Finding their way

One apparent theme present in both The Death of a Salesman and The Glass Menagerie is the struggle to find one own's way and to truly know your own purpose. In Glass Menagerie play, Tom has a job at the warehouse he is never satisfied with and wants to leave so he can travel on his own. But he still is left with a feeling of emptiness because of how he feels guilty for leaving Laura behind. The similar theme occur in The Death of a Salesman. However, in this play, it mainly occurs with both Biff and Willie. From the beginning, Biff has no idea what his purpose is and what he is supposed to do with himself in life. He struggles and tries to make his dad proud but never succeeds in that aspect as well. Willie, on the other hand, had certain talents and skills that he did not use in the right manner. As Biff says, "He had the wrong dreams." Willie was good at doing things with his hands like when he built on to various parts of the house like adding a garage. But Willie never realized this and chose to be a salesman. This shows that by finding out who we are early, we can set ourselves on the right direction in life.