Money has been a source of discussion for the majority of humanity’s existence. Money arguably promotes happiness or stress, success or failure, and in some cases, money has the power to drive a man to end his own life. This was the case in the drama The Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller. The drama portrays an older white couple left with an unending financial burden from the Great Depression. Another drama, The Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, also shows the hardships that money can lead to. This drama presents the life of a lower class African American family, struggling to get through life in the late fifties. By comparing the initial financial situation of both families, how the men of the house chose to handle these situations
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In Death of a Salesman, Willy’s mental state results in killing himself, but at his funeral, it is revealed through Linda the end result of their finances, “I made the last payment on the house today. Today, dear… We’re free and clear… We’re free…” (Mays 1775). The largest financial burden, the mortgage, was finally paid off, which means the couple would have finally been able to simply live life, without worrying about money any longer. However, this was unable to happen since Willy was unable to live to see this day. Fortunately for the Younger family, their conclusion comes with a better end result for the family’s finances and for Walter. In the beginning of the drama, the Younger family received a large check from the insurance company, due to Walter’s father passing away. The drama concludes with the family using a portion of this money and moving into a home together, aiding in ending the financial issues for the Youngers. However, in addition to the external loss money can cause, it also caused an internal loss for both Willy and Walter. For Willy, this ended in death, but Walter’s conflict ended when the family moved because he finally was able to stand up for his family. A man from the new neighborhood was attempting to bribe the Younger’s out of moving because the neighbors wanted the community to only hold white people, but when Walter stands up to this man and says his family does not care what their new neighbors think, “He finally come into his manhood…” as Mama said, showing what a large step this was for Walter, as he finally regains his mental drive (Mays 1520). Both Willy and Walter valued money over their families and their own well-being, but when Walter told the neighbor, “We don’t want your money,” he was really showing that he no longer needed to rely on money for his happiness (Mays
In Death of a Salesman, Willy’s mental state results in killing himself, but at his funeral, it is revealed through Linda the end result of their finances, “I made the last payment on the house today. Today, dear… We’re free and clear… We’re free…” (Mays 1775). The largest financial burden, the mortgage, was finally paid off, which means the couple would have finally been able to simply live life, without worrying about money any longer. However, this was unable to happen since Willy was unable to live to see this day. Fortunately for the Younger family, their conclusion comes with a better end result for the family’s finances and for Walter. In the beginning of the drama, the Younger family received a large check from the insurance company, due to Walter’s father passing away. The drama concludes with the family using a portion of this money and moving into a home together, aiding in ending the financial issues for the Youngers. However, in addition to the external loss money can cause, it also caused an internal loss for both Willy and Walter. For Willy, this ended in death, but Walter’s conflict ended when the family moved because he finally was able to stand up for his family. A man from the new neighborhood was attempting to bribe the Younger’s out of moving because the neighbors wanted the community to only hold white people, but when Walter stands up to this man and says his family does not care what their new neighbors think, “He finally come into his manhood…” as Mama said, showing what a large step this was for Walter, as he finally regains his mental drive (Mays 1520). Both Willy and Walter valued money over their families and their own well-being, but when Walter told the neighbor, “We don’t want your money,” he was really showing that he no longer needed to rely on money for his happiness (Mays