Lear/Loman Comparisons

Lear-Loman

Although in completely different time periods and circumstances, protagonists King Lear and Willy Loman have plenty of comparable traits and differences. Similar thought processes and themes in the book connect the two seemingly different characters. Both of these men love one of their children so much that they inadvertently push them away. They both make rash decisions and have a hot temper. Their similar personalities give both of them a huge ego and lots of pride. This ultimately drives these men to make bad choices and it blinds them to what is really happening.

Both of these characters have a group of people who care about them, but they don’t realize it and end up hurting the ones who love them. When Lear banishes Cordelia for not telling him how much she loves him and joining in his game, he is crushed. He hates to do it to his favorite child, but she embarrassed him in front of others and hurt his pride. When Kent tries to stick up for her, he is also banished. He shows his true allegiance by coming back in disguise to help Lear.Willy similarly puts so much pressure on Biff in the book that he is getting less and less close with him and doesn’t realize it. When Biff sees that Willy is cheating on his wife, he loses much respect for him and it makes Biff push away. Lear doesn’t realize that Goneril and Regan , although they professed their love for him when they wanted power, abandoned him when he needed their help.

Lear and Loman both pride themselves on being great. WIlly works his whole life to try and be successful in finding the “American Dream”, and to gain riches to show his success to his family. Lear has money and land and power, and gives it away to the people he thought loved him. Although Lear has no wife for support and Loman does, he has more people who care about him. Their two hamartias blind the men to reality and lead to their demise. 

I like that we can connect these two men, because they embody traits that every man has. Although some of these traits are too controlling in them, it is interesting to see how it affects the characters. It also shows the extremes of what can happen when we put all of our happiness in one hope or dream. They are two examples of why we should not make judgments when our pride is hurt, and why we shouldn’t let anger cloud our minds. Although rash, Willy and Lear were not bad men. They were so focused on one thing that they tuned everything else out, and when they come to an end, it is even more tragic when they don’t reach their goals. 

Connecting to Death of a Salesman

I am not very good at making connections, and it is hard for me to relate certain books to real life. I don't really identify with any of the characters in Death of a Salesman, but I think I share lots of qualities with Biff. I respect my Dad and will do things that make him happy, but ultimately I have my own ambitions in mind. I know what I want and am more interested in pursuing my own interests than those of anyone else. Like Biff, I do not care about making millions of dollars as long as I am doing something I enjoy. When I think about it more, my little brother Ryan reminds me of Happy. He doesn't get as much attention as my 15 year old brother Kyle or I, but he is the most eager to please my parents. He does whatever he can not to get in trouble with them and is always questioning my Dad. In some ways, my dad shares qualities with Willy. He sets high goals and lets his happiness depend on attaining those goals. When he fails to reach them, he gets angry and tends to take it out on others.

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"Of Mice and Men" is a classic for many reasons. It is a tragic story about a man who hurts everything he tries to care for, but still has hope for the future. A man has to shoot his best friend to save him from a mob of angry workers. It also has a few underlying themes that were prominent at that point in time. Things like the separation between black and whites, the "American Dream" and everyones obsession with reaching it, the pain of leaving something behind, and moving forward towards a common goal. It is short but still has great character development and interactions between the characters. It focuses on the personalities of the men and how they deal with problems that come upon them. It is a great book and I believe it will continue to be read for a long time

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Lennie immediately runs to the riverbed where George instructed him to go to if something bad happens. Candy goes to the barn looking for Lennie, but finds Curley's wife. He alerts George who instantly realizes what happened. A crowd gathers around the body, and Curley orders the men to find Lennie and kill him. They set out for the riverbed. Meanwhile Lennie is sitting in the bushes, hearing his Aunt Clara in his head yelling at him for messing everything up for George. George soon appears, and sits next to Lennie. He tells Lennie that he has done a bad thing, but he isn't yelling. Lennie asks if they can still buy the ranch. George says that they can, and they can leave right away. He tells Lennie to look out across the river, and then quickly shoots Lennie in the back of the head. The rest of the men come running at the sound of the gunshot, and George says he had to wrestle Lennie to get the gun. Slim doesn't buy the story, and he tells George that he did the right thing. As they walk away, Candy and Curley wonder what is bothering the two men.

This last section of the book is almost hard to read, because we know something is going to happen to Lennie. When George has to kill Lennie, Slim knows that it is extremely hard for him, but that it had to be done. It keeps the idea going that nothing can last forever, especially the things you keep closest to you. Like how Lennie constantly hurts the things he cares for. This is also shown in the book "Marley and Me". The protagonist Marley ( a labrador) dies and the reader is shook with sadness. This is an effect used in tons of different books, because it gets such an emotional response. Losing someone close is very hard, and everyone can relate to that. George having to do it to Lennie personally made the story even sadder.

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The next night, Lennie walks into the stable hand Crook's room in the barn. Crooks asks him to leave but Lennie stays. Crooks agrees to let him in, since all the other men have gone into town. Lennie stats to talk about the ranch he George and Candy plan on buying but Crooks doesn't believe him. They talk for a while until Candy comes in, and also talks about the ranch. Crooks starts to see that they are serious, and says he could be handy if they brought him along. Curley's wife barges in and refuses to leave for a short while, complaining about her husband. She is very rude to Crooks for being black and she is curious abut who broke Curley's hand. She suspects it was Lennie, and tells him that Curley deserved it before she leaves. The book skips to a few days later, with Lennie in the bark stroking his dead puppy. He accidentally killed it by petting it too hard. Curley's wife enters and consoles him about the death of the puppy. She starts to talk about her loneliness and how everybody treats her badly on the farm. She asks why Lennie wants to tend to the rabbits so much, and he replied "I like to pet nice things with my fingers, soft things". Curley's wife lets him feel her hair, until he accidentally grabs it too hard. She starts to yell but Lennie tries to clamp his hand over her mouth. In panic, he pulls his hand and Curley's wife lay dead on the ground with a broken neck.

This is a very tragic part of the book, but there is also a lighter way to look at it. Crooks is opposed to letting Lennie in because of their racial differences, but then they start to talk and they become friendly and even plan on leaving the farm together at some point. It reminded me of "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas", because two boys of completely different worlds and on opposite sides of the religious persecution could still be friends. When I lived in California as a kid, my two best friends were Indian and African American. It isn't a big deal, but in a city where white people tend to look at themselves as better than other people, it is good that people can still come together across racial and religious barriers.

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The next day, Slim agrees to give one of his puppies to Lennie, and he is overjoyed. George explains why he watches out for Lennie, talking about how he told Lennie to jump in a river when George knew that Lennie couldn't swim. He almost drowned and from then on they have travelled together. George also tells Slim that in Weed, Lennie grabbed a girls dress out of interest and then got scared and wouldn't let go. They had to get out of town soon after. Lennie comes into the bunk room with his puppy, and George tells him to take it back to it's mother. Carlson complains that Candy's old dog smells too bad and is of no use. He offers to shoot the dog and put it out of it's misery. Candy objects, saying that he has had the dog since it was a puppy and doesn't want to kill it. Slim offers to give him a new puppy, and Candy eventually agrees, letting Carlson shoot the old dog. Crooks the black stable hand tells Slim that he has tar ready to fix a horseshoe and Slim exits with him.  Curley comes in looking for his wife, and then runs to the barn to see if she is with Slim. Candy hears George talking to Lennie about moving to their own ranch, and offers to pitch money if he can go with them. George agrees to his offer. Curley comes back in with Slim, who wasn't with Curley's wife. Curley is still angry, though and picks a fight with Lennie. Lennie resists until George tells him to fight back and instantly breaks Curley's hand. Slim takes Curley out of the bunkhouse and convinces him not to fire George and Lennie.

A big part of this section is Candy's reluctance to killing his own dog. He wants to keep it because he has had it for so long, and he felt very sentimental when considering giving his dog up. This is a common theme in the book, of wanting to hold on to things that have meaning. For some reason, this reminded me of the 7th Harry Potter book, when Harry's wand breaks. He uses a new wand, but could no longer use the one he had for the last 6 years, which is a very weird feeling. This applies to me because I recently moved from the house I had lived in for 8 years, and I felt a sad nostalgia when leaving.

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The next morning, George and Lennie arrive at the farm in the bunkhouse, where they are welcomed by an old man named Candy and his dog.  Shortly after, the boss walks in and questions the men about why they are late.  When the boss notices that Lennie isn't speaking, he starts directing questions at him. George becomes nervous when Lennie talks, and tells the boss that Lennie is his cousin who isn't smart but is a hard worker. The boss tells the boys that they will work with a man named Slim. Next the boss's son Curley comes in, and asks the same sort of questions. He is very rude to Lennie and insists that he talk. After he leaves, Candy explains that Curley likes to pick on people who are bigger than himself. Candy tells George and Lennie to stay on Curley's good side unless they wanted to lose their jobs. Curley's wife soon enters, claiming to look for him. She is a pretty lady but George is very short with her and tells her Curley left. As she leaves, Slim comes in and talks to George and Lennie. He likes that they travel together, and tells them that his dog just had a litter of puppies. Curley interrupts the conversation by coming into the bunk room asking for his wife, and George comments that he is afraid he might tangle with Curley himself.

A lot of the book focuses on George and Lennie's dream of moving to a Ranch all their own, and how that dream motivates them to keep moving forward. This is a common occurrence, without a goal we would have no direction. In the book " Death of a Salesman", Willy the main character keeps living in an attempt to find "the American Dream" and to be a successful salesman. Even if these are not realistic aspirations, they give people hope to look forward for. I do this frequently, I think about the future and how I need to do my job now in order to be able to do what I want later in life. I know that some of my goals are far-fetched, but I still work to achieve them.