Two fathers, two outcomes, one goal.
- renitazadeh
- Jan 10, 2018
- 2 min read
Both fathers in Death of a Salesman and The Pursuit of Happyness are in similar financial situations, and both have tremendous love and hope for their families and their success. However, as can be predicted by their titles, one has a happy ending while the other ends on a much rather sad note. Willy Loman is a willful character with good intentions but cannot differentiate illusion from reality. His stubborn arrogance paired with aiming for the wrong goals, in turn, make him a failure. Willy not only fails to instill the correct values in his sons, but is also unable to maintain a healthy relationship with his wife, and adequately support his family financially.
Although Willy and Chris Gardner share the same ambition, Gardner accepts his reality and makes an effort to change it for the better. He reaches rock bottom after being evicted from his apartment with a child on his hands. Instead of complaining about his situation–as Willy often did–he persists through hard work and dedication to land an unpaid job as an intern. As his hard work pays off, he is able to create a better life for himself and his son thus achieving the “American dream”.
Aside from their differences, Willy and Gardner were both willing to sacrifice for their families. Willy wanted his wife to have certain luxuries such as a refrigerator, a vacuum cleaner, and a car and was prepared to go into debt in order to provide these. Knowing that the only way he could financially support his family was through their insurance, he made the ultimate sacrifice by ending his life. Like Willy, Gardner was also prepared to struggle for his son. Despite having nowhere to live, and barely managing to get by, Gardner ensures that his son stays oblivious to all the hardships they must go through by bringing light to each situation and turning it into a game. This demonstrates how even during a time where he is focused on getting his life back together, he is still there to emotionally support his family.
Chris Gardner’s journey to success is an example of what Willy could have achieved for him and his family. It shows Willy’s misunderstanding of the American Dream and that success is not found through dreams and popularity, but is achieved through action and diligence.
Hi Renita, great comparison between Death of a Salesman and The Pursuit of Happyness! Both fathers were in desperate situations and were willing to do whatever it takes to get their families out of trouble. The difference is, Gardner looked for new opportunities and worked as an unpaid intern until he finally reached success, while Willy never let go of his vain pursuits in life. It goes to show how dedication and a clear vision leads to success while feeling sorry for yourself does not change your current situation. As a last resort, Willy turned himself into a commodity in hopes of a better life for his family. Gardner is a representation of the way Willy could have turned out…
I have never made this connection before, but it is really easy for me to see where you are coming from. Two tales about hardships in life, and both were handled in different ways. I think the key difference between the two is that Willy is too old, worn-down, and unprepared to make drastic helpful changes, while Gardner takes all the experience he has, mixes it with love, and works his hardest to get out of a hard place. However, both do very much share a similar love for family and carry powerful ambition, so seeing their comparison really reveals their relevance .
- JJ
Hi Renita, I really enjoyed reading your blog. I like how you compared both of the fathers in Death of a Salesman and in The Pursuit of Happiness. I liked how you compared their similarities by how both of these characters have tremendous love and hope for both their families and their success. Even thought Willy Loman and Chris Gardner share the same ambition, Chris Gardner accepts his failure and reality and puts in the most effort he can inorder to change his situation. With WIlly Loman, he didn’t put any effort to change at all, he just stayed with his job that was making no money and complained all the time, and decided to sacrifice his life to get…
Hey Renita, I liked how you compared Death of a Salesman to The Pursuit of Happyness. Although I’ve never watched the movie, how you explained and described the characters show how similar Willy and Chris Gardner are. The videos that you added help people like me, to better understand the character that you are trying to describe. Watching the video shows how much Chris Gardner really cares his kid to try and make the situation lighter and more fun than it how it actually is. Willy and Chris both put family first and show it obviously throughout the particular scene you posted for Chris and throughout the play for Willy. Great comparison!