Arthur Miller's Influence On Society

In Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller, Willy Loman’s life seems to be slowly deteriorating. It is clear that Willy’s predicament is of his own doing, and that his own foolish pride and ignorance lead to his downfall. Willy’s self-destruction involved the uniting of several aspects of his life and his lack of grasping reality in each, consisting of, his relationship with his wife, his relationship and manner in which he brought up his children, Biff and Happy, and lastly his inability to productively earn a living and in doing so, failure to achieve his “American Dream”.

"The American Dream is the largely unacknowledged screen in front of which all American writing plays itself out," Arthur Miller has said (Galvin). To many people Arthur Miller is known for his role against communist accusations and using his writing to portray what has happened during McCarthyism. From Miller’s struggles as a child to his first big break as a playwright to his fight against the government, he has still been able to maintain integrity in his writing and captivated many audiences over the years.

Arthur Miller was born in Manhattan, New York and raised in Brooklyn during the depression. According to (Blackwood, 2004) he was profoundly influenced by The Great Depression also he would tap into the unrest within the American Psyche. From Plays like “The Crucible” and “Death of A Salesman”, Arthur Miller made a name for himself. Most of the plays he writes about his audience can imply that he tapped into what human nature really is about.

Puritanism: the beliefs or principles of a group of English Protestants of the late 16th and 17th centuries who regarded the Reformation of the Church under Elizabeth I as incomplete and sought to simplify and regulate forms of worship. Anne Bradstreet and Arthur Miller had very different views on Puritanism. They both displayed those drastically different beliefs throughout their writings, including Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, and Anne Bradstreet's poems, Upon the Burning of Our House and In Memory of My Dear Grandchild. They were able to do so by using tone, which is an author's expressed attitude toward a subject within literacy or work. Anne’s views on Puritanism were very strict and positive. Unlike Anne, Arthur Miller was not a strong believer in Puritanism.

Arthur Miller was a playwright who wrote plays such as “The Crucible” and “Death of a Salesman”. Miller was a kind man and wanted to keep his reputation to a high standard. He believed that theater would change the world. His works were based off of his life, friends, and family. The way he portrayed himself made people believe that he was a hero. Elia Kazan was Miller’s director on Broadway when “Death of a Salesman” came out in 1947. The play was about a New York family’s life in reality and what they wanted it to be.

Willy Loman is a senile salesman who lives a dull life with a depleting career. He has an estranged relationship with his family and believes in the American Dream of effortless success and affluence, but in no way accomplishes it. Feeling like the aim of life is to be favored by others and gaining a materialistic fortune, Willy lives in a world of delusion where

Arthur Miller himself went through “crucibles” in his life, which he described in the essay, “Why I Wrote The Crucible.” Around the time Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible, a culture of anti-communism and fear was rising quickly around him; the government began to prosecute all people suspected of having communist views. When this fear reached the media, filmmakers and actors were

Arthur Miller had to make a person tell or influence the judge that the girls are faking, and that they were causing all the innocent people to be killed; since some of them know that the girls are faking it, they are keeping it from the judge, instead. John Proctor and Giles Corey influenced the judge and took a mighty risk of doing what they did. Giles Corey “sent” his wife to jail because he said that he couldn’t say his prayers when his wife was reading weird books and when she stopped and left, he could. This time, he influenced the judge to reconsider all the killings and someone told him that the girls are faking it, but he didn’t say the name of the person. “Why, I-I cannot give you his name. You know well why not! He’ll lay in

Arthur Miller himself went through “crucibles” in his life, which he in an essay called “Why I Wrote The Crucible.” During his life, Arthur Miller was in a culture of anti-communism and fear; all who the government suspected of having communist views were prosecuted. When this fear reached the media, filmmakers and actors were walking on eggshells in their attempts to appear as pro-American as possible.

Arthur Miller’s Focus (1945) is a revolutionary work that highlights racism, especially anti-Semitism, in America. Written during the last year of the Second World War, Focus is a groundbreaking work in every sense of the word inasmuch as it is the first literary work that deals directly with anti-Semitism in the United States. Statistically speaking, there were two main waves of Jewish immigrants to the United States between 1820 and 1920. According to Susan Haberle, “the first group of Jewish people came from Germany, Austria, and Hungary. These immigrant left to seek a better life” (Haberle 6). The second group was the biggest wave; they came between 1880 and 1920: “these immigrants came from Poland, Romania, Russia, and other eastern

“Never fight fair with a stranger, boy. You'll never get out of the jungle that way." This was a quote from the prominent American playwright Arthur Miller. This quote summed up Millers approach towards life and how others should live. Arthur Miller, by mirroring the issues of their time in a new light through his plays, sought to better America as he tackled political issues of his time in a way that his vast audiences would understand. Arthur Miller could be considered one of the most radical thinkers of the twentieth century through his bold messages. Arthur Miller exposed the flaws in the pursuit of the American dream and more specifically how society’s evil nature would lead to the corruption of the average American and lead to an unjust America. This was shown in his plays and most commonly known in his works Death of a Salesman and the Crucible. Being alive from 1915 to 2005 Miller experienced both important high and low points in American history.

The Crucible and Death of a Salesman are both written by Arthur Miller in the the 1950’s. During the the 1950’s the Cold War was going on and had impacted American society. Because of the Cold War, the Red Scare began in America which was a widespread fear of communists. This lead to McCarthyism, or the process of making accusations of treason and subversion without evidence to back it up, which caused many people to be accused a communist unfairly. These events during this time period influenced literature and media heavily and is definitely present in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible and Death of a Salesman. Also, many elements of these two pieces of literature are similar due to the time period in which they were written. The common theme of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman and The Crucible is deception, more specifically he is trying to spread a message that deception causes problems, which is still important and relevant today. Arthur Miller portrays this through the characters of Willy Loman and John Proctor, and more explicitly through their deaths.

Arthur Miller was an American playwright who wrote plays such as “The Crucible” and “Death of a Salesman” because he thought theatre could change the world. He wrote his works based on friends, his own life, and family. People believed he was a man of integrity and a hero because of the ways he portrayed himself.

One of the central themes related to his essay and play is that the presence of fear in a common man’s life is more prevalent and perhaps draws us closer the character. Willy Loman’s fear of not meeting the standards to the successful people around him, such as his brother and neighbor, and the failure in his job as a father that correlates with his children’s failures is the storyline Miller presents in his play that weights down the

A life of fame, luxury, and well known plays. This was unquestionably the life of Arthur Miller, who is one of America’s well known playwrights of the twentieth century. His impact on American theater is still recognized today and will continue to be looked at for years to come. However, Miller will not only be recognized by his plays but by his high profile marriage, his work in politics and the list goes on. Arthur miller is viewed through American literature by his life, literary works, and impact on American theater.