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Essay / Emotional Intertextuality Between “Death of a Salesman” and “The Kite Runner”
There are many similarities between Arthur Miller's Death Of A Salesman and Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner. However, most of the similarities identified by readers are only superficial and mostly superficial. Of course, readers know that Willy and Amir made decisions they regret and wish they could reevaluate, and ultimately say those decisions shaped their respective lives, but that's the readers' job, and my job as as a writer, to delve deeper into the obvious similarities. and go fearlessly into the layers below. Usually, when a character regrets a decision or action, it's because they said the wrong thing at the wrong time. For Willy and Amir, however, their regret lies in the fact that they chose to say nothing. From this silence arise the major similarities of the texts: the succession of fear, guilt and self-loathing felt by Willy and Amir, produced by the prioritization of family. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Willy and Amir prioritize family over almost every aspect of their lives. For Willy, he prioritized Biff's athletic abilities, and Amir put his father before his friendship. In doing so, both characters make their most critical and crucial mistakes. For Willy, the only member of his family worth anything is Biff. He barely recognizes Hap or Linda, and when he does, he is in fits of rage. Willy yells at Linda when she speaks, asking her "will you stop [interrupting]?" It is evident that there is very little affection left in Willy and Linda's marriage, which Willy takes advantage of by having an affair. When Biff discovers the affair, Willy fears that it will change Biff's image of him. A motif in Miller's play is that Willy worries about being "well-liked", so the thought that Biff – his true pride and joy – does not love his own father scares Willy, which eventually making his behavior erratic, ending in tragedy. suicide. Amir also struggles with his family and his priority over them. He holds Baba's image in such high esteem that he says: "...the greatest moment of my twelve years of life, seeing Baba on that roof, finally proud of me" (Hosseini 66), insinuating that the only way for him to be happy is if he pleases Baba. Even after winning the kite tournament, Amir doesn't feel loved enough. He still feels like he's competing for his father's love with Hassan, so Amir plants the watch under Hassan's bed. Although Amir is not caught in the act like Willy was caught by Biff, Baba's perception of Amir has changed, which goes against Amir's attempts to gain love and friendship. respect for his father. Willy and Amir give too much credit to how their loved ones perceive them, and when their families no longer see them in the light the main characters want, they begin to act out of fear. Their initial fear is what drives their respective works forward and presents us with the major conflicts. Once fear has completely engulfed Willy and Amir, they begin to feel a sense of guilt welling up within them. Willy feels guilty about Biff witnessing his infidelity, even though he cannot show it in conventional terms. The flashback Willy has in the restaurant bathroom on pages 1503-1505 of Death of A Salesman shows his obvious guilt as he continues to replay the scene in his head over and over again. When Ali and Hassan refuse to continue serving Amir's family, Amir tells us: "...I saw Baba doing something that.