Comparing and Contrasting Willy Lman and Neddy Merrill
Ivan Salazar
Professor Satie
English 300
26 February 2015
The Thin Vail Between Past and Present In life we will face difficult decisions and the way we handle them will determine how the rest of our life will play out. In comparing and contrasting Death of a Salesman written by Arthur Miller and The Swimmer written by John Cheever, I will examine the differences and similarities between the main characters Willy Loman and Neddy Merrill. Two tragic characters that have arrived to the same place in life, a place where the vail between past and present seems to have faded away and who have lost touch with reality by choosing to avoid their current situations in life. Beginning with the elements of fiction, the setting for these stories are similar in that they both take place in New York, while Death of a Salesman also involves parts of New England, whenever Willy travels there on business. This similarity does not only apply to the stories but to the authors as well being that they both were native New Yorkers. The differences are the time periods and the socio-economic locations; Salesman takes place in the nineteen-forty’s while Swimmer takes place in the nineteen-sixty’s. Salesman’s location is in an ever changing place where apartments are built right next to each other and the property space of old is long gone, as Willy Loman states “The way they boxed us in here. Bricks and windows, windows and bricks.”(pg.242) The Swimmer’s location is in a suburban area were every house on the block seems to have a pool. The characters differ greatly in these two stories. In Death of a Salesman the characters are all very dynamic and change as the story moves along. A good example is Willy’s wife Linda whose character constantly changes according to the situation she is put in by her husband primarily. She can be a very happy going mother but can also be a protective wife as she was when she stated to her son Biff in regards to his treatment of his father “Either he’s
Professor Satie
English 300
26 February 2015
The Thin Vail Between Past and Present In life we will face difficult decisions and the way we handle them will determine how the rest of our life will play out. In comparing and contrasting Death of a Salesman written by Arthur Miller and The Swimmer written by John Cheever, I will examine the differences and similarities between the main characters Willy Loman and Neddy Merrill. Two tragic characters that have arrived to the same place in life, a place where the vail between past and present seems to have faded away and who have lost touch with reality by choosing to avoid their current situations in life. Beginning with the elements of fiction, the setting for these stories are similar in that they both take place in New York, while Death of a Salesman also involves parts of New England, whenever Willy travels there on business. This similarity does not only apply to the stories but to the authors as well being that they both were native New Yorkers. The differences are the time periods and the socio-economic locations; Salesman takes place in the nineteen-forty’s while Swimmer takes place in the nineteen-sixty’s. Salesman’s location is in an ever changing place where apartments are built right next to each other and the property space of old is long gone, as Willy Loman states “The way they boxed us in here. Bricks and windows, windows and bricks.”(pg.242) The Swimmer’s location is in a suburban area were every house on the block seems to have a pool. The characters differ greatly in these two stories. In Death of a Salesman the characters are all very dynamic and change as the story moves along. A good example is Willy’s wife Linda whose character constantly changes according to the situation she is put in by her husband primarily. She can be a very happy going mother but can also be a protective wife as she was when she stated to her son Biff in regards to his treatment of his father “Either he’s