to hat extent is Death Of A Salesman a criticism of contemporary society

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To what extent is Death of a Salesman a criticism of Contemporary Society?

The notable critic Helen Wickham Koon considered that Arthur Miller “…Has become one of the most thoughtful and perceptive commentators of our time.” The play is well known for being a sophisticated critique of contemporary society in many ways, making us aware of the ways in which we are diminishing our current quality of life. Through the characters and events of the play, Miller draws our attention to the fact that we are destroying the earth and natural environment by creating a “concrete jungle”. He also suggests that we have turned our backs on human compassion, only to give way to greed and inhumanity. He does so through Willy, who commits himself to false values- consumerism, social stature and a warped idea of the American Dream.

As in all contemporary American literature, the American Dream is a central theme in Death of a Salesman. Miller was the second son of a ladies clothes and coat manufacturer in New York, bankrupted in the Depression of 1929. In the 1940’s, he burst onto Broadway with four plays which called the American dream into question; one of these was Death of a Salesman. According to Alan Vanneman, “Miller intended the play as another blow against capitalism, similar to the one he’d struck with All My Sons.” All my sons is another one of Miller’s plays which “demonstrated how the pursuit of the American dream leads inevitably to war profiteering, treachery, deceit, and murder.” Death of a Salesman seems to examine the cost of blind faith in the American Dream, through Willy, who has his own skewed dreams. His interpretation of the American Dream is defined by a lifetime composed of fortune and fame; he considers that to be “well liked” is an essential part of a happy and successful life. Brian Parker makes the statement that “Willy’s philosophy is the personality cult of Dale Carnegie, the ‘win friends and influence people’ theory, which exploits human relationships for the purpose of gain.” Carnegie was an American writer and developer of the famous courses in self-improvement. It is clear that Willy lives by concepts similar to those referred to by Carnegie in his book How to Win Friends and Influence People. Willy’s own desperate longing for friendship is conveyed through some of the images and phrases which he uses, especially when trying to convince his sons that all they need is to popular. He believes that one day he will be “Bigger than Uncle Charley! Because Charley is not-liked. He’s Liked, but not-well liked.”  We see that this clearly rubs of on his sons when Biff later copies his father in applying the same judgement to Charley’s son, Bernard. However, apart from being “well liked”, at the heart of Willy’s dream lies the desire for material success.

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Miller applies much criticism to commercial advances and their effects on modern society. Willy is a vehicle through which Miller examines our need to keep up with or better our neighbours, in a material sense. Throughout the play, it becomes apparent that Bernard is successful and gets on in the world. In a meeting with him in the second act, Willy is impressed by the kind of people with which Bernard mixes. “Don’t say. His own tennis court. Must be fine People, I bet.”  Here, it is clear that he bases his judgments of people on purely material possession, exposing ...

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