Emotional Intertextuality Between Death of a Salesman and The Kite Runner Haley Paige Parson 12th Grade

There are numerous similarities between Arthur Miller’s Death Of A Salesman and Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner. However, most of the similarities readers identify are only surface deep, and essentially superficial. Sure, readers know that both Willy and Amir made decisions that they regret and wish they could reevaluate, and eventually said decisions shaped their respective lives, but it’s the job of the readers, and my job as a writer to delve deeper into the obvious similarities and go fearlessly into the layers that lie beneath. Usually when a character regrets a decision or action, it’s because they said the wrong thing at the wrong time. For Willy and Amir, though, their regret lies with the fact that they chose to say nothing. From this silence springs the major similarities of the texts: the succession of fear, guilt, and self-loathing Willy and Amir felt, produced by the prioritization of family.

Willy and Amir prioritize family over almost every aspect of their lives. For Willy, he prioritized Biff’s athletic ability, and Amir put his father before his friendship. In doing so, both characters make their most critical and pivotal mistakes. To Willy, the only member of his family that is worth anything is Biff. He...