Comparison/Contrast essay August Wilson's Fences and Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman
Both plays, August Wilson's Fences and Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, present viewers and readers with a complex protagonist. In Fences Troy Maxson rages against the injustice of his not having had the opportunity to play major league baseball, along with the daily struggles of raising a family in America's pre-civil rights era of the 1950's. In Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman struggles to accept the reality of his declining earning potential and his perceived failure of achieving the American Dream. Both these characters provide rich and varied material for discussion through a particular "lens."
For example, a student may view the lives of Troy and Willy through the "lens" of external forces that dictate their actions. A student may also view the lives of both characters through the -lens" of internal psychological factors that motivate their actions. Alternatively, a student may view their lives as the result of leading a life based on flawed values or, as Biff states in the "Requiem," having the "wrong dreams. All, all wrong."
Write a 750-word essay where you explicitly compare and/or contrast Troy Maxson and Willy Loman.
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