Comparison of Death of a Sales Man and All My Sons by Arthur Miller

Comparison of Death of a Sales Man and All My Sons by Arthur Miller
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Comparison of Death of a Sales Man and All My Sons by Arthur Miller
Death of a Sales Man is a stage play published in 1949. It is a tragedy with two acts only that depicts the events of the 1940s in New York. The story is centered on the memories, arguments, and dreams of Willy Loman, the play's main protagonist. He is a salesman who keeps on traveling and is disappointed with life and experience. Because of the disappointments, she appears to be slipping into becoming a senile person. The main themes within include American Dream and betrayal. On the other hand, All My Sons is a play with three acts. The play is based on a true story and describes how a company worked closely with the military to deliver defective aircraft engines that were to be used by the military. All My Sons also criticizes the American Dream.
From these two plays, there are certain themes that are merging and related, which reveals the influences of the author and his goals to express himself through the works. Both Death of a Salesman and All My Sons reveal the aspects of morality and human values, particularly in light of the American Dream. Although these works are dealing with diverse similar themes, there are also outstanding differences throughout the text. First, we can see that the Death of Salesman focuses on the tragedy behind the failure of dreams, including how failure impacts the family. Reading through the text reveals that the play centers on illusions, dreams, and the inability of these people to accept reality. On the other hand, All My Sons examines the horrific reality of insensitive business deals. There is also the use of illusions in order to cover the reality of the happenings within the film. As we can see, as the author criticizes the concept of the American Dream, there is also the issue of reality against illusions. This is a major distinction between the two plays. I believe that the subject of morality and the American Dream can be weighed through the symbols, images, and lessons drawn from the two works.
One thing we can perceive also is that All My Sons is more direct in the bashing and rebuke of immoral values while Death of a Salesman is subtle on its rebukes. In All My Sons, the direct rebuke is exhibited when Joe Keller refuses to stop the shipment of broken cylinders leads to the death of innocent soldiers. One of the saddest things is that he allowed the individuals who were protecting him and battling close to his sons to die. This was the ultimate sign of murder. We can clearly see the level of immorality from this scene. Joe Keller influences the lives of many people throughout the narrative of All My Sons. It is the decision of this single person that affects thousands of Americans. There is sheer disregard of moral values in the quest to attain success and protect his family. Therefore, we can see the American Dream as a source of immorality through the actions of Joe Keller. On the other hand, Willy Lowman commits adultery and sleeps with other women. This is a minor crime compared to the actions of Joe Keller. The influence of Willy Lowman is only centered on his children and wife, although he aims to impact the desire of the people outside this circle. In terms of the American Dream, we see that all the actions are related to accumulating wealth, which has been a major influence on the actions of the people (Carr, 2019).
The main characters in the film are centered on acquiring wealth. Joe Keller decides to ship broken merchandise because he does not want to lose his wealth. His main goal is ensuring that his household is living in comfort and abundance. The ideal American Dream he pursues causes him to commit many heinous and immoral actions in order to safeguard his interests. By allowing the merchandise to ship, h...