Death of a Salesman- "Death of a hired man" comparison report
             Mary, being the only female in the poem "Death of a Hired Man", must represent Linda. Although it may seem necessary to designate her as Linda based upon that fact alone, similarities in character are portrayed in both the play and poem regarding Linda and Mary.
             Throughout Death of a Salesman, Linda is incredibly sympathetic to all of Willy's problems and she can constantly be found defending his actions. The same is true in the poem. "I sympathize. I know just how it feels..." shows that Mary is sympathetic to Silas and understands that he is old and troubled. She feels that he has worked hard all his life but won't relinquish his self respect, much like the time Willy refused a job for the very same reason. Interestingly enough, Mary says, "He has come home to die", and sure enough, in the end Silas dies. In the play Death of a Salesman, Linda tells her children that Willy is dying and the same is true there too.
             It's controversial whether Warren represents Biff or Howard. Nearing the end in Death of a Salesman, Biff is fighting with his mother, Linda, to speak to his father and tell him how he feels. Linda desperately tries to prevent confrontation but Biff tells her that he has to know the truth. In the poem, Warren is hushed by Mary when he is loudly insulting Silas's work ethic, but Warren replies, "I want him to [hear it], and he'll have to soon or late". In the play, Willy is told by Howard that he should depend upon his children to take care of him- only ironically his children can't since they have no money. In the poem, Silas asks Warren for pay "at least enough for tobacco", but similarly like Biff, Warren has no money to pay him. Warren may represent Howard for the simple reason that Warren is Silas' boss, and in Death of a Salesman Howard is Willy'...