Essay Sample on the Story of Los Vendidos and a Death of a Salesman

In the story 'Los Vendidos' by Luiz Valdez, it is evident that when a man places the word honest as his first name, it is likely true that he is not. Honest Sancho is one of those people as he spends his time selling robots that are fashioned in images of stereotypical Mexican Americans and the Mexicans at large. The robots are easy to operate with buyers finding it simple to snap their fingertips and bark out a command that they easily obey. In the story 'Death of a Salesman,' Arthur Miller uses a character called Willy Loman to show his relationship with his wife, who has worried that he may have smashed his car. Miller uses the Loman family to show a series of denial, order versus disorder, and contradiction.

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Comparison

On the one hand, Miller addresses identity loss and the way that the main character is unable to accept change in society and within himself. Each member of their family of Loman lives in denial or has had a cycle of denying others, and this makes it hard for Willy Loman to accept that he is a mediocre salesman (Aberg, 2019). He dwells more on his past, where he is seen as successful, and ignores the present where he struggles to achieve the American dream by denying reality wherein real sense he is not a success. On the other hand, Valdez strives to display social disparities that exist between Latin communities and Californian locals (Putrie, 2012). The state, local, and federal governments portray different misconceptions that Americans have about Latinos. Valdez explains that it was not right for the Latino community to sell its cultural beliefs and act in a way that they do not care about them as they largely embrace the beliefs of the whites.

'Death of a Salesman' focuses on the dangers that modernity has on the cultures and lives of normal people in society. In contrast, 'Los Vendidos' focuses on stereotyping, where four robot models are integrated into the story to highlight the attributes that are superimposed on Latin Americans living in American societies. 'Death of a Salesman shows the dangers of modernity, where Miller explains the disadvantages that modern mindsets and objects have on characters' careers as Loman attempts suicide due to the modernity presented (Aberg, 2019). 'Los Vendidos' shows native identities that are constructed and assimilated to fit in different stereotypes as time passes. The Revolucionario and the farmworker are a representation of the first immigrants who were revolutionaries of Early California as well as laborers (Putrie, 2012). This type of stereotype shows the way that Mexican Americans who adopt new identities become repressed and socially excluded.

Unlike in 'Los Vendidos,' where the characters experience growth as they try to forget their cultures and assimilate into the American cultures, the characters in 'Death of a Salesman' do not experience any growth. Many stories have scenes where the characters normally experience some growth regardless of how small it is. Valdez shows how minority groups try to understand the dominant racial groups, and in the process, many of them change and adopt the traditions of the whites (Putrie, 2012). They experience growth as they are superimposed to American society even though several stereotypes are placed on Mexican Americans, most of whom are the youths that embrace the new identities and are acculturated. The characters in 'Death of a Salesman' do not grow in any way as they are stuck with similar flaws and personal ruts from the beginning of the story to the end. Biff and Happy are stuck with the names they were given in their childhood, as well as the problems they faced when they were young (Aberg, 2019). Willy lives a fake life of the past rather than the present. Biff is bitter towards his father for his failure, while Happy has a recurring dysfunctional relationship with women.

Contrast

Both stories analyze a lack of sense of belonging in the characters where Valdez explains how Mexicans living in American society face social exclusion because they are a marginalized group. Many of Mexicans do not accept themselves as they are. Hence they adopt the American culture and forget their unique cultures (Christianto & Widyastuti, 2014). They do not accept their present state, and they acquire different identities so that they can get accepted by the Americans. Miller also shows a lack of sense of belonging in the life of Loman and his sons as he does not accept his present because he realizes that people do not like him as he expected a business person to be well-liked. As a reason for the lack of belonging in the present, he lives in the past where he was successful and well-known (Nahvi, 2016). He lives a life of a lie that causes his failure and that of his sons.

In both stories, the characters realize their mistakes as the story comes to an end and strive towards making a change that might have some positive impact even if it is too late to make any changes. In 'Los Vendidos' the Mexicans realize that they were people all through and not robots, as the story explains. In the end, they begin to revolt and cry for their rights as they feel that they are mistreated and placed in the lower classes where they do not belong (Christianto & Widyastuti, 2014). Mrs. Jiminez realizes that the money she has cannot protect her. Neither can it buy a slave as she expected. At the end of the story in 'Death of a Salesman,' Willy realizes that his family has not experienced any growth over time and tries to plant some positive seeds. Still, it is too late to change many of the things that already beyond repair (Nahvi, 2016).

References

Aberg, J. (2019). The Process of Individuation in Willy Loman: A Jungian Archetypal Literary Analysis of the Protagonist in Arthur Miller's Play Death of a Salesman Compared to the Classical Hero of Odysseus in Homer's The Odyssey. http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1371793/FULLTEXT01.pdf

Christianto, A. P., & Widyastuti, D. (2014). The Representation of Mexican-Americans' Life Stages through the Models in Luis Valdez's Los Vendidos. Journal of Language and Literature, 14(1), 95-102. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/45363439.pdf

Nahvi, A. (2016). American Dream and the Tragedy of the Common Man in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. Stem Cell Journal, 7(2). https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Alaeddin_Nahvi/publication/309533106_American_Dream_and_the_Tragedy_of_the_Common_Man_in_Arthur_Miller's_Death_of_a_Salesman/links/5814db0b08aeb720f6849b0c/American-Dream-and-the-Tragedy-of-the-Common-Man-in-Arthur-Millers-Death-of-a-Salesman.pdf

Putrie, E. S. (2012). Racial discrimination reflected through the characters in Luis Valdez's Los vendidos (Doctoral dissertation, SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY). https://repository.usd.ac.id/7551/1/084214116_Full.pdf