A2 Literature - Connections between DOS and TBE

How Death of a Salesman (so far) can be connected to The Bluest Eye

by Amy

One of the key themes that The Bluest Eye and Death of a Salesman share is that of society’s loss of humanity. Death of a Salesman, which is often viewed as a play criticising capitalism, can be seen as a plea for humanism. This is most clearly seen in the character of Linda who urges people to value humanity no matter how great or small a person is and not just jobs and money. Linda states that Willy “must not be allowed to fall into his grave like an old dog. Attention, attention must be finally paid to such a person” emphasising the lack of humanity he is being shown. In The Bluest Eye society is also criticised as it does not seem to care what happens to the lowest in society, causing them to crumble under the pressure it puts on them. Both Willy Loman and Pecola Breedlove lose their sanity as a result of the poor treatment society has given them. It can also be argued that dreams cause both of these characters to fall. In the case of the Loman’s their dreams build too quickly and their expectations are too high causing them to come crashing down. Pecola dreams only of having blue eyes, and her life becomes completely dominated by this one desire which eventually leads to her tragic demise.