Comparison Between Three Works: Death of a Salesman, All My Sons, & Oedipus Rex

Emily Gong AP English Notes: Comparison of Three Plays (Oedipus Rex, Death of a Salesman, All My Sons) ☼Beginnings: All three characters live at a time of crisis • All My Sons: Chris wishes to claim Ann Deever as his wife, a girl that Kate sees as the deceased Larry’s girl; also the feud between Steve Deever & Joe Keller • Death of A Salesman: Willy enters the story as a confusing, weary man who is fixed in his hallucinations and reminiscences, and alarms the family, including Biff, with his illogical ranting • Oedipus Rex: Oedipus acquires for a solution to the plights and sorrows of his Theban people while being king ☼Characteristics: Incapability to Accept Reality: Unable to bear the truths of their situation, often using excuses or delusions to harbor oneself from harm • Keller: frequently dismisses himself from his own guilt over his crime with his reason that he must protect his business, his reputation for the sake of his family---particularly his son, Chris o he is obsessive over his son and his future--- his inner guilt plagues him, as he is persistent in Chris inheriting his father’s fortune and accomplishment- an show that his son is not ashamed of his father o he desperately reasons with Chris when Chris finds out the truth, saying that all men in America do things for the sake of “business”---for survival during a turbulent decade (Great Depression) • Willy: becomes trapped in replays of the past in his mind as he recalls the seemingly flawless moments of happiness in his career and family life o Illusions: garnishes his son with overbearing confidence that he will be successful; his business is booming with boundless potential; he is admired and respected by famous and important people o Truth: he is a struggling salesman who highly exaggerates his achievements and glides past his failures; he is not a renounced man he claims; ensnares himself in the American Dream • Oedipus: is, at first, instilled in the shameful life by fate, but he later deliberately circumvents the linkage between the prophecies, Jocasta’s report to his own physical injuries (swollen feet) and life events o Unwilling to match the prophecies from both oracles to his life: the relevance of bonded ankles—his swollen feet; the spot where three roads meet---the sight of Laius’s murder & Oedipus’s entry A Life of Abandonment: All there were deserted by their loved ones; all groped for some security and hope from solitude • Keller: is disowned by Chris as a disqualified father and is disgraced by the loss of trust and credibility

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o Keller grabs frantically for some evidence and justification of what he has done---he values his own interests and family above anything else---the reason of Larry’s death and Chris’s threat of leaving o Larry commits suicide due to his shame over his father’s crime; Chris refuses to accept anything belonging to Keller—he cannot excuse what his father has done Willy: grew up without father, his brother cares little about him; Biff, his oldest son and of utmost importance to him, declares that he must leave Keller because they contradict so much of each other’s ideals o Is fired by Howard, son of his long-time employer and friend; his brother hurries to Alaska without giving him any words of affection or sense of concern o Biff sees his father’s commitment to the American Dream as arbitrary & foolish; he also deserts his father by affronting his life goal and rebutting all chances of being the incarnation of the American Dream o Happy is conceited and selfish; also “abandons” his father by simply disregarding his feelings & treats Willy cruelly; is embarrassed by his father’s mental instability Oedipus: left to die on King Laius’s orders as a child & later banished alone for incest; he in vain seek to find some evidence of denial o his mother & wife has abandoned him by committing suicide o Abdicates his throne, his wealtha hero who once saved the city of Thebes from one catastrophe is now outlawed by the very ones he saved, though on his own accords o King Laius, fearful of the prophecy becoming true, demands his son’s death; Jocasta went along with itan orphan unwanted due to trepidation of the gods

Disillusionment of Dreams & Fortune: All three had seen themselves as some form of heroic figure whose conquest for happiness was fulfilled • Keller: sees to it that his family has money & fortune; that he has maintained a family at the expense of destroying the Deever family and other families who lost their sons in the airplane crashes o Believed he has saved his family from possibly bankruptcy & starvation--- his prospering business factory, Joe Keller Co. o He sacrifices his morality and conscience for more concrete things--money & business o Yet, he suffers from his very attempts to benefit himself from--- he loses Larry from a suicide flight; he loses Chris’s respect & the heir to his business---he loses all the factions of a puzzle to his pretentious life • Willy: embellishes himself with gratuitous claims of status & authority; of how he has charisma & influence over people; & that he has affluence & wealth in his palms---everything necessary for the American Dream o He boasts exceedingly of his sales vs. he barely makes enough money to pay off his debts

o He is familiar with all the famous people in the cities vs. he feels that he is laughed at when entering a room o His family is happy vs. Linda secretly wishes more from him; Biff shuns his father after finding out his affair with The Woman & Happy is completely contemptible airhead o The Young Biff is bright & born to success vs. The Old Biff has stolen himself out of jobs & served time in jail, since he had been assured by his father he was destined to succeed • Oedipus: was hailed as the stranger who saved Thebes from the ineffable riddles of the Sphinx and enthroned as king o he firmly believes that he can only be the hero of Thebes & rejects any possible comments that might stain his glorified reputation o he even contemplates that Creon has allied with the oracle to overthrow him o cannot easily accept a possible relationship between his life and the predictions Affinity to Cast Blame on Others: • Keller: before admitting to his crime, he placed all the blame onto Deever, his accomplice; after Chris finds out, he accuses of the inevitability of his actions on the capitalist system--- how a businessman would have a second chance after failing his job---he is averse to face the consequences • Willy: is in denial for practically the entire play, unable to believe that he is the reason to Biff’s failures (his affair, his breeding young Biff’s arrogance); he instead castigates Charley & Bernard for not being well-liked; blames Howard for being heartless to a dear old colleague and family friend; provokes Biff for being lazy and underachieved • Oedipus: after hearing Teiresias, he automatically assumes that Creon craves to be king; he cannot believe in something that he must---he immediately is an skeptic of Teiresias’s name & prestige, even knowing that Teiresias is the prophet closest in rank to Apollo; he rejoices at justification for his suspicions as he recalls that Teiresias gave no help when the Sphinx rampaged Thebes ☼Downfalls: All three cannot behold truth as it is; they compensate for their lies by death or self-inflicted punishment • Keller kills himself with a gun at the end of the play b/c he realizes that there are higher obligations to society that he must owe up to than just responsibility over himself and his family---he commits suicide as the ultimate price he pays for killing twenty-one sons in expense for business and becoming the reasons of why Larry dies • Willy finally sacrifices his life for insurance money that may help Biff achieve his dreams; he finally gives up his life in realizing that he is an ordinary man who has failed to live up to the American Dream standards & can only give his sons a possibility at such a chance by selling his life for something solid, permanent, and reliable: life insurance money • Oedipus wishes to die but instead of killing himself, he brutally mutilated his eyes with Jocasta’s pins; he has condemned himself blind for the rest of his life, as he will no longer see the signs of his disgrace: his daughters & sons

☼Generalization: All three men were oblivious to the truth by situation and by choice & they paid for their ignorance.