Similarities Between Bartleby And Willy Loman

I would like to start by making a character analysis. First, both characters Bartleby and Willy Loman have serious social and psychological issues that are evident. The employers of both these men attempt to assist them. Neither one is able to continue in their daily work tasks for one reason or another. Both have opportunities but choose not take them. Although Willy Loman is a deeply flawed character, there is something compelling about his nostalgia. Modernity accounts for the obsolescence of Willy Loman's career --traveling salesman are rapidly becoming out-of-date. Significantly, Willy reaches for modern objects, the car and the gas heater, to assist him in his suicide attempts. Society also plays a part in Will Loman’s down fall.
Most have viewed it as a work of social criticism dealing with the psychological effects of capitalism as it existed in the 1850s. Others have viewed it as a philosophical meditation on the human condition, or as a religious parable on religion itself. The narrator attempts to learn about Bartleby and help him. No matter what the narrator does, even going beyond what most employers would do for an employee meet with failure. A similar situation exists in “Death of a Salesman” with Willy Loman being offered a steady job within Charley’s (neighbor and only friend) business. Charley has been loaning Willy Loman money since he started working on commission so that Willy’s wife would thing that nothing is wrong. Charley continues the offer of employment but the answer is always no because Willy is forever on the brink of moving up at his current company. Bartleby continues to deteriorate ultimately ending up in a prison, where the narrator goes to visit him in the hopes of helping him. The narrator pays a cook to ensure that Bartleby has sufficient food and is cared. This is more than any employer would do let alone an