Social and Political Implication of "All My sons" and "The Death of a Salesman"

During the first half of the past century, there was a witnessed surge in industrial activities resultant from the previous revolution undergone by the civilized world. At the same time, several countries strived for global dominance in order to tap into the social, political and economic benefits that come from perceived global superiority. The emergence of the two main superpowers from the Second World War subsequently led to the polarization of the global economies; with the Soviet Union adopting the Marxist theory of socialism that prompts for the need for engagement in communist activities (Churchich et al, 23). On the other hand, the United States opted for the Capitalistic structure of the economy.  In this regard, most of the plays, journals and articles authored during post-Second World War era in the United States were mostly themed on the economic structures and the philosophy of the American Dream. While most plays were mainly focused on promoting the capitalistic economy, Arthur Miller opted to take a different conflicting path in his plays: arguing against capitalism and encouraging a socialist economy as per the Marxist theory. For instance, his plays "All My sons" and "The Death of a Salesman" clearly paints a picture of the laissez-faire capitalism problems that were faced in the U.S at the time. Given that "All My sons" was based on a factual storyline, it did not escape the attention of the House Committee on Un-American Activities, who intended to question Miller’s seemingly ‘unpatriotic’ nature. Therefore, this paper aims at providing an in-depth analysis and discussion of both social and political implication of the two plays authored by Arthur Miller.

The devastating effects of the great depression wielded a major impact on the Miller’s view on the capitalism, especially given that Miller was at his youthful age when the America was shrouded by the largest economic slump of the century. Miller’s two plays highly suggest that Capitalism is to blame for social, economic and political woes that the citizens were facing. In fact, Miller thinks that the need for survival prompts the countrymen to indulge in immoral activities in order to meet the needs of their families. The tragic ends of both plays portray the confusion, despair and inability to meet the demands of capitalistic policies. In "The Death of a Salesman", for instance, William is forced to end his life through an intentional car crash to enable Biff, his eldest son to establish a business with capital from the car insurance claim. Such an act, in itself, tends to depict the maxims that that most of the citizens had to withstand and endure for their families to attain the much hyped ‘American Dream’ (Weales et al, 71). Moreover, Miller attempts to reflect on the unrealistic demands of a capitalist political system, especially to the families of the least social status striving harder to climb up the social ladder. Further in the play, the need of the characters to display their success to the society is stretched to the limits of engage in immoral activities such as corruption and theft. Biff Loman, the eldest son of William is forced to completely neglect his life passion of being a professional footballer and his like for working with his bare hands. He faces the threat of abandoning his farm activities--the main source of his happiness--by opting to engage in a completely strange field of establishing a business so as to fulfill his father's capitalistic dream.

"The Death of a Salesman" also attempts to expose the disparities that exist between the rich and the poor, especially those that emanates from the success witnessed by the educated members of the society and the imminent failures that the uneducated are faced with. There is a sharp contrast between Benard, Charley's son and a successful lawyer and the uneducated sons of William Loman. Apparently, the Arthur Miller appreciates that education is one of the pillars of capitalism that encourages the variability of the social and political status amongst the Citizens of the United States. In addition, the success of any given family is dictated by the individualistic nature which propels the observed social inequality. It should be noted, however, that other economic structure such as communism and socialism are based on policies that aims at ensuring that the social and economic gap amongst the citizens is successfully diminished through government interference on economic and political activities (Miller, 6).

"All My Sons", another play authored by Arthur Miller is argued by most scholars to focus on the negative effects of capitalism in the post-Second World War United States.  Based on a true story, Miller cleverly and tactically arouses the reader’s emotions of the reader or the audience of the play especially regarding the tragic end of the more than twenty pilots. Artistically, the writer succeeds in passing his message on the woes and faults of capitalism by intentionally providing a link between the pilots’ deaths as well as the eventual suicide of Joe Keller (the main character) to the unrealistic requirements of the ‘American Capitalist Dream’. By including the events that surrounded the Second World War, the writer attempts to reveal the darker political secrets that were triggered by the capitalistic greed of dominating the globe.  Other themes that emerge in the play include corruption as a main detriment to the success in ensuring a fair competition in a capitalist society (Miller, 16).

In conclusion, it is clear that miller was influenced by the activities that ensued from the economic meltdown in the United States during the first half of the previous century. Consequently, the influence sparked his embrace of Marxist Theory of Socialization, as evidenced in his early plays. In this regard, the Nilsen’s argument on Millers work is justifiable.

Work Cited Page

Churchich, Nicholas. Marxism and Alienation. Rutherford [N.J.: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1990. Print: 14-102.

Miller, Arthur, and Toby S. Zinman. All My Sons. London: Methuen Drama, 2010. Print: 1-54.

Miller, Arthur. The death of a Salesman. Oxford: Heinemann, 1994. Print: 1-36.

Weales, Gerald C, and Arthur Miller. Arthur Miller: Death of a Salesman: Text and Criticism. New York: Viking Press, 1967. Print: 44-236.