Materialism In Death Of A Salesman

Ross Ebster

Scott Yates

English 1B

16 November 2013

Waking Up From the Nightmare: From Marx to Miller

Arthur Miller’s Death Of A Salesman is a modern day tragedy that roots itself with those who try to obtain the American Dream but are unsuccessful in their pursuit. Miller’s play revolves around the continual chase of this ideology and poses the question of whether attempting to “keep up with the Joneses” can be more of a nightmare than dream. Karl Marx’s ideology introduces the socioeconomic conflict between the capitalists and the working class. Marx referred to these opposing forces as the “haves and have-nots”. Looking at Death Of A Salesman through Karl Marx’s viewpoint can help shed light to Miller’s commentary and possible rejection of American capitalism during the late 1940’s. The protagonist, Willy Loman shows an insatiable struggle to fit into the right part of society and his desperation to have himself and his sons as one of the “haves”. The view Miller gives of the American Dream shows the social and economic perspective of post-war America and how those views relate to social class.

To fully understand this idea in context, one must define the idea of the American Dream. The basis of the American Dream at that time was that financial success through capitalism was the sole foundation for happiness. Marx’s view also helps to point out the overt theme of materialism in the play. “Marx professed materialism but generally tried to distinguish his views from the mechanical materialism which regarded man as a machine, or which reduced all human behavior to the laws of physics and chemistry” (Mayo 34). To Marx, materialism was a neutral notion; neither moral nor immoral. It was comprised of a simple acceptance of the “evid...

... middle of paper ...

...changed young Biff’s life. “That boy — that boy is going to be magnificent! (Ben appears in the light just outside the kitchen.) . . .Yes, outstanding, with twenty thousand behind him.” (cite) Part of what makes this play so tragic is that if Willy had chosen acceptance and individuality instead of materialism he would have seen he had already achieved the American Dream by having the love of his family.

Much of this play parallels the author’s own life, “He grew up white and Jewish in Harlem. Mr. Miller's comfortable childhood in the era of radio was transformed by his father's ruin in the Depression and the family's forced move from their Upper West Side apartment at the edge of Harlem to Brooklyn” (Shattuck 43). Death Of A Salesman heeds a well-deserved warning about the dangers of materialism and the risk of using capitalism as the sole backbone of prosperity.