Cora and Willy

Cora Tucker is quite different from Willy. Cora is an active member in her community, fighting for the civil rights of blacks and raising awareness about the availability of food stamps. She has been able to rise above the hardships in her life. Raised in a sharecropper family, she grew up in a shoddy house and with a mother who was not well educated. Even at a young age, she recognized the poor treatment of the blacks in her town and was determined to do all she could to cause change. Since this vow, Cora has tirelessly battled with local lawmakers and officials to pass unbiased laws and has continued to aid those in her community in a multitude of ways. Cora helped to register hundreds in her community to vote. In 1975, Cora created CBA, Citizens for a Better America, an organization that conducts studies on the activities of blacks and protests against governmental members and businesses that practice unequal treatment of African Americans. When Cora had to undergo surgeries and treatment for cancer, she still continued her work. She’s been threatened, had her house broken into, been spit upon, and had family members turn against her, and yet Cora continues her march towards a better America.
Willy Loman is a ruined man, depressed and unable to ascend to happiness. He offers none of his time to charity. He, unlike Cora, is unable to look outside of his own drama. The community around him does not benefit from his existence. He crusades for nothing of worth. Distracted by work and his sons, he is concerned with money and his likeability.
While their differences are plentiful, both Willy and Cora have difficulties with members of their family. Biff and Willy have relationship issues, and Cora, her husband, and some of her children disagree on issues. Both are wrapped up in their work- Cora’s cause and Willy’s sales. But their similarities stop there. Cora is too active and hopeful to be like Willy’s mentally unbalanced and eternally unhappy character.