Dec 08, 2009 08:04 AM
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(Updated Dec 08, 2009 08:07 AM)
I have always had a weakness for Drama among the various literary forms. The fact that it requires the author, at all times, to write from the point of view of the Dramatis Personae, makes it both an intricate art as also give him the enviable opportunity to put more life into his characters. Characters that are subsequently played on stage and immortalized. For this reason I find the dialogues written by Wilde/Chekov/Shaw to be often far more effective in narration than the prose of a novelist can ever be.
Arthur Miller was an American Playwright who was celebrated as much for his marraige to Marilyn Monroe as he was for his literary output including the Pulitzer winning "Death Of A Salesman (DOAS). DOAS was written in 1949 at a time when Miller was at the height of his literary prowess and before he got involved with Monroe. The play, widely considered as a 20th century masterpiece, was supposedly completed in 6 weeks and was later directed by none other than Kazan on Broadway.
The Play is based on Willy Loman, an ageing and unsuccessful salesman who is in the twilight of his career. Willy's family includes Linda, his wife and Biff & Happy, his sons. Willy has the makings of a seasoned braggart-cum-loser who lives in his illusions and is afraid to face reality. His health is failing him and he can no longer do a touring job. His sons have not made careers and most of his assets are still charged under the hire-purchase scheme. His neighbour Charley and son Bernard often try to help him out in various ways but Willy is adamant to live the "life of a salesman" and die "the death of a salesman"; courtesy Dave Singleman, Willy's role model who died while on tour and whose funeral was attended by scores of businessmen & clients. The Drama uses the Stream of Consciousness technique, alternating between the reality and the illusionary world of Willy to render a complex yet brilliant portrayal of what goes in the mind of a failed Salesman.
The work is remarkable for its thorough portrayal of Salesmen, their values & their lives. Its almost encyclopedic in its reference of the various characteristics that afflict salesmen and their demeanour. Characteristics that determine their behaviour and Characteristics that have withstood the test of times. For instance :-
(1) Tendency to live in a make-believe world - Willy is desperately running after the ever elusive American Dream by trying to base his career entirely on the opportunities offered by the rapidly expanding economy and the scope for selling, by hook or by crook. As a salesman he has fallen into the dangerous habit of trying to get customers/people to appreciate the product/point of view he is selling rather than selling them what they want/need.
(2) His penchant to live in an imaginary world of his own also spills over to his personal life where he is given to daydreaming frequently. The sound of a laughing Woman reminds him of his mistress and the undue favours/gifts that he had given her, his obsession with the idea of Biff's failure to make it big or that of not accompanying his brother Ben to Alaska/Africa to set up a successful business. A common thread that runs across all his dreams is that they are situations where he subconsciously perceives himself guilty/at fault and badly regrets the event. His feelings are so intense that at one point he lashes out at Bernard & Linda for no fault of theirs but evidently out of his guilt at having unduly entertained his mistress by gifting her stockings.
(3) Willy is also prey to the temptation of "Keeping up with the Joneses" as demonstrated by his wish of establishing a business bigger than his friend Charley or that of buying a Car & home appliances on Hire-Purchase basis despite finding it difficult to cough up the EMI.
(4) Escapism/Avoidance of reality - maintaining false pretensions of adequacy and rejecting Charley's offer of a job (his friend with whom he plays cards & even takes personal loans in times of need)
(5) There seems to be a palpable lack of dialogue with his sons and even his wife as Willy is inclined to avoid listening to their points of view (eg, when Biff tries telling him how his ex-Boss Oliver had refused to entertain him for a loan proposal, he is adamant on dreaming about his success)
(6) Linda typifies a typical Christian wife who is supportive/accommodative of her husband's faults and even scolds her children more than once for not behaving with their father. But at her husband's funeral the way she is unable to not only mourn his death but admit to a sense of freedom, is clearly demonstrative of her tolerance of her husband.
DOAS is a timeless classic, not as much in method but certainly in its content. And Miller, though not in the same league as Wilde/Shaw, manages to convey a brilliant idea which not only immortalised the malaise of his times but that of all times to come. It typifies the world of salesmen and their immediate kith & kin in a most comprehensive manner that transcends all Ages. Sadly it was only about Death Of "A" Salesman and not Death of "The" Salesman. Salesmen & their vagaries have since continued to live, proliferate and haunt us.
