Essay --

Ross EbsterScott YatesEnglish 1B16 November 2013Waking Up From the Nightmare From Marx to milling machineArthur Millers Death Of A Salesman is a modern sidereal day tragedy that roots itself with those who try to obtain the American Dream but are unsuccessful in their pursuit. Millers play revolves around the unbroken 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 Marxs ideology introduces the socioeconomic conflict in the midst of 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 Marxs viewpoint can help shed light to Millers commentary and possible rejection of American capitalist economy during the late 1940s. 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 furbish up foundation for happiness. Marxs view also helps to point out the overt theme of materialism in the play. Marx professed materialism but generally tried to part 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 torpid notion neither moral nor immoral. It was comprised of a simple acceptance of the evid... ...changed young Biffs 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 p lay 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 authors own life, He grew up white and Jewish in Harlem. Mr. Millers comfortable childhood in the era of radio was transformed by his fathers ruin in the Depression and the familys forced pop off 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.