy continued to live on throughout their families and children. The men lost everything because of their indifferent mindsets, yet their faithful wives stood by them throughout the thick and thin times. The American dream is not all it is cracked up to be, and at times can drive people to make choices that they wouldn’t have previously made. The true ideal behind the American dream is to live a happy, healthy life. Being well-liked and wealthy did not get Troy or Willy through life, and that certainly applies in the real-world today. Life is too short to be anything but happy. References Litcharts. (2009). Death of a salesman. Retrieved from http://www.litcharts.com/lit/deathofasalesman/themes Logan, C. (2007, November 21). Parallels between "fences" and "death of a salesman".Retrieved from http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/453309/parallels_between_fences_and_death. html'cat=38 Keyes, A. (n.d.). Troy maxson: heart, heartbreak as big as the world . Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php'storyId=90374807 Roberts, E.V., & Jacobs, H.E. (2008). Literature. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.