This novel and play are both written in throw multiple perspectives;
they also both jump from the present to the past. In Extremely Loud and Incredibly
Close, the time period changes when there is a change of narrator. By switching
the narrator, the reader is slowly able to start putting the piece together of
how the present situation came to be. The past events that are described help to
illustrate the connection between past and present, the cause and effect of
certain actions. In Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, the grandfather writes
about how much he loved Anna and in turn that is the reason why he was not able
to love the grandmother resulting in him leaving. By leaving it creating a
situation where a boy grew up without a father and that boy’s son grew up
without a grandfather. This kind of situation would help shape a person into
who they are, Oskar has this great attachment to his father and grandmother,
but things might have been different if the grandfather did not decide to
leave. A situation like this is found in Death of a Salesman because within the
play there are many flashbacks. Through these flashbacks, it reveals how the
characters came to be in the situation they are in, but it also reveals many things
about the characters themselves. Willy and his son, Biff, often argue within
the play but it is revealed later on this that his could have been as a result
of Biff finding his father having an affair. However, it was not just the affair
it was the fact that his father was lying to him; thereby, shattering the image
he had of his father causing their relationship to turn sour.
In both of these pieces of literature, the setting is in New
York and flashbacks are used to show that the way a person is raised greatly
affects how they will develop. Past events greatly influence the choice that
people make in the present and future. There are other similarities between
these two pieces of literature such as the connection between father and son. In Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, the bond that Oskar had with his father was very strong and this is highlighted when it is being compared to the relationship between Oskar and his mother. Oskar even remarks how he wishes it was his mother that died instead of her father. The relationship between father and son the Death of a Salesman is also important because Willy proved to be a great influence on Biff's personality. Willy has an enormous sense of pride and he focused a lot of his attention on Biff resulting in Biff following his father's example. Even though in the present setting of the novel, the relationship between Biff and his father is very fragile, that strong connection is still present through the amount of influence that Willy had on Biff.
At first, this play did not seem to be very similar to Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, but after thinking about it, I was kind of amazed how similar they are even though they are on completely different topics and are set in different time periods. I hope everything I wrote about for Death of a Salesman is correct since I have not read the play in over 2 years.
I enjoyed your comparison to Death of a Salesman, as it's a play that I much enjoyed. The comparisons are nice, it's weird to think about it because the actual subjects of the two works are very different, but the mental effects on the families are actually strikingly similar. It's something I would have never noticed.
ReplyDeleteThe way that they're so different, from the setting, to the plot, to the relationships, to the actual event that has a negative effect on the characters, makes this analysis even more interesting, because the changes that we see in the characters are so very similar. Good job!
I have never seen the play before, but from reading your comparison, it seems that the similarity between Death of a Salesman and Extremely Loud and Incredible Close is that the relationship between a father and a son and the aspects of their relationship.
ReplyDeleteFrom your explanation, I see that the parent's situation affects the children. I think it is true in everyday life too. Our parents are our biggest influence that everything that go on with them affects us. What I thought was the most similar between the two is the relationship between the father and the son.
I think if I know just that part of Death of a Salesman, I would think the two stories are similar despite the time differences and the age differences for the characters.
At first I was a little confused on how you connected them. But Billy does have some characteristics as the grandfather. Both of them loved one woman but still pursued relationships with another. This in turn did affect their descendants and it shows the past can never really be erased. Willy and Oskar can been seen a little similar too. They both have a lot of pride and their actions are motivated by their fathers. The flashbacks too are similar. I think it is interesting that Willy's wife and the grandmother are still their for their respective men even though they have not been the best of characters.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your comparison! Unfortunately, I haven't read Death of a Salesman, but after reading your post, I definitely see the similarities between the two. I thought it was really interesting how you mentioned that having multiple perspectives allows the reader to better comprehend the present situation. Also, as you pointed out, I think the manner in which Willy has a strong influence on Biff is very similar to how much of an effect Thomas Schell had on Oskar. I forget the exact point in the text when it happened, but I remember Oskar asked for sugar in his coffee just because his Dad took sugar. This further goes to show the level of attachment Oskar had with his Dad.
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