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

800 Words4 Pages

Charlotte wilson
Mr. Jacobs
American Literature Honors
March 25th, 2023
The Demise of the Working Class Through the Idea of Reminiscence
A common theme between the two plays, The Death of a Salesman and A Raisin in the Sun, written by playwrights Arthur Miller and Lorraine Hansberry utilizes the literary device of reminiscence, specifically to show how the characters are unsatisfied with the life they have, leading them to escape their emotions through the reminiscence of their imagination to exemplify the working class greed leading to an ultimate downfall within 1950s American society. Willy Loman, the protagonist of Death of a Salesman, faces many obstacles in his pursuit of success which ultimately leads him to become unhinged and reminiscent …show more content…

While in an argument with Lena younger, also referred to as Mama, the two bicker about the meaning of freedom, whether freedom is life or money. Hansberry demonstrated this by using one of Mama's experiences in the argument to show his unsuccess as a working-class man has made him a money-stricken man. This is seen when Hansberry states; “Oh so now it's life. Money is life. Once upon a time freedom used to be life- now its money. I guess the world really do change” (Hansberry 74). Hansberry shows how Walter's disregard for Mama's experience shows his greed as he has only focused on the insurance money from his father's death ultimately because as a working-class citizen in America, his dreams of success were shut down by the lack of opportunity. In the end, he is only worried about it because of the capitalistic gain he could potentially make if he got the money for his deal, while Mama is focused on the past and the struggles they as a family have faced. The use of reminiscing in the past with the channeling of emotions emphasizes how Walter portrays the image of the unsuccessful working class who uses emotion to escape failure. The literary device of reminiscence shows how the two playwrights have similar depictions in character as they both represent a similar commentary of the 1950s American

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