Essay Comparing The Awakening And Death Of A Salesman

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Characterization by definition is the process that an author uses to introduce and describe characters in a story (“Literary Devices”). In The Awakening and Death of a Salesman, the authors use great methods of characterization to help us understand the personalities of the characters. The two most important characters that are described are Edna Pontellier of The Awakening and Willy Loman of Death of a Salesman. Their stories are very relatable in some aspects, and this is why we can become attached to them. These characters are also very similar to each other in multiple ways, but the most prominent way is that they were both very selfish. However, these characters have much more to them than what meets the eye. Their issues and feelings go much deeper than what we can see on the surface. Edna Pontellier is a woman in the 1800s who is way ahead of her time. She is a woman that knows what she wants and likes, and she is not afraid to speak her mind. She has her own opinion on things. Even though society tells her that she must act and speak a certain way, she is not afraid to do things her way even if they seem rude to everybody else. Throughout the book we see her progress from a woman who is somewhat content with her life to a woman who needs to break free. Edna thinks of her marriage to Léonce as the end of her passionate days and the …show more content…

This crushes her, so she does the only thing that comes to her mind- she commits suicide. This is her final act of rebellion. This could be seen as very selfish of her because she does not even think of the effect it will have on her husband and kids. Not only will they be upset that she is dead, it will give her family a bad reputation because people of this time did not act out the way that she did (“Sparknotes: The Awakening: Analysis of Major

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