Miller eventually enrolled in the University of Michigan in 1934. In 1936 He wrote his first play, No Villian, and won the Hopwood Award in drama. Miller eventually graduated from the University of Michigan with a Bachelor of Arts Degree and joined the Federal Theater Project. In 1940, Miller married his first wife, Mary Slattery, and had two kids. His first broadway play written in 1944 was The Man who had all the Luck which was about a successful man who is unhappy. It closed only after a few performances, but it had received the Theatre Guild National Award. Miller decided to try again, even after this horrible and discouraging failure. The next play he wrote was in 19 47 and it was called All My Sons. Unlike The Man who had all the Luck, the book was highly successful. It was about a was about a factory owner who sells faulty aircraft parts during World War II and It won the New York Drama Critics Circle award and two Tony Awards. It appealed to the people of the US, who have just undergone a depression and a world war. This was only the first of his three most successful plays and it started gaining Miller some fame. The next play he wrote, and also the most successful, was Death of a Salesman. The play is about a middle class, white American named Willy Loman. Loman strives to achieve the American Dream, which is wealth and a high status in society. Loman eventually gets fired from his job, and commits suicide by crashing his car in hopes that this would provide his family with insurance money. Miller won the Pulitzer Prize, and another Tony award for this play. Death of a Salesman is still one of the greatest pieces of American literature, and it has gotten recognition over the years. It has been adapted into movies and it has been also translated into many languages, handing Miller international fame. His third major play was The Crucible which he wrote in 1953. It is about witch hunts in Salem, Massachusetts in the 1600’s, and how Salem’s community undergoes mass hysteria. Citizens of Salem start accusing each other of being witches, resulting in many being jailed and killed. This is one of his most controversial books, because under a historic lens, it parallels McCarthyism. Senator Joseph McCarthy investigated anti-American activities during the early 1950’s. It led to many people being accused. This parallels The Crucible, because during the Salem Witch Trials, many residents of Salem were being accused.
In 1956, Arthur Miller was called before the House Committee on Un-American Activities. Miller’s left wing political views and his play, The Crucible were major factors in this event. He was asked to give the names of the guilty. Miller responded with, “My conscience will not permit me to use the name of another person and bring trouble to him”. He was held in contempt, but this conviction was soon over ruled.
Arthur Miller is most known for being a playwright. His writings about the current issues of America shown in The Crucible and All My Sons, the struggle and plight of the middle class shown in Death of a Salesman, and morality shown in all three of his major plays make him an asset to American literature, and he will be remembered even after his death in 2005.
