Similarities Between Death Of A Salesman And A Raisin In The Sun

Shockingly, the Salesman Dies: On Character, Circumstance, and Audience Perceptions in Death of a Salesman and A Raisin in the Sun Both A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry and Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller capture families at points of conflict, both among themselves, and with the societies they inhabit. In the case of Miller’s play, the Loman family is in financial despair due to the deceit of their family patriarch, Willy. Comparatively, Hansberry portrays the Younger family who are grappling with how to use the money from their late patriarch’s life insurance. Adding to their internal stressors, both families are faced with the pressures put upon them by their surroundings, whether these be driven by racism (as in the case …show more content…
As a result of Willy’s pressure, Biff is eventually tricked (by his father) into imagining himself as having held a much higher rank in Oliver’s company than he did, and goes in an attempt to borrow ten thousand dollars from him to start a sporting goods empire. Upon arriving at Oliver’s office, however, Biff regains his sense of reality and becomes scared, resulting in him stealing Oliver’s fountain pen and completely eliminating any (however slight) possibility of Oliver lending him the money. As such, Willy’s lifelong (sometimes intentional) sabotage of Biff continues. Perhaps the most damning facet of Willy’s personality, is his inability to own up to his shortcomings, and how the only way out he sees is suicide. Although the frenzied car crash frees the Loman family of their oppressive patriarch, it does not end their problems. All of them—even Biff who is now free to pursue his ranch-hand dreams, but will likely stay to help his mother—are now without a central figure in their lives, and with no guaranteed insurance pay-out, as Willy’s death was