DEATH OF A SALESMAN BY ARTHUR MILLER

THEMES

1. CAPITALISM IS BAD:

MILLER SAYS HE WROTE THIS PLAY TO BE A “TIME BOMB UNDER THE BULLSHIT OF CAPITALISM, THIS PSEUDO (PHONY) LIFE THAT SAYS THAT ONE CAN TOUCH THE CLOUDS BY STANDING ON TOP OF A NEW REFRIGERATOR, OR WAIVING A PAID-UP MORTGAGE AT THE MOON, VICTORIOUS AT LAST.”

WHAT IS CAPITALISM?

. a way of organizing an economy so that the things that are used to make and transport products (such as land, oil, factories, ships, etc.) are owned by individual people and companies rather than by the government

CAPITAL: SOMETHING ONE CAN USE TO MAKE MONEY (EX: MONEY YOU CAN INVEST IN STOCKS; REAL ESTATE YOU CAN RENT; AN EDUCATION YOU CAN USE TO GET A JOB)

CAPITALISTS BELIEVE NATIONS BECOME STRONG WHEN THEIR CITIZENS CONSTANTLY SEEK WAYS TO EARN MONEY FROM THEIR CAPITAL

ECONOMICS: HOW SOCIETY IS ORGANIZED TO USE

RESOURCES LIKE MONEY, LABOR, RAW MATERIALS,

FACTORIES, ETC. IN SIMPLER TERMS: WHO

GETS HOW MUCH OF WHAT? (and who’s going to produce

it?) The answer to this question has to do with a society’s PHILOSOPHY

WHAT’S going to get produced? How is it going to get produced? Who’s going to benefit from this production? (Everybody equally? Only those who were involved in the production? Only those who are favored by whoever’s in charge? Is it OK if there are big differences between the rich and the poor?)

Who gets to decide these questions? This is where politics comes in. Dictatorship vs Democracy. (Communism: dictatorship of the proletariat (the worker). Leaders (Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Castro) make decisions for everybody else: how much corn to grow; how many houses to build; how many doctors to educate (and who gets to be a doctor)).

Democracy: citizens make these decisions together (in the U.S., they elect people to make these decisions for them)

Some say Capitalism and Democracy are a natural fit: the former is all about FREE COMPETITION between individuals who are allowed to own property, including businesses. The role of government is limited to that of a referee. Make sure people play by the rules but otherwise stay out of the way. LAISSEZ-FAIRE: French for “let people do as they choose.” Interpreted as “government, stay out of the way.”

BIG QUESTION: TO WHAT EXTENT IS THE UNITED STATES A CAPITALIST COUNTRY? AND TO WHAT EXTENT SHOULD IT STAY THAT WAY?

Opposite of Capitalism is Socialism: 1) a system of society or group living in which there is no private property; 2) : a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state

The longest war of the 20th century was fought between Capitalists and Socialists: The Cold War 1947-1989. Capitalists were led by U.S. (Democracy) and Socialists were led by U.S.S.R. (Communist Dictatorship)

Why did they fight? Has to do with the writings of 19th century German philosopher Karl Marx, author of The Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital.

Marx revolutionized the study of history. Before him, what happened to humans was the result of God’s will. Marx countered that it’s all about ECONOMICS.HISTORICAL CHANGES RESULT FROM DISSATISFACTION WITH THE WAY RESOURCES ARE USED AND HOW WEALTH IS DISTRIBUTED

His famous “dialectic”: thesis vs antithesis = synthesis

the way things are (thesis) gets challenged (antithesis) and the outcome is a new way of doing things (synthesis)

Where do the challenges come from?

Dialectical materialism proposes that every economic order grows to a state of maximum efficiency, while simultaneously developing internal contradictions and weaknesses that contribute to its systemic decay

Weaknesses in FEUDALISM led to emergence of CAPITALISM; Marx says that weaknesses in CAPITALISM will lead to SOCIALISM (which will be overseen by a dictatorship of the Proletariat (workers))

Why did Marx hate Capitalism so much?

Common Criticisms

of Capitalism

1. It results in heartless and constant competition

* “dog-eat-dog” world based on the principal of “Survival of the Fittest” (I’ve got to put you out of business before you do the same to me).

* “zero-sum” society: in order for one person or company to succeed, somebody else has to fail

2. It results in income inequality

* can lead to huge gaps between the “have’s” and the “have-not’s” * Richest 1% (about 3 million people) own 35% of America’s wealth* “Bottom” 80% of Americans own less than 7% of country’s wealth* Ratio of CEO pay to average employee’s wage

1940: 30 X1980: 40 X

1990: 100 X2010: 350 X

3. It’s dehumanizing

* leads to Materialism

* if companies don’t grow they die (Walmart); they grow by increasing sales; they increase sales by advertising their products in a way that makes consumers want them (this often involves the (paradoxical CREATION OF NEED)

* MTV’s “Cribs”; “He who dies with the most toys wins” sticker; “must-see” TV; “bling”

* leads to people feeling like they’re just “part of the machine” doing meaningless, repetitive work consider the first question strangers ask each other: “What do you do?”

* leads to overcrowding: Industrialization leads to Urbanization (people living in boxes without access to Nature)

1900: 80% of Americans lived on the farm

2010: 2% of Americans live on the farm

4. It’s destructive

of human health

of the environment

of native cultures

5. It conflicts with Christianity

The Golden Rule vs

Dog-eat-Dog

Charity vs Materialism

Themes in Death of a Salesman (Cont’d)

Who or what is to blame for the kind of people we become?

Is it “nurture” (the environment in which we’re raised)

or “nature” (our genetic composition (our “biology”)?

Or both?

(Psychology/Sociology/Biology)

What leads to conflicts between parents and children?

(especially fathers and sons)

(Psychology/Sociology)

Themes in Death of a Salesman (Cont’d)

What does it mean to be a man? A woman?

(Sociology/Anthropology)

Themes in Death of a Salesman (Cont’d)