When we start to examine the two plays Death of a Salesman and Fences, we can see the biggest thing that differs from one play to another is the characterization of the father figures in both plays. In both plays the fathers, Willy and Troy, have similar goals when it comes to their families but very different aspects on a couple of topics. The main conflicts in both plays are the mainly the father-son conflicts between Willy and Biff and Troy and Cory, Willy's and Troy’s chase to be the providers for the family, and the fact that neither father had a half-decent father figure to influence how they raise their children. We see in Death of a Salesman that Willy loves his boys dearly and wants the absolute best for them. However, in the play…show more content… Troy Maxson, from the play Fences, wants to do whatever he wants and really doesn’t care what his children grow up to become. Both fathers are chasing the “American Dream” but in different directions from each other. Willy is a travelling salesman who drives to cities around the country but eventually gets fired from that job and deserted by his company, and Troy works on a trash truck, which shows just how different their lives are. Troy has to struggle to earn his money by begging and lying and building himself up to be this amazing person whereas Willy has always had a job but gets fired in his old age, despite being well liked. Troy and Willy share a lot of similarities when it comes to striving to better themselves in that they both work hard to chase the American Dream, but they have drastically different goals and definitions of success: “They are common men, ordinary men—not men of significance or nobility in the Aristotelian sense of a tradgeic hero” (Walton 55-65). Neither man is extremely wealthy, and nobody is handing them anything in their lives, which gives us an insight to the mental process of why Willy and Troy work so hard and are so proud of what they have. Willy is trying to set the example of the American Dream by being the bread winner for his family so his sons will see that and admire him and want to be just like him one day. Troy is also out for material goods and to succeed in his life out of selfish purposes only. Troy stresses how important working and doing a good job at your job is when he looks at Cory and tells him, “You go on and get your book-learning so you can work yourself up in the A & P or learn to fix cars or build houses or something, get you a trade. That way you have something can’t nobody take away from you. You go on and learn how to put your hands to some good