Death Of A Salesman By Arthur Miller

In reference to his characters, Arthur Miller once made the following statement: “He’s not the finest character that ever lived. But he’s a human being, and a terrible thing is happening to him. So attention must be paid,” (Brainyquote para. 3). Arthur Miller typically uses events to create the situations, lives, and history for his characters. That is because he utilizes realism in many of his famous works, such as Death of a Salesman and Broken Glass . As a matter of fact, Miller did not create a large number of works involving upper class or “fancy” things. He created stories that portrayed characters who were not perfect, who had pain and sorrow in their lives. In other words, they were not fake; they were as real as any living person.
The dialogue between the characters in his works typically consists of common language used by common people. That subtle detail actually helps set the scene of a story, as the language used by the characters in it can give away the social class, age and general location of the characters in the story. Arthur Miller’s signature style makes his work relatable, powerful, and deep.
To begin, Arthur Miller utilizes language to help identify the background of the characters and scene in his work. For example, in the story All my Sons, common words have an
Price 1 altered spelling to demonstrate the characters’ accents. “Frank: Hya. Keller: Hello, Frank. What's doin'? Frank: Nothin'. Walking off my breakfast. {looks up at the sky} That beautiful? Not a cloud in the sky” (Miller 2). Based off of this language usage alone readers can gather that the two characters in this scene live in some type of southern American town. It can therefore be concluded that Arthur Miller does not create characters because society and history do it for him. His role is to interpret the way things and people are into a general vein of thinking, and from there he is able to materialize them in his many works.
Another example of this unique writing style is found in A View From the Bridge, “In this neighborhood to meet a lawyer or a priest on the street is unlucky” (Miller 3). This quote, spoken by the character Alfieri, illustrates the setting the first act opens with, painting a picture of a rough residential area very indicative of the time the piece was written in 1949. To help provide background for this reasoning, the time period of this piece is about a decade after World War II, a time in American history where immigration was on the rise. It can again be seen that Miller takes historical and societal views into account when the character Eddie in A View From the Bridge says, “Sure she’ll know, but just don’t you be the one who told her, that’s all. This is the United States government you’re playin’ with now, this is the Immigration Bureau. If you said it you knew it, if you didn’t say it you didn’t know it” (Miller 15). This specific story and many others written by Arthur Miller truly shine a light on the common issues of American life in the post war society and economy.
Price 2 Another of Arthur Miller’s works that happens to be a representation of society in the post World War II era is the play Death of a Salesman.
The underlying subject of this story seems to be the questioning of the American dream, something so many Americans found a new reason to chase after World War II. This piece captures the emotions of the time period and embodies them into characters that all audiences can sympathize with. The story begins with the main character Willy Loman returning home from a business trip. It is revealed that he has trouble remembering events and distinguishing the past from the present, filling his life with a combination of a hopeful past and brutal reality. This describes the attitude of many Americans at the time; so eager to pursue that American dream, but well aware and cautious of events like the Great Depression that occurred just a decade before. In a specific scene, when Willy is discussing with his wife how passersby ignore him, he begins to compare his life to the lives of other men. “Other men - I don’t know - they do it easier. I don’t know why - I can’t stop myself - I talk too much. A man oughta come in with a few words,” (Miller 23). In this scene, Willy represents so many American men of that time period. How could a man have a decent job and a great family but still be unhappy? What regrets could a man with that life possibly have? All of these questions and more are answered in Death of a Salesman, providing a sense of
unity in revealing that a surprisingly large amount of men share the same overwhelming feeling as the main character Willy. Miller understood the fact that people can easily empathize with each other if they share a common problem, and his writing reassured readers of common problems everyone was facing not only at that time, but for humans of all time. It is this style of writing that gives Miller’s work its timeless quality.
Price 3 After World War II, when soldiers returned home, men went off to work and provided everything for their families.
The major dream of that time was to raise a family, get a high paying job, and to move on from the thought of war. It was a time of happiness and celebration, yet eventually these emotions devolved into an emptiness, leaving so many people wondering what to do next with their lives. They all thought making a large salary was great, but the feeling of inferiority to others and working long hours without recognition was bound to take a toll eventually. Arthur Miller’s work in this case brought attention to a secret sense of insecurity so many men had been hiding for so long. Needs were evolving from simply getting a job and house, and people actually expected to achieve happiness in all aspects of life. Miller exposed this with his writing, and in doing so changed the perspective on life for so many people, not just men. Death of a Salesman reveals that it is okay to regret decisions and to relive old memories, but not to dwell on them. Where the past and present may be filled with hard times, despairs and regrets, the future is untold and can be influenced by any common man, no matter how
small.
Perhaps this connection to society was what granted and what currently grants Arthur Miller appreciation for his work. According to an article on The New Yorker, one of the qualities that makes Death of a Salesman such a great piece is its straightforwardness, “... It was encouraging to discover that a supposed masterpiece of American literature could be so direct, comprehensible, and unmissably poignant,” (Harvey para. 4). His significant style was focused on creating a story with some relevant ties to current issues and a hidden message that held his take on the subject, or otherwise some lesson or conclusion. As the above quote states, Miller’s representations were often direct scenarios from society. A View From the Bridge, All my Sons,
Price 4 and Death of a Salesman are just a few of Miller’s works that tied views of not just anyone, but the common working class to a good story to receive national attention.
Yet another of Arthur Miller’s works that illustrates an issue common in the public during his lifetime is The American Clock . This story is about a family that was wealthy until the Great Depression hit, in which they lost their money and were forced to move from their home in Manhattan, New York to live with other relatives in Brooklyn. Similar to Death of a Salesman in regard to underlying subject, The American Clock describes how the American Dream can falsely present itself, or can be lost in the blink of an eye. The reasoning for Miller’s specific style most likely comes from his own life experience, as an article on Britannica.com states that, “Miller was shaped by the Great Depression, which spelled financial ruin for his father, a small manufacturer, and demonstrated to the young Miller the insecurity of modern existence,” (Britannica para. 2). In other words, Miller combined his views of society with problems other people faced to create some of his works, and in doing so he made it relatable to more people who may have been facing the same challenges in their lives.
To conclude, Arthur Miller did not create plays and stories for the sheer enjoyment of it. He always wanted to send a message to people about situations and issues that mattered in their lives. He did not discuss events in the lives of rich people, nor did he glorify those in the upper class. He used history and what was happening in the very world around him to create characters and stories that he was able to share with the people around him. Arthur Miller gave comfort in the form of recognition; his writing brought to light problems that many people thought were
Price 5 uniquely theirs. In other words, Arthur Miller gave people his reasoning for the way things were through samples of different people’s lives in his characters, which allowed them to come to their own conclusions about the situations he presented.
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Works Cited
“Arthur Miller Quotes.” BrainyQuote . Xplore, 2017. Web. 03 May 2017
. Harvey, Giles. “Death of a Salesman”: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering
Mediocrity." "Death of a Salesman": A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Mediocrity- The New York Times . The New Yorker, 14 May 2012. Web. 3 May 2017. .
Miller, Arthur. All my Sons. Penguin Books, 1947
Miller, Arthur. A View From the Bridge Dramatists Play Service, Inc., 1998 Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman Penguin Books, 1976